Hawaii Holomua, Volume I, Number 25, 16 ʻOkakopa 1893 — TOPICS OF THE DAY. [ARTICLE]

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

His Esoelleucy L. A. Thurstou Minister etc. to Waslnngton is novr spemlmg his time (for whieh the Hawaiian Taxpavers ■ pay hiiu) in promoting a new Rtock-coiupanv ti> be ealleel tho Hanaiiuu E\hibitiou Company. The object ef tl»e company ia to prepare a Hawaiian exhibit at llie coinii.g F»ir in C.»lifornia aml thereby help to bomn the Cyclorama Compan\ whieh is K> b<> sliifle»l fr >!u Cnicago to‘ Sau Fr»ncisco. lt i* proposed ! that the stock-capital of the new company le fifty t!ionsand dollars. Shares will be issued |o the amouul of twenty five thousaud dollars for casb to admiring and confident s|>eculat«>rs in »lime mnaenma and Thurston. while thebalance will Ih> keot by tue promoters. An olabor.ite progr «nune hasbeenarTangtnl whieh K>oks <-xtemely well —on p-per. Tlie estimates of ox|>enditur«*s aml rcceipte ahow ; that tbere will l>e a elean gain of ! $23.234, whieh also looks well —OU pajH’r. hat we would j like to know is th *ngh how the J eventual c*sh-silbscnbers ar»' to t get their inveded twenty five ihooa&nil ilollars b.sck *‘after the ( f.-»ir is over The estmiated Rurplns of $23 234 will, »e pre snme. be ]>aid as dividends on the tet i) eapiial st >ck of fiftvthoasaud d<«ll.«rs. ami the sabRcribors besides this divī»lend will be ilie proud |>osse.ss»'rs of some ba!K>cks. st>mo h >uses (eheap) and two e tutH‘s, besities sharks. i gt»ese, hihimauo. donkeys, • squuis and Lays<n Island birds. Tbe prt%spects of owning all j this tu isoeIlaQei<us assortioent may of «mee make the heaiia «wvll, an»! Ihe p*>ckets o[>en of eowe of oars fetl<>w citixens. but we donbt thongh tbal it will be to the laue of $25 000—with tbe cther $25,000 to pro»>»oter Thurs- ‘

t*a. The fact i_> that Hawaii has rer little to exhibit whieh will attract maeh attention at any exjxwition. Ther« is no longer any onpiual feature» in Hawaii, or in the tnode of living of the Hawaiiana. To see some leiI>edecked natives eatinp jx>i, tnay attract »ome coriosity, bnt we doubt tbat it will be of safficient interest to make it a great ■‘draw.” The Hawaiian» live rery mneh like other peoj>le nowa dmya. The giass hut» have disaj>j>eare«i and the usaal neat cottages of tbe frnning classes in otlier tr»pical countries have t«ken their j>laces. Mr. Thurston is well aware that any at- ! tem;*t to j>resent the Hawaiians | as s*‘rai barbarians amlasx half-civiliz-d nation is a fraud—whieh will be recoguized and comraeuted ou by the thous.»mls of C ilif*»ruians who h ive visited these islands. The itumense beuefit whieh Hawaii eau derive from making an exhibit at the fair we caunot see. What are we goiug to g iin by it? Of course Mr. Thurston will answer “iourists. ’ Soraehow or other the tourists are slow in coming in spite of all the efforts of Mr. Thnrston and his crowd. And even if they do eome their uumber will never be sufficiently l;trge to be of any visible benefit to tbe conntry at Iarge. Tourist -travelling iu Switzer-

laml has often been meutioned as a proof of whut a great beuefit, and what a great revenue a eountrv ean derive frora becoming the plaee where all excucsionists and tourists desire to go. Bnt look at the ditfereuce. It takes a ! tiresome sea-voyage of fourteen davs to g<> to Hawaii and back to Sau Francisco, while Switzerland ean be reached in less than 24 hours from nearly every point in Europe. In H »waii the travelIer is cnt oti’ «bsolut«ly from ail coimnnnications with his home i»nd must live not less : than a montb withont being able t;> exchango messages while iu Switzerland, he has the eahle and tbe mail aml ean return home if needed in a few lours. To travel in Hi[waii is a costlv atfair. Only well to do [Hiople ean attonl it. To travel in Switzerland tloe.su’t cost more or in raany instances as mueh as it costs tbe traveller to stay at home and live in bis ordinary stvle. lu Switzerlund the tour- ; ist ean get anything he desires : in th« liue of nccoioodttions both in the line of sleeping, eat ing and drinking, in Hawaii—well the lesssāid tbe better. No Uken as a whole Hawaii will not at present heeome a gatbering plaee for toorists even if she takes part in a thoos-tnd ex;*os tions. Is it then oarcommerce whieh is to be benefited by Mr. Thorston’s $cbeme? Harvlly; becau.se it is not likely that we will n»ise one ponnd inon* of sugar whieh is the main-stay of oor commerce, be c*ns- we exhibit oor villages, sh trks and faos. Taro door has ; l*een |xHidled to fairs in P«ris I aml «>ther plaeee. and reoeiveti f go!d raetlala and meniion konor~ raU b >t we d>>u‘t b«]ieve that the manufacturers ever have had orders for even five tons from abn«ad. The liqoor known as ohUekao bas aiso tak«a goid medals. but tbat in»iustn is of eourse &trictly lat> u in our

missioDary—blesse*l eommn- | nity. Goa\a Jelly then — oh! gire ns a rest on goava jelly. Wh»t is there then to be g»ined by indoc ng people here to pat np their h»nl e«rned cash for the pnrpose of semling an Hawaiimn exhibit to the Midwinter Fair< Certainly n >tbinp for Hawaii—for Thurston perLap« a great deal. j The disposition whieh this promoter makes of the Hawaiian Band is a pieee of his nsual j ehewk. The Bandmen have not j sipnified their willmgness to po jto California and as lonp as j Thurston has anytbing to do i with the Fair it is extivme!ly donbtful if thev will | en{*rtain anv propositions to po. The only thing that oan attract foreigners to an Hawaiian E\hibition is the Hula, and that hag been tabooed. It is sad, but it is true. The Hula is the onlv original true Hawaiian feature whieh we have left—ami that we may as well keep at home and for close«l doors. The people who have heretofore invested in Mr. Thnrston’s many schemes should po a little slow and thiuk well before they “dig. It is jnst as well to see if auy returns will ever eome from the old enterprises before embarking in new ones. Mr. Thnrstou is all right. The governraent pays hua a handsome salary—to the stockbo!ders, not a bean.

The Tramwnys Compaoy, has aiways be«»n the objeot of the Advertiser’s ji«rsecution whioh has constantly been directed Mr. Paine, the mauii};er of the Comj):inv. The P. G. seeras to have taken the eue frora its serai-official sheet und is trying to annoy Mr Paine and interfere with the cars on «11 and everv oeeaaion. The latest ex | hibition of this fee!ing was the i uuwarranted stopj)ing of the cars for one hour while the circus on palaee square ,took j)lace. Fhe Trarawavs Coinp«ny, uot alone has a frauchise under whieh it has the sole uso and nght of w.»v of the j>ortion of the streets granted to it, but what we consider of mneh more iinjH»rtance is the fact that the tram cars »re one of the greatest beuefits to the community, aiul virtuall%’ havo l)ecome an indis- . j>ensable necessity. When the Government or rather the head of jK)lice Mr. W . O. Smith obstrncts aml annoys ! the company. he ann«’ys and obstructs the citieeus of Hono Inlu. It was simply a pelty and mean pieee of spite whieh autborized tbe stoi pmg of tbe cars at Palaee Square. The officers in 1 eo umand—if they knew their , basiness—should certainly have { their lnv'ps so well io hand that i thev could drill them and make evol«tioDS witboat toncb- j ing a given line. Me are inclioetl to believe that it is true j as stated in tbe cars on Saturday | mght. th«t the only way to get the haUliion in a »tr*igbt line is to nse toe rails of the tn»m cars as a '’Uie line." Of cour»e Mr Paine onghl to be satisfie»l witb le«roiogtbat b s eomj)«»y ts of valoable assisUnoe lo tbe maneuvres ol the P. G- battallioo. 1The Advertiser iodicates that ihe driil l*st S*turd»y had for

its object tbe stnkĪDg of lerror inlo the “90»!s' of all the royalist. besides an e\plainabie fe«r that some gxm or I>r. Rodgers might “go otT’ and injorv somelxxlv, one bv trnng to kill aml the oiher by tiying to heal tbe only feeling create*l wa» one of the iargest and raost perfect amusement. It is hardly eomplimenUn' to the original five provisional commisioners and to M*ssrs. Thurston. AJe\ander, Hastmgs aml the rvst of those who have represente*i tha l’. 0. in Washington that the 8tar eonsiders it nei‘-ssarv to send e\-Judge Dole there to pr»ve that the revolotionists »re not filibosters ' pirates or disrepntable oharacters geoerallv Evidentlv the Star doesn’t think that the first batcbes Lave socce<xled in disprovinp the soft im|X'achment.