Nuhou, Volume II, Number 16, 19 September 1873 — A RED TAPE DEFENSE [ARTICLE]

A RED TAPE DEFENSE

Is all that ean be put fcmvard in behalf of the Ministry in respect to their inability to suppress;the late disgraceful disturbance of ihe peaee of the country. u There is no law" it is saidj that \vould have authorized them to "eommanel, "thē Household Troops, or to arrest them in case uf disafīection. And we rnay say ; lhere is no law to authorize us to help ex£inguish a fire that might be devouring the Hawaiian Hote!./There is no la\v that'condemns negligence in a Minister, an&' provides that he shall diligently watch the beginning and progress of every moveraent that affeets the peaee of the country, and that hi> itter llal resources and presence of mind shal! meet uiiforseen contingencies in pub!ic affairs. Thefe is no law in our code whieh prescribes īhat a Minister shāll be the especial guardian of the honor of the King, and of the dignity of the Throne> There is no law. in nne, whieh prescribes that a Minister of this Kingdom shall go outside of the routine of red tape, or do anything else but wait for offieial events to turn up, and to regularly draw his salary. But though there are no sueh of the land; yet the laws of eonimon sense would prescribe, that we should labor with ali our "might to prevent any public disastev ; that if tve are in a responsible positio i should e'ndeavor with all our of mind and rneans to guard our trust, not on!v ni accordahee with the rules whieh regulate our guardianship; but in case of sudden emergency, to supplement with our intelligence and courage any deficiency in our prescribed system of action; and that this supplementary ioyalty of service, should he pre-eminently put forward in the behalfofa crōwned Prince, who has chosen us to be a bulwark between royal dignity and the multitude; and a mouthpieee before the'world of King!y intelligence and power, ; ; Has eominon sense or courage, in the absence of precise law, so guided any one or al! of our Ministers ? We say no ; for all : evidence and the popular verdiet are against rhem 5 in their adtion, or rather inaction, as responsible leaders, and Ministers of the King. " . \ Their" character " and respectability/ ? ineaning simply, that they have more in rheir till tftan in their brains 3 istheonly recominendation for office they receive; and the only plea for their continuance in the exercise of ineompetcney is that they have not vct had an op|tonunity to. eommil a gross Hunder under the badgering of n popukv -embkge« But the governmcntai management of this country be mercly an opportunity for the ofßcial nursiug of our political tyros? Shall we wait fot experiments on a higher plane when they have so signally fai!o& ou !ower one ? \Vhat hope shal! we h:\ve of

' tiu rosiiits of their with 2S resolute and intelligent legis!atoi\s when tHey so cravvled and hegged before 23 ignorant mutineers? And ean our government be u*eakened by the substitution of experience, resolution and ofßcial responsibility inplaee of ignorance, vaccillation and the shirking of all responsibility ? VVe think nnt. Nay, we (hink that little Hawaia eoukl hardly l-e in \veaker ! hand?. and that her life is endangered by the paltering of feeble men, who in the hour of danger would not know (or perhaps caref how fo save her, unless the proces? was presrribed. by red tape.