Hawaii Holomua, Volume I, Number 85, 28 Kekemapa 1893 — TOPICS OF THE DAY [ARTICLE]

TOPICS OF THE DAY

The mess«pe of Presitlent Clevelanil ou Uawaiian atfairs is a very full anei very able docuiuent. It shows plainly what 1 will be the only conrse whieh the VV United States in honor oan «dopt towards Hawaii, tliat of restoring the popu!ar government heretofore ei joyed by our people. It proves that the American administration fully roalizes, the fact, we!l known to us, that no revointiou wouhl have been eonteniplated ov ntteirtpted without tlie conuivanoe uud as.sistaiice of Ministt‘V Stevens Hiid the troops tindef his or<lei-s. It declares the h»nding of tlio.se tioops to be «u ael of war as it has been clearly demonstrated that snch landing took plaee without Ihe aaneliou of the government of Hawaii and witRout there being any danger for lives and properties of Americans, except, perhaps of thoso desirlng to plaee thomsclves beyond protection of their home governmeut by eommitting the hideous crime of treason. That sober second thougnt now will becomerulingin America 8oems uudoubtedly and we h*fve no fear that congress or the people of the United States for u iuoment will hesitate in following the policy and recommendatiou of the chief executive of the groat l»epublio. That a dolay will be caused by the reference of the Hawaiian matter to congress is of course vory deplorablo, but whatever aeiion congres« now chooses to take will bo fiual and forever set tle thequestion, whetherHawaii is to bo rulod by the people of Hawaii or by the imported mercenaries who follow—for money eonsiduratiou aud grnb—the banner of the s«lf appointed President Mr. S. B. L>ole. In tbe meantime the loyal citizens of Hawaii will coutinue to exercise their palienee, aml eoniiuue to plaee implicit trust in the. honor and justice of the United States. It is to be hoped that tho despatches forwanled by the Oorwin in regar»l to the •cceptauee of the Queen of the conditions impoeed by President Cloveland, and of the demand of Hiuister Willis and the refusal of the Prov’sjcnil Government will expedite roatters, and spur Congress on to i.umediate action. The uusettled state of sfiairs is detrimeutal to everybody, and ■ it doesn’t take a special prophecying capacity to predict iinaneial disaster, aml great hard- . ships among all classes if a stable and comidence-inspiring govern- ] m *nt is not soon installed, As | Iong as the afiairs of State are in ] the hands of meo who find it j Bocosi-iry to entrench themselvcs behin*i <and hags, aml have their i »jr»tcs and persons guardod by ( •Hen&. eonfidence eannot be ( restore»l, nor ean prosperity \ return to the country. < That the Queen should have ( hesiUtod in accepting Uie eon- i l .. : ui

| ditions of Pre«ident Cieveland vrhen he offered to restore her government haa been a painlnl snrprise to her supporters. A spirit of vengeance has never been dominating among her true friends. Her advisers —who ever tbey may be —deserve no thanks for by their foolish advice, hav- ! ing imperilled the chances of a popolar goverument. and caused a continuance of the embarrassing, and objectionable situation of the Kingdom. It should not ; be lost sight of that the majority of the people desires restoration of a constitutional governraent under whieh tbe great principles of popular rights are ihe raain features. As far as the sovereigu is a part of such government the r&stoi-ation of the monarchy has been the object for whieh the people have agitated and worked, but it should never be forgotten that tbe people desire a constilulional government under whioh the sovereign reigns, butdoes not rule and they are uot willing to subn)it to any antocratic form of goveruraent, uever raind under wbat uame it appears or under what disguise it hides its true character *and inclinations. In the President’s raessage. he raakes reference to utterances of the representatives of the Proviaional Government whieh elaim that the |>eopIe of Hawaii are unfit for self-government, aud unableto exercise the franchises. By the people, of course, the Hawaiians are meaut. That is rather refreshing when we remember that the Star, both under the editorship of Dr. McGrew —the annexationists papa —and of Mr. W. G. Smith has proclairaed over and over again that never wouhl aunexation be supported by trne Americans [ here, without, the sacred rights of the popular franchise was granted to the people. Any body doubting the sincerity of tho annexatioa organ in the matter were termcd bad, bad royalists who were misleadiug the poor natives. We feel rather amused uow to see that these *‘patriotic’' Araericans were perfectly willing to give a popular vote to the Hawaiians if Hawaii heeame a territory or State in the American Union while at the same time they declare the Hawaiians absolutel3* unfit to exercise a franchise whieh they have oujo_ved for about fifty yeers. In 1887 there was no talk of restricting the civil rights, but ou the contrary ever> r nian in the countn r at the time of the reform partv’s revolution beeame a voter. Birds of passage ; tonrists skippers were given the right of voting b_v that alleged popular and Iiberal combination whieh then revoited; ignorant Portnguese who eouldn’t read or write heeame voters, and are so to-day, but because the reform ' party in tbe natural course of political developmeuts has beeu reduced to a hopeless minoritv* in tbe country, and has seen tbe reius of the government slip from I tbeir baods, they deliber«tely &ssert that the Hawaiian People are not fit forself-govemment and i‘ unahle to exercise ihe franchise. ; Yes beeause the Hawaiiana becaraepoliticalIy educated,and had feheir eyes opened to the true inwardnes8 of the Reform Party,

and learned to distinguip between trne friends, and faUe frientLs tbey are to be dep*red of their civil rights at the di<nm of a false, p«ffidions poliiieii, like L. A. Thorston. The hneyed words whieh that “stat»man used to speak when he roodly culled himself a kanaka, te flatteries with whieh he trie<to induce ihe Hawaiian men»ers to vote with him are still |esh in the minds of ever\-bo4' has watched his 'since the Legislative session f 1886. His open statement hat the Hawaiians are nufit to pxercise the franchise, we trust jill also remuin fresh in the |inds of every loyal Hawaiian thoso whom he has cajoled int| believing in his friendship. and loyalty, towards native countrv.

The well-known di»ense of swelling of the head rhich we have had occasiou to nmark on among the P. G. auppA’leM has raoken ont in a violedc form in the Advertiser eamp. / To term Cleveland’s msssage ia “backdown” and Thurston'sr‘protest” a document that “anuihilates Cleveland” are some of the latest symptois. That “piotest” by the wayis one of the weakest and mcBt absurd pleas over pnblished. An\* second rate iawyer conld have written it better, although we do not doubt that Mr. Thurston secured some Washington lawyer to write it for him. When Mr. Clevelaud aud Mr. Gresham have received Dole—Hatch's plea to Willis besides Thnrston’s “protest” and Henry Castle’s endorsement of the same, their law-libra-ries will receive a valuable addition indeed and their legal knowledge heeome vastly improved. If the world now could induce W. O. Smith or Chas. Carter to write an essay on Cooley there would be hopes for the coming geuerations at the lawschools in the United States. A laughable eommunieaiion appears in this morning’s Advertiser from one, A. Wellman, (who very probably draws a peusion) dated at Victoria, British Columbia, and to the edect that the writer thereof had conversed (<) with 300,000 (not a cypher less) men of the G. A. R. He states that he was one of the thousands that followed Grant and Sherman. Of course he does not mention the distauce he was from them. His commuuicatiou and the location he is in, so far removed from home, gives opportnnity to think that he “left his j conntry for his country’s good” or tbat he is a book agent and is simply makiug a bid for loeal patronage like his loeal confrere, “Mae.” Tbe Bnlletin says that: “An oligarchy is the worst kind I of a tyr»nny. Onre wonld snp- j press freedom df speech and the ! iiberty of the press if it were not that it plays largely to the galleries across seas. Its spirit is cvident enongh, however, trom the words of its organs. When tbe Star invoked the sedition law against a contemporaiy, it spoke uuder the inspiration of the oligarchy.” Smithof the Star, won’t like that, brother Hullelin, he claims the attribates of * seventh son

of a son of a— well, seTenth son, on wheela. anvl it is his oracles that inspire the oligarchy. At least be. anJ a d d associate. elaim lhat power. aml point with priile to their snooessfal eoup bv sbaking the American Leagoe “bogie nian ’ in the faces of the powers tbat be.

The present oligarchical “powen. that be, are casting breacl opon the political waters whieh will uncloubtedly relorn to them anon. in a most unweleome manuer. There is a coustant menaee tothelivesandthe property of citizens of all anel even* nationality, who reside in Honololo. on account of tbe presence of the large number of meu. sti - augers to the coontry and people, many of the new comers being of decidedly questionable character, who fill the ranks of the regular troops, who compose the bnlk of the so-called, Aruerican league, and all of whom bave been tboroughly armed and equipped bv the Provisional Government. The retnrning waters are apt to present an uucontrollable force aud power whieh may convey the floating riff-raff with a strength and qnantity whieh will serve to enforce the biblical precept as expounded by the lachrymose Beckwith, that “they who iive by tbe sword shall perish by the sword.’’ But precepts do uot atfect the minds of the present rulers unless there are tangible dollars connected therowith.

•‘Hope deferbed maketb tbe heart sick,” bnt “Great boclies move slowly,’ aiul “lberes many a slip ’twixt tbe eup and the lip.” However, “All tbiugs cometh unto him who kuows, with patience, how to wait.” *