Ahailono o ka Lahui, Volume I, Number 12, 23 Ianuali 1890 — THE DAY. [ARTICLE]

THE DAY.

Whea ām&«ame^ip for discossioxi s»me time ago we beld that th9 worst {@atfir@ aboat it was tbe possibility for tbe oomraissicwi of wrcmg oontained in its ftr»t provisions, ThW amon&ted to virtuajly p!aoing tbe ooniiol o£ voimV jriglil» in the bateds Qf the miniater of the interil>r. A.t tbat time we deolared in snbstaaoe that il the minister of the intexior aaw £$ he coiild do great harm to the party opposed to the gofemmeni *We alao pointed ont that mneh dissatisfaction waa likely to sp6edily grow ont of the politioal working of snch a law. It ne6ded no political prophet to foresee resnlt Thelawhasalreadjoatxaed and is cansing great dimatisfaotion among the even before thefirst ēlēction therennder is reached. ~~ It ie nnfortnnate that the present minister of the interior has eomehow oyerstepped the limits of a modest political propriety npon the very point where the law is defective. He has mt least sncceeded in blnndering at the one plaee most likely to create dissatrisfaction among electors f vizin the appointment of inspectors. It is fnrther nnfortnnate that the past record of this offioial, as a legielator interested in certain bonnty schemes, is bad. These facts taken in connection with his coorse in relation to the new treaty negotiation, lately attempted with the United Btates, have been snch as to weaken puhlie oon&iēnee 4n the of&cial integrity of the present 1 minister of the interiof. His qnestionable aets and appointments for carrying ont the election law have, therefore, been narrowly watched and ' perhaps have not been too severely criticized when all things are taken into consideration. We fnrtherthiiik' 1 the minister of the interior made a! ' mistake in attempting a newspaper defense of his qnestionable official| 1 condnct. If he had merely carried| | out the ietter of the law iu his official ' aēts, the letter df the law* wonld . certainly have been his best defense. i " ■ ' But it seems that the appointees of | the minister of the interior throughoattheentire islands hava so acted nnder his direotioa and order that the 1 of all classes of voters has donbled within a very short time. i This is most unfortnnate for both thel party, whieh asks to bei taken on trial for two years more, and for the law itself, whieh is on trial for tho&rst time. The eonolnaion »tm! whioh forces itself npon th d pnbi3c mind se&ma to be that the pr aaent law, defective as it is^cbald have been more jnstly and satisfaoto ily oarried out, if it had been placed in sterner and more npright bands. Bnt even had the law in this trial been so handled by an hoßflst and capable minister of the ini erior as to have oansed it to work anioothly withont prodnouig %

great!