The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1866-06-09
THE PACIFIC
Commercial Advertiser.

IHE Legislative proceedings that appear IN
this issue possess more than usual interest, as
the various subjects that have ONE up for dis
cussiOn have been quite important and handled
with considerable skill by the debaters. We
would call attention to those reports. which
are made as brief as possible, and yet give
the pith Of all that goes on in the Assembly.
As the session progresses and the native MEM
bers watch more closely their privileges and the
weak points in the arguments Of the Ministers,
frequent sIarripg takes place, and some keen
wit is uttered.
On the 3lst of May. the debate conferred on
the repeal of the = Passenger Act passed by
the last Legislature. and which took effect Jan. l,
1866. Under this law, every coasting vessel
is compelled to obtain 4 license, and have d
Captain skilled in navigation. Various fees,
fines and penalties are imposed under the act.
For instance, the vessel must Jay Il license fec
Of -. y Captain must pay so for a license
qualifying him to command, and be liable to
4 fine Of 500, if more than one passenger is
carried to each two tons register. The results
are just what was anticipated, if not desired,
that the native captains are all thrown out Of
employ, that twenty foreign captains have lad
to pay ten dollars apiece to government, the price
Of passage is raised to double the old rate,
and the native travel has been very nearly sus-
pended. The act has been very unpopular with
all-fUrcigners as we'll as natives but is on
q par with everything done by that Legislature.
The bill to repeal this obnoxious law is u
very just one, and should have emanated from
the Ministers but instead, they opposed it
vigorously, till they saw it was bound to pass,
when an amendment was introduced by Minis
ter Varigny, postponing till 1872 the date when
it shall take effect. As this amendment rene
dies the evil for the time being, it was accepted
by the natives and passed. The debate on the
bill gave rise to some very pointed hits, among
which were these:
Hon. Mr.. Ukeke said this Law was passed by the last Legfs-
auye Assembly, which must have been a very poor one to have
much t. pay for a passage from Hawaii or Maui. lie called on
the Ministers to tell him how many vessels had been lost while
under command Of native captains ? If the GJyerunent would
appropriate u sum for an Institution to instruct IIawauans in
navigation he would support it with pleasure. He asked
whether the captain Of the Kiiauea, when She stranded, was a
natives or whether a native was cart tain Of the EHiaa Roote
VIXEN she was lost; or Il the captain OF the Af0e'H'' stranded
at Waimea, was a native, and who was the captain Of the
AnHie Laurie when she was lost? They were hqoics-your
q" hialutn p" navigator=!
The next day, June l, the same subject came
up in a different way. The member from Waia-
lua moved that a thousand dollars be appro-
priated to provide Il competent teacher to in
struct young Hawaiians in the art Of naviga-
ton. This was a very appropriate subject for
discussion, and should have met encouragement
from every member. But instead of that. Min
listers Harris and Hutchison both opposed it and
sought to defeat the resolution. Minister Harris
told the member that considerable money had
been spent to teach navigation. and if the mem
Der would go up to his Office he would show
him. This, if not u direct falsehood, is the next
-
school, where practical aacigafion is taught, nor
even n Hawaiian teacher of it,-no, nor even a
suitable book to teach it ont of. Neither Cap
tain Smith or Dudoit Ito whom reference was
made in the debatc) can teach in Hawaiian.
and if they could, they have not the books.
Mr.. Ukeke's remarks were, therefore, very APP
p~ropriate and Minister ITutchis5n's objections
frivolous:
Mr.. Ukekc said think this resolution is a pro-
per one and ought to receive support from all Of
us. | have not Is yet seen a native who could
navigate. It appears TO me that the Ministers don't
want to teach navigation TO natives but keep them
out, and let their own people have better chances
than the natives. I'm in favor OF establishing "a
Navigation School. and appropriafiEg the sum Of
$2.IOO for its support.
Minister I~iutciison said that as a member of the
Board of Education. he was very glad TO see that
the member of k0oiaUpOko was in favor oi leach
ing natives navigation. He would say that tine rca-
son he never saw a native captain of a ship was.
because they were confined ONLY 10 SchODutrs. and
il lie would reflect. he would see THAI foreigners
generally made quicker passage Than The natives
as captains OF schoOneTs. Why because the ma
tiycs are always asleep. ana care littie for tie wei
fare OF their vessel.
Hon. Mr.. Ukeke said that he had not seen any petition from
any people complaining Of the native captains cf tie sciooners,
because they slept at night And asked the Minister of the
got ashore at kawaiLle?
The subject is one OF much Importance, and
the Ministers could not have made Il more popu-
lar move than by favOring some measure to enable
HairGiiaHS to fit themselves as navigators, with
out expense. We fear there is too much truth
in the above members remarks that they do
not desire the Improvement of the aboriginal
race, and study how to keep them in Ignorance.
Afterward, the subject came up in still another
form-a motion to prepare Il book on nayiga-
ton for IIawaiians. Minister Varigny hootcd
at the idea Of spending $4,000 to translate,
compile and print such 4 work, which is the
very first thing that must be done before Ha-
waiians can become nayigat0rs. Ministers can
spend 10000 a year to keep up q newspaper,
to laud themselves and their measures. but they
cannot afford to spend money to benefit the
native race intellectually. Out upon such mock
philanthropy as inspires these wise solons!
Say what we may about Mr.. Ukeke's b~rusque-
ness, he possesses a fund of keen sarcasm and
genuine wit, and if he knew as well how to use
it and make it tell in favor of his argument as
some foreigners do, he would have more force as
a debater. He does very well, however, as, for
example, The following:
Hon. Mr., Ukske-I have said before that when the pay ora