Ka Leo o ka Lahui, Volume II, Number 170, 13 April 1891 — Theory and Practice. [ARTICLE]

Theory and Practice.

Are the peopleinte3lect.nally ehil» dren that they ean be oleeeived by specious preter»ces? Are they nierized. that they rnust believe all thatis to!d them? If there is one thing that lias been persisfent;y paraded by the ll ßeform" prcss, it is that the Ministry is resnonsible. They ought ta be since the wholepower ot' the government is eoneentrated in their hands, Bot are they? Snppose a humble citizen ie killed, as recently occurred in Hawaii, and the powers choose to shicld the murderer, is there any way to compel the ininister to enforce the law? Suppose the minist'T sol!s or re-leases gcvernment land for onetenth of its value T or makes money out of opium; suppose, through the maliceof some petty ofiicial appoint* ed by a responsib!e minister J a man is kept in jail a raonth or two without oauae ur is thrust into n pen with lepers v , what ea n done about it? The ministers are rosponsible. To whoui, when and where? The legislature ean turn them out and the sovereign may appaint a worse lot. The first step toward a bettor state of things is to make officialB resnonsible directlv to the people instead of to eaeh other. The people demand loeal self-governiQ6iit.