Ka Leo o ka Lahui, Volume II, Number 349, 21 December 1891 — Election of Officers [ARTICLE]

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Election of Officers

The«Tight of the people to eieot wlion> tbey will to govern thdm can«ot; he disputal. /Whethfi ruler*of a eowntTy is a mōnarch br a presidentj either is only a rep£gsentative of power frmn tbe people. The peopli ia tfie nation, and everv governmeQtaL t pow«er,fromthe chief to the of« fioer, are only Bervants of tke peo-1 ple. They are p!aced in authority to carry out the wiehee of the peonple. Any other form of govern- i inent contrarv to the immutable principles of right cannot he" just to the people. and is sure to lead to ustiTpation ot authority on tKe part of the servant, whose duly 1s simplv to admintster, regnlatē and execute the .wishes of- thē people, and diss:itisfuction to the latter. The old and exploded idea that u the powew that be are ordained of God," and shou!d' l e aecepted and respccted ns such, purelv a firtion of mau. /' is ihe gcnius of tjn ccrmnenl itsctf that is Ot God. First in oruer then is 6ul>,mission to the will of God. as expressed Uir<>u<jh tho voice of the }>eople. Outside of the theocracv ot* Israel, ,! .« r»' n« v r \u s heen U rulcr on earth wh «e authority,

! prim trily r.r nltimately, express or permissively. was not dewved from the pev#ple. Wc. therefore, deem it just that a return to this first princi{)4e, should be the aim of everv man in this country. It heing right, an-d innontrovertible, we cannot tor a momei>t believe, that anv one profeBsing to serve the puhlie, c?ui hfa ve the temerity to deny the j,Ußtice at all times, and the imperative and imminent necessity of in-' stituting the elective principle as far as praticable in the ehoiee of public servatits without an} r further delay. The condition of the affairs of the country atid the thorough Trrttonness of iti all its divisions, wa, crying shame. Our country stands in urgent need of reforui in the civil service, and there ean ®nly be one way of making the correction. * Every honesl an intelligent m&n plainly sees for himgelf the corruption and mal-ad-mini3tratiOQ of affaire" under existing laws. more>especially under tbe fundamental law of the country. To thig latter document may be atttibn{ed all our'present diflsculties.

Aā has be©n rightly stated by one i of th» parties to the cause that' brought tbat docuqaent to *the sur* face, aud whieh eventcally became the law. of the that it wās revx>lutionary dicument. frauaed for a republic and afterwards, hastily recenstructed to suit a monarchical form of governmeot, atid emb«dying in it provi»tons for the protection of its ajjthsrs. For thie fea--Bo'ii, ihe documftnt, or our preseet constitu tion»is radically imperfect and unfit as the fundamental law of the land. lt» pv6visions are unfit illogical and arbitwury. In order, therefore, to carry out the principles of election of officers. is is nee«ssary to change the constituiion, and to begin with the Judiciary, anel first of all with the Supreme Court J«dge6.

The expense attaehed in carrying the idea, of election of officers ia a pronaioent consideration, as it entails additional bur4ens apon the government; bnt no amount of co*rt howsver large sbould be weighed agāinst the virtue of an act that is for the good of the people, beoause if iC is and it wili bringabout e re-adjgstment of the affilrs of the country upon the prjncipleß of aji4 restore bis inherent rigHts, |be benefits aitd the general saf3sfa<sion that will ariee from the act will alone more than cover any oiitlay. While endeavoring to carry out the idea, | cheaoness th©n withoot destro3nng the pnneiple is the first thing to be doae. In order to do this, witK ferenee to tbe superior judges, the nominaiion should be made by the ehief executive and approved bv a majority of the elective members of the Xo tbis manner, tho responsibility is propor-! tionally divided, between the head ] of and the nation itself, virtuall V carrying the primary principles orj very genius of government into effeol. Wo believe that this plan fitlv and eompletely earries out. in an I inexpensive way ihe will of the peoplo, The detail as to term, is a matter oF niin >r conBĪderation. To be Continued.