Nuhou, Volume I, Number 4, 25 Nowemapa 1873 — THE MINISTERIAL COLLAPSE. [ARTICLE]

THE MINISTERIAL COLLAPSE.

lndignntiōn woul(ī hardly' exproBs the !eeling 1 among thc friendf m well ae the opponents of Mittistevs, when their hnmiliating haek dow r n on ; the Peavl IJarbor ceesion measure wae announee<3l in thc Ministerial organ <>f last Wednesdaj; no } ; dieguBt i8 the word, and ihat muet he qualified as j intense, m order to espress correetlj the senti- j ment of Ilonoluiu, whether Ministerial or ; \*icidn, nadve or foretgn ? in respect to the recent j shamefnl suri*eDder on the part oi the King ? & advisers. And what must be the feeling in Ameriea, < and egpecially in the Cabinet of Preeident Grant J on receipt of the news of our Miniet€rial liaeeo ? Must they not regard as an insult thie uncalled for, cavalierieh wifchdrawal of an urgent diplomatic overture, whieh had aheady engaged thcir attention ? 0r must we hope that thej will appreciate only, that they are dealing with po!itical ignoramuses wlio repreBent the eiude j diplomacy of a nascent si>cietj and not with en-! lightened puhlie men, aniinated by ahigh sense of' responsibility. But we ought not to indulge in i this hope, when the diplomatic functions of the > governmcnt are lilled by the sueceseor of a statesuian like WyJlie. The statesmanehip of this arehipeiago lias here- ! tofore won in the civilized world some little eon- j Bideration and rcgpect; and a few of the puhlie men of Hawaii have given it a consequence among Statesj whieh its own condition and resourcee could never win ; but now we feel that it muet beneath its own poor condition, beneath any grade of civilizcd statesmanship, and be rated \vith Indian diplomacy in deeeit and bad fait.h ; or with a mere t>arbarous chieftainey in vacillation and cowardice. llere w;ts a soleinn proposltiou oi a crcaty iuade io a Great Fower, whieh proposition had to some extent been invitcd by the instruetions of the Secreiary of State of that Power to its Minister Kesidcnt in this kingdom. Thc o!yects aud the proposed basis of this treaty, were claiiiied by its prqjectors, to rcprcsent the best intereets of the 5 and the cordial approval of an inlluential portion of thc people, The Ohief of the . State was induced by llis advisers to give His royal sanctioDto the proposal, It was formaily nubmitted to the Kepresentative of the Great Power in order to be laid before liis govemment; and the u official declaration of this government in the only ehannel through wliieh it seeks to convey its authoritative utterancee, was aeeompanicd by the most empliatic assurance« that this proposition of Hawaii to America wouldbc detcrminedly maintained by the Miniet€rs of the Crown, and that it involjed the honor of the King; andyet witliin a few months after assuming this bold and eolemn attitude the Jlinistere 3bameleB«ly withdraw their proposition and sacr|iiee the honor of the SoYereigu and the country, Attd where!hre this sudden back down ; this miserable collapse? Has the Recipicnt of oar proposition declined to givc it consideration ? Or ifc alledged that the bad faith of the Soverckc, .. O * or the factious ojlposition of a Legielative body has interposed insurmountable obstacles in the way of the negotiation of the treaty 7 No, noihing of thc kind t is yet no response to our propoß.\L The Ministers stlll cnjoy the favor and eonfldenceJ M of the Sovereign, and we are yet six months away from any Legislative opposltlon. Then wheren)re, we not in the name of eommon Kense f but of eominon eoun\gt% this sudden

and pitiful flunk of our li Miriii?try J in Bupport of a measure, the " desirablenees *' * j of whieh they still maintain? Beeause forsooth, answers the»Minister of Foreign Affaire, ihe i general feeling of th.ecountry is so adverse to the | measure. j evidence is there of thi& adverte leelj ing ?' What puhlio discussion or demoristratiui], jor what notoUb eoiyluet to prove it? Wheiein i have ministry beeu lrammeled by the aeeion; jor voice of opposition ? There has not been even | ja suspicion of any overt act of opposition. And |if a voice, —what voice that should huve stayed j t,heir handa ? Weie they demoralized by the denunciatione of a member of the Privy "Council in a public address, or did other thunder eheek the majestic movement of government? Was itj our voice, when we alone, as journalists, and against the wish of almost every influential foreign friend, emphatically deejared our ,opposition jto the Pearl Harbor cession , and so speaking to j the heart of Hawaii awakened the cowardly fears j of Ministers as though they saw the hand-writing j of fate upon the wall ? lt wou!d appear to be even so. \Vhat else there on the poli tieal field in oppoeition to _the ministry but the Standard of the Nuaou ? And yielding thus, —-wilting, and hauling uown thcir colors at the first determined out-cry o( oppositioD, must sink thepi as puhlie men beneath contempt; not only our's whieh was felt and uttered in respect to them when thcy began their carcer of misrule aud vacillation ; but beneath fchat ot thcir very best friends, and by this diplomatic eollapae, whieh far excecds in folly the poltromcry at the Barracks, they escite, as Ministers } ! in the mind of this community 5 the most intensti disgust; and their continuation in office ean be accountcd for by the mvalid condition of the Sovereign, and their shameless grced of salary at the sacrifice of every sense of honor.