The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1859-01-20
III PACIFIC
Commercial Advertiser.
THURSDAY, 20.

IL Saturdays proceedings of the House of
Representatives it will be seen that a resolution
was adopted, on motion of the member for
Kohala, calling upon the House of Mobiles for
information as to their action ON that part of the
Code prescribing what persons may sell and buy
spirits. The resolution was prOfessedly based on
the report-which it seems was true-that the
Upper House had reconstructed the law, SO as
to allow natives to take out licenses Cor the sale
of spirits, and that they intended also to pass a
section allowing the selling of the same to ma
tivcs. We can fully appreciate the feeling of
opposition entertained by the Representatives to
such a measure, as calculated TO seal the doom of
the Hawaiian race, and to undo all that has been
done or is now doing to save them from extinc-
ton.
Bat we consider this resolution of the Represeri-
tatiyes as injurious, hasty, uncalled-for, and, in a
measure, insolent. IF the Lower House had rea-
son to suppose that the action of the Mobiles was
such that it could not be acquiesccdi in by them the
proper course was to wait till the Mobiles chose to
send down their work for approval. To say the
least, it is unparliamentary for either House to
send such a message TO the other, basing such &C
ton on rumor and not on official communication.
The reply of the Mobiles to the inquiry of the
Clerk of the Lower House (see report of House
of Nobles) is just such as we should suppose they
would make, and probably just what the Lower
House would have made to a similar demand from
the Upper.
The House of Representatives can now do no
thing on the subject, but wait the pleasure of
the Mobiles, which they should have done quietly
in the first place. As matters now stand, a feel
ing of disunion seems to be brewing between the
two Houses which may result in throwing out the
Code for the present session, though we sincerely
hope that both Houses will exercise discretion
and aim at a spirit Of Cancellation and harmony
in the passage of this important measure.
The bill for raising funds to build bridges APP
pears to be a hard nut for the Honorables to
crack. 1t was first introduced by one of the
members for Honolulu, and proposed to tax real
estate, carriages and carts. 1t was then referred
to the Committee on Finance to amend. Since
then it has been reported and r~e-committed some
three or four times, undergoing as many changes
as a chameleon is capable of, but without, in any
one instance, suiting a majority of that astute
body, the House of Representatives. The last
form which it assumed was a proposition to tax
every male inhabitant in this district two dollars,
with the express provision that whoever pays this
tax shall be exempt from the annual road-tax for
1852 a most singular proposition, truly
The most interesting, if not the most important.
subject that has come up before the Lower House
during the past week, is that of passports. Asst
relates chiefly to foreigners, we wish to show
some of the main points of the law as it came be
fore the House. that they may not be ignorant of
it in case it is passed. +.
The passport system as is exists in Europe is an
obnoxious one- 1t is resorted to chiefly by the
despots of Europe to guard their territories and
prevent the entrance of persons of equivocal OF
seditious character And 50 ~stringently is it car
ried out in France, Austria, and some other coun-
tries. that it is almost impossible for a person to