Ka Leo o ka Lahui, Volume II, Number 292, 1 October 1891 — Platform of Principle OF THE HAWAIIAN NATIONAL LIBERAL PARTY. [ARTICLE]

Platform of Principle OF THE HAWAIIAN NATIONAL LIBERAL PARTY.

PRINCIPLE 0F GOVEENMENT ANB: CONBTITUTION. | 1. We deemi that aīl Government 1 should be foundied on the principles of f Libsrty, Equality and Fraternity; \re hold thafc ali men are born free andequal before the law and a"re onciL\ved with inalienable rights to life, to liberty, to propertp, to the pursuit of happiness ;and to self-protection against arbitrary j concentration of - power, irresponeible! wealth, and unfair co:npetition. We be»i lieve that just government exists only by the consent of the People, and tbat, when it beeomes necessary for the ;publie welfare, thej> may abolish existing forms and €stablish more advantageous and equitable BvTstem; a and, as the present Constit«tion of the Hawaiian Kingdom never has had the approval of the i People, but was establ/sd tsy~iuti'midation and fraud for the ben6fit of a ccr.ta.in class, therefore. we favor the adoption Gf n new and more liberal Con- i stitution, to truly secnre a Government I People.' , | INJ)EPENDENCtf 0F THE COUNTHY , 2. Outoiconsideration fortheinherent l riglits and present opinions of the native population, we dersire to.retain the tndependence of the Country and defend 'i its autonomy, under a >iberal and poph-! lar iorm of government; l>utour Treaties with Foreign Powers, ar.d especially with the XJnited States of America, should be revised, Ko ās to,better rneet present neceesities md to obtain more equitable in exchan"ge of those granted by us. .7 UDICIARY REFORMS _ 3. Our Judiciary system and Code of Procedure n^ust; be submitted to a thorough revision, so as to secure a eheap andprompt administration of justice,free of all sectarian or patisan ssfit, and to render the J udges more direc.tly respon,sible to the People; anep I "we are in fāvor of a more iiber;.l interpretatioa of Constitutional guarairtees of>lie freedom ol speech and of prees. TAXATION 4.. A more ju«t a,ndp£rfect svstem qi Taxation must inaugurated, to abo* lish the presentj inequalities, by whieh the property of the poor is excessively taxed, while mueh cf the rich mah's goods]are undet valued for assessment or taxaticn; ,iye- shafl therefcvre passage of laws that will morej.©ffectually snbject the property of corj|oraticnb and rich citizeiis to their jugt proportion of public burdens, while) granting more 'liberal exemptions to the poor; and as a means of discouraging the locking up of large tracts of lands, a difierential tax sjbould be levied in addition to the usual assessmen< 011 valu'atidn.wliieh should be in proportion to the fertility of the soil. Wejshall also favor thft*es* tablisliment of a graduated income*tax, and thus expect to obtain ample funds for conducting ihe g«>vernment and attending t» all puhlie improvements without nnv fnrther ealla 011 the masse!!. MONOPOLIEB 5. We shail use our efforts to obt*in laws by whieh » l favoritism in tho go ernment and all monoix>lies» trusts and privileges to classes shall be rendereil hy full, definite and mandatory jitatutes. PITBLIC SERVANTS. ī>. ]ietter laws should regulate th< Oivil Servii>e. The principle of the eloetion of oti;ceri4 oi the government bv t he people should Ih* exknuW, and no man shoviUl allowiHl to hold more Uian one of proiit, wliilst salario6 should Ih» atlai]uate for the sarvices rendeml. All exee6siYe salarie« «houhl be r»nlravd and r.ll einecures or otluvs abolisheil. ?nOTEUTiON T<> UOME IX--1) 'STUIKS 7. We :n f ,ivor 01 emvura£in£ al) home a*mcultmv aiul indu*trio>\ aiul all our nativo hke tobacvv>, e: 'v pretrc«sl

and fosteredby,proper tarifT regulatie«; - and alaa it must be the duty of the G<wment, in ita contracts and otb«er tions, to give preference to national products over imported ones. LOO AL SELF-G()YERNMENT . We desire a more liberal poHcy towards the different lelands of the Kingdom, outside of Oahu ; they. should receive a fairer proportion of the public mont*3 T a for the devfclopment of their resonrces and the eatisfactirn of their wants. In fact, tbe principle of loeal Self-government should be ext|nded, whereby giving localities may choose the most important of tlieir loeal executive officers, and levy taxes for the purpose loeal imi>rovements ofa public nature. PROTECTION TO THE LABOURING, CLASSBS ehall endorse all" measures tending to improve the condition of thg_ w&i*)dng classes, and consaiuently, without isjuring any vested "rights, we will advocate laws to prevent all further importation 6r employiaent of contractlabor of any kind, upon coDditionswhieh will bring it, into a ruin©us and degrading conjpetit ion with free Hawaiian or white labor. We sliall in the interest of the Jaetter protettiott _of ' the poor, ask fbr more liberal exemptions of their property frotn,forced sale on execution, aud from«seizure in bankruptcy proceedines. SMALL FARMING AKD HOME- " STEADS. 10. The \vealthy fraction of our population liave hrthertō prevented-the developmeht°of an indepeh#entclass of citizens; the public lands have been $equired and have been tie4 *up in iar-fe\y %a«ds or parcelled to auit favorites small farmers and plantfers have.feeen out by corporations- ar combinations ©f oapitalists; but as small farming is eonducive to the stability of the State, it should pe encouraged by . a new and . more liberal Homestead act, by whieh the ownership of small trscts of land t and the settlement thereon of famiīies cf our present populatlon,—and especial1y of the native Hawaiians who have been left alincst honieless in there eountry be rendered goes.ble. To that end, the Gpvernment and Oown lands, ( in so L\r as ean be done without invadtng vestedr:ghts ) Nhould bedevoted as soon as possible to and conferred upon bona-£ide settlers free of taxes for a limited period. It should be the further aim of government to, at onee, so far iriipTOve the niearis 6f transportrtion,—loe&l, national and internationah —as t» provide, in all the districts, eheap meaiiK of coi\vey— ing the product of the soil to market. >XECTQRAL RIGRT. ' 11. We hold that upright and honeet manhood, and not the l>osfeession of\ \vealth, arbitrarily iixed, should constithe right to vote ior nobles as well as representativea, and no more power should be accorded to the ,ballot of the rich m%n than to the baHot of the poor man. The discrimination in favor of wealth now made in oui* Constitution is coiittraiy to all the eternal pririciples of right and justice, and must be abolishe<l. To this end, we will favor a leveling" of the preeent distinction of wealUi and claases whieh blemish our laws witii respect of the rigbt to yote for nobles, thereby restoring to the native Hawaiians privileges whieh perta:n to them in their own couutry, anti of whieh they have been unjustly deprived. INTERNAL IMFROVE^ENTS 12 faivor the expenditure of cient sums tcf secare%, number of neetied pnhlie improvements onOahu and other Islands; sohool, rai!roads and harbors and whar\-ee, puhlie light, and als»o a tliorough svatem of res*urvoirs and water»wurks, not onlv for Honolulu, but >through-out the othcr lslands. That a voice ia the crowd at tbe last meeting said, no aiore nobleS this timo; too muoh suy he vott new coustitution, bm he he fbr»et ail timu, — aml like fvx>l Kanaka too aiueh. Mo him t\o\r. Moro trutu t!uu iK>ctr\\ iu this.