The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1867-03-30
increase OF Crime and its Causes.

Increase OF Crime and its Causes
T. ! sd % BE- compelled ID Acknowledge. wat,
must - plainly aTp--en; % the most superficial
0h--rv--. thz: u1- only ! th- Hawaii-1 race
ri- pure 4harigin=-raTiily deera-.as Ia num-
DR.. bat that wee and crime am,n--; tEe people
Us t=a md i vastly On The inc-z@. TIE time
wa, Only . fw years ago, THAI only tAs minor
oEea-e- -.ir=r ,Ls laws could be charge! "a the
natives. and that IN n, extraordinary degree.
The larger crimes Of burglary. arson, murder, if
;bey occurred, were not p any -r4t extent rer-
ra;4c7i hy them. and We naturally Igkel
among TIE other clas=s q the population Tor
tie criminals. There never vas @ p-1TI= Who
required les actual Surveillance from t= police
;l-n tll-. nor q country IN wl.cz the laws were
more thoroughly and ilparrilIy executed. Pro-
F=-ty 49, safe. day o. night. public t-czncy was
regarded. and tie sigh; II q drunken native On
tHe street was . very rare occurrence and one
Immediately noted. whenever it did occur. and
the offender promptly punished. Not only was
the sabbath REGARDED O. q day Of rSr. but tie
divine injunction Ito keep Il hoy WIS very
generally. and 70 the ideas of some. perhr-s too
strictly observed.
But in these times. what a change has come
over the IeopI-, Crime and outrage and law
breaking Of all kinds FL the land. Among q
people naturally the most gentle di-posi,!oDed in
The world. where formerly u simple assault even
VS. Of rare occurrence. we are nowadays re-
p=lteily Mortified ~ the detail, Of some i-l.jer-
ate and brutal murder. Thievery and burglary
are N the increase. the Courts are kept busy.
and the prison o~7sriJws wiki criminalS. Drunk
enue=s stalks through the land. aAd in tits city.
tie sight once 81 unusual If a drunken native.
/ now an almost every day occurrence. Moral
ity i AZ i low eb5; the sacred ordinance Of mar
rage has become = Lywori, and the probate
courts are crowded with applications iyr divorce.
Drunken magistrates ignore the laws and dis
Vense injustice. and q worthless con>tlbullry
either wink al ofensas committed under their
OWN eye OF exert themselves only u oplr,ss and
ersnare the people.
Look on tina: picture and then on this. and
then let u ask, i it At all q matter Of surprise
that this people i rapidly passing away? Is it
not, rather. a matter Of surprise that they d.
NJ; melt away faster before the reaper Death?
The causes Of this fearful increase OF immoral
ity and crime among the Hiwaiians are easily
stated. but the principal one which we will name
i the freedom with which they obtain intOxic4t-
ing liquors. And this i entirely owing 10 tile
nOn-enforcenent Of existing laws. The statutes
Of tire land are ample to check the dreadful evil,
but they are notJriousIy and openly violated
every day, in the sight of the police and with
the knowledge If not cOnnivance Of those in au-
thOriiy. From the vile oLOleiao and wretcEed
fermented mixtures Of the remote districts, 10
the L. swipes - Of Lahaina and the doctored beer
OF ale OF Honolulu it Il well known To the gov
- = -- l. $50 - . -
tain the laws-,bat any native who has the cash
can drink himself drunk at any time. with no
fear and no reprolch. Thus the law has become
a dead letter-a by-word and a ~cOnteInpt-and
what wonder, when those who are appointed to
enforce it. from high T. low, themselves set the
example Of breaking it. No wonder that crime
increases among W.
But We may be met with the retJrt that public
opinion does not sustain the police and govern
ment officials in the prosecution of a certain class
of blenders against the laws. Certainly not.
such sJrt Of public opinion a. the government
organ seeks to create, or more particularly, that
pretended rationalistic, semi-infdyl. law con-
temning kind Of public opinion which the Poly
nesian. during the last years Of its existence en-
delvored to coin. That paper never sustained
public officers in their efforts. under the laws, TO
stem the increase Of crime. This illustrates a
principle which We have always c0ntended for.-
the peTniciousne-s Of government endeavoring to
control or create public sentiment. by either OWN
ing OF Substituting a newspaper. But taking as
our guide the sentiments OF the law-abiding
portion Of the COMMUNICATIVE and foreign
it Is f firmly in support Of the established laws of
this kingdom.
Prison statistics all over the world show that
by far the largest portion Of criminals become 80
through the uss Of Intoxicating drinks. The
testimony may be here adduced Of one Of the
judges Of Toronto, Canada. who. after an exTe-
rIence Of twenty years, made 4 statement to the
Canadian Parliament in which he said that =. nine
out Of every ten Of the male prisoners, and nine
teen out of every twenty o! the females are sent to
Jail by intoxicating liquors" lie examined near
" two thousand prisoners in the Jail, Of Canada.
twO-thirds Of whom were males, and nearly all
a petition for a Maine Liquor Law. many
Df them stating that their only hope Of being
saved from ruin was to 90 where Intoxicating
could not be obtained. We of Hawaii
already have a Maine Liquor Law, 50 far as
natives Of the country are concerned. Yet
the apathy Of those in authority. ruin
i fast oyertaking them. An official report states
in four years there we're p 600 p]ri,oncrs in
jails, $1,000 Of whom were brought
there through the use Of Intoxicating drinks.
should like 10 see some statistics Of the con-
y%ictions before our Hawaiian Courts. and will
venture to assert that nearly if not quite the
same ratio would be found u exist here.
Political degradation invariably results in
moral deha~ement. Deprive a man of the right
70 a voice in the making Of the laws under
which he livcs.-tax him without his being rep
southland yoa take a,ray his seTrespoct. and
he heclmes careless. Indifferent. and ba.-ttad- nr