The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1864-06-04
For the Pacific ComI Adyertiser.)
Review of &C. G. H.
crates.

NiIulliOH II SChSi ~ : VIZ SuS Vi INSECURITY
prevails. The constant attacks of the late govern
ment organ on the liberal features of our Constitu-
ton, the known sentiments of those around His
Majesty, the long delay in converting the Legislature,
and in browning the King, the fact that measures of
the most vital Importance have been kept secret by
the Cabinet, and not laid before the Privy Council
according to Art. So of the Constitution, these and
other reasons might well create suspicion and anxiety
in the most sober minds. | am thankful therefore
for anything that will throw any light on the pur-
poses of the government, and their objects in calling
a constitutional convention. On this ground l feel
obliged to sc. G. H." for his explanations. tardy
though they may be. l see no good reason why this
information was not given to the public three months
ago, and published in the native language as well as
in English. Publicity is as characteristic of consti-
tutional governments as secresy is of despotism.
am surprised that (" C. c. H." has not yet deign-
ed TO answer the plain and simple question asked by
"Makaainana." Does he not know that it far tran
sends in Importance all other questions before the
public /? Does he not see that all the amendments TO
the Constitution, which he has recommended, sink
into utter insignifcance when the method of amend
ing it is in question ? By the former he merely pro-
poses to make some immaterial alterations in it; by
the latter he would violate its plainest and most i'm
portant provisions. The illegal and revolutionary
character OF the WnOle proceeding mas Deen Clearly
shown by your correspondents. What is the use of
having a Constitution, if it can be changed or annulled
more summarily than a dog tax !, Any ordinary enact
ment, in order to be repealed, requires the i~ndepend-
ent and concurrent action of the three estates of the
Realm, while in this convention the basis of the whole
government, from which the King, n obles and Com
mons alike derive their prerogatives, is to be remod-
eled by a single assembly without the salutary check
of another chamber.
would ask { c. c. H. whether the nelU Consti-
tuition is to contain any article prescribing the mode
in which it is to be amended. What would be the
use of inserting such an article, if the present con-
vention is to serve as a precedent What confidence
could be felt in the stability Of the government, and
what security would there be for the liberties of the
ubject? 1t will not do to ridicule the idea of as
packed convention, for such things are too common
even in our own day, and what has been may be
again. Time and again the English Parliament ha-
been packed, as for example during Fox's struggle
with the East India Company, and we know too we'll
how scientifically elections are engineered by the
French government. Where the influence of govern
ment patronage is so generally felt as it is here, and
where the people are so rarely able to resist the per-
sonal ascendency of their hereditary chiefs, the won-
1----i-..--y ""r up q rueIr HoertIes at all.
How the government will succeed in packing the
NSN OOhf lChiAiDo " ~ SCShs ShlSI OuI
present rulers the measure may not lead to any seri-
Gus detriment to the liberties of the people; but under
a reckless and grasping monarch. surrounded by a
shrewder and ADLER Ministry, the consequences might
be fatal to the liberties of the people. Let &C. C.
H." understand, then, that even if all his amend
ments were good and desirable. we should oppose "in
toto'' the method by which they are to be adopted,
as illegal and revolutionary, as unsettling if not
destroying that which is the essential condition of all
free governments, viz, the inviolability of the Con-
stitution or constitutional morality" as Grote finely
calls it in his history of Greece.
After reading carefully &C. C. H.'s' communica-
tions, | have not found any amendment proposed,
which is of pressing i'm portanoe, or which could not
be acted on in the regular constitutional way. He
seems to consider the succession his strongest point,
but the amendments proposed by the late King,
which will pass the Legislature unanimously, (f they
are ever called ~together,) covers all possible contin-
gencies. The only improvement that could be made
in it would be the addition of a few words declaring
the successor after Victoria (appointed in the man
ner which it prescribes) to be the founder of a new
hereditary line. All the amendments proposed by
the late King would pass the present Legislature
without difficulty, and all but the 4th. on property
qualification Of Representatives, by n unanimous vote.
That they did not pass in 1860. was owing to the
- TIC l$ASSubNO OihONio ~ oOiSu buCm
three months, according to the Constitution, rather
than to the fault of the Legislature. Nor would the
amendments so far, proposed by &C. C. H. meet
much opposition if submitted in a constitutional tcay
TO the Legislature.
l would humbly suggest an additional amendment
to Art. 81, making it read as follows 1.-THE Legisla-
tive body shall meet at least once in every two years, for
the purpose of seeking the welfare of the nation, and
such meeting shall be on the first Monday in April,
and at such other time and in the place that the
King may judge necessary" sc. Most of the amend
ments so far proposed, are mere changes of phrase
ology ard involve, no principle of Importance.
L cannot say the same of the printers mistake of
which he complains in his last letter. Never was
omission of the word not in the sentence, . the
convention has been called at such n time that, if
they do not see fit to make any changes, the Legisla-
ture may be called within the time prescribed by the
Constitution " Roderick, l thank thee for the
word" That little not is the cloveu foot which
reveals TO US the conspiracy in all its deformity. If
the convention do see fit to make any changes, uhat
then ? Why not speak out, man, and let US know
The sentence as first printed led " ATakaainCna'' and
other good souls, to fondly imagine that the Ministry
had modified their original programme, and &" that
the Legislature UouId be conrened according TO law"
But that not sets US all adrift again. The sentence
as corrected implies that if the convention see fit to
alter the Constitution, the Legislature piH not be
convened according to Art. 61st of the Constitution
Will the convention be expected TO vote the necessary
supplies, and thus usurp the powers of the Legisla-
ture: In any case, Art. 10Th would have to be
violated (which va ouoteJ bv g NTakoajnapa,' in