The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1867-01-19
The Agricultural SoricIy's Garden.

SlE:-In a leading article in your last number
YOU have once more attacked the managers OF the
ROYAL Hawaiian Agricultural Society. in relation
to their alleged mismanagemen of lis affairs ana
sacrifice of its property, etc. and which was EVIL
IDENTIFY written of-hand and without much inquiry
or reflection else it could hardly have contained
so many errors on matters of fact-to use no
stronger term-as abound in ii and | claim the
privilege on behalf of my colleagues and myself.
of replying to it. through the same medium; a
privilege which l feel assured You will cOncede;
for l cannot allow myself to suppose that You de-
sire wilfnlIy TO mislead the public on the subject
do not propose 10 enter into Il refutation in de
tail of all your allegations of errors both of omission
and commission with which you charge us but
shall show from the authentic and carefully kept
records of the Society's proceedings. in the hand
writing of its very competent and accurate Secre-
tary, MI. T. o. Hall. that eUefy act done and omit
ted by the managers in relation 10 what yo1 cali
q" this nursery business = was under the special
direction and by formal resolution on full debate,
! of the Society itself. convened in public meeting
by ample notice published ia yo'r o'ca newspaper.
When. therefore. you assert in relation TO the re
lection of the Liliha street lot, as unsuitable Tor "A
Garden that the managers had all their own way,
and sacrificed the interests of The Society to their
own personal views you assert that which is in
! ulTccI OpiiiiIt I'm A. NNA
forgotten this transaction, you could easily have
refreshed your memory by a reference 10 that
record. to which you should have had free access.
had YOU condescended to ask for it civilly.
When, therefore. YOU hazard the rather bold
assertion that :" which ever way we may view this
nursery business, it exhibits only misInanagemen
and lack of Judgment" Iou arrogate to yourself
tbe right to condemn the deliberate public act
not only of the managers whom for years you
have so pcrsistedly assailed-but of the Society
A. -. ,A.a Ap,inan and nrfIxA
members of which at that time. were men whose
qualifications for forming a correct Judgment oil
the question, Were based on practical experience
in the culture of the SOFIA qualification which L
fancy you will hardly lay claim to, seeing that SO
far as / am able to discover on inquiry, you have
never turned over n sod of earth, or planted even
n cabbage during the entire of your career. They
can. therefore, with perfect confidence leave the
public to infer under these circumstances, on which
side a lack of Judgment" on the fitness of a site
for Il garden, is more likely to be found.
Whether you or the managers can lay claim to
more exalted and disinterested motives for then
conduct in relation TO the affairs of the Society, Is
a question on which some eiucldatlon VIII be
found in the fact'that whilst they have held on to
il. with untiring persistency, during all its vicissi
tude of fortune, the Treasurcr's record, now before
me. proves that yOu have not contributed one cent
TO its funds for the last ten years having satisfied
yourself with the more economical and not less
~congenial course of carping at those who have de
voted quite gratuitously their time and energies to
its service and yet although not n member, or en-
titled in any way to NEEDLE with its affairs. you
assume the position of dictator general, with a right
TO censure and denounce its steady. consistent ant
disinterested friends and supporters. Whether
under these circumstances You or they are more
likely to be Influenced by Il sinister personal mo
tive. nav also be left wiGi perfect confidence t.
the ordeal of public opinion.
You assert that the Llilha street lot contained
fifty acres of suitable land III IA good location
whereas l find on reference to the original survey
now also before me-, that its exact area is clever
acres 4I-I0O-and was found on minute persona
inspection by Mcssrs. j. +. i. Marshall, Z. *
Bishop. DR.. William Hillebrand and others, to b
an awkwardly shaped strip of wretehedly poo
shallow soil. through a large portion of which hing
5 rocks protruded. and a small amount OF deep kali
( land. and absolutely devoid of any one quaiitica
= ton for a garden for the Society. This was dul
reported by the Board of Management TO a genera
! public meeting of the Society on the 22d of Octo
L Der. 1857. the then President, Mr.. j. FfB. Marshall
| in the Chair, when. on full debate, the following
: resolution was unanimously adopted:
"ResoIred, That the Board of Managers be and are hereh
authorized by the Society to select, negotiate for, and purcha,
garden. and to sell the land given to the Society by the govern
ment for this purpose, and to apply the proceeds Q the pu
, also empowered to eIpend such sum of money as may be niece
. sary to enclose the same, and employ a gardener to take char
v OF the same"
Hence. it is manifest that, however it may su
your purpose to denounce the managers as "ha'
> ing all their own way and sacrificing the lniel
est of the Society to their personal views, " the
had. at least, the entire confidence of the Soclet
= itself. to whom alone they were amenable and VIII
are alone responsible for all that was done In III
matter.
Y The purchase of the swamp or bog" as 20
Il call it. has not yet been completed. and cannot /
without a vote of the Society at a general meetln
about to be specially called to consider its pr
e priety. and at which you can, by becoming a men
n Der. qualify yourself to attend and state your view
on the subject. In the meantime you will confer
7 favor on the managers, if you will point out Il
l other more eligible Sites which you say - ca
IS be easily obtained.' in order that their respecti'
Is merits may be fairly submitted to the meeting.
. J. MONTGOMERY, President.
I'VE shall not attempt to reply in the same strai
TO the characteristic billingsgate and PERSONAL
-, which pcrvades the above communication from {
, first line to the last, although there is ample roo
: for dealing with the writer with severity. We W
merely set him right on one point. as he appears
= be utterly ignorant of the Society's doings in ear
. years. That the government granted a conside
. able plot of land-ffty acres more or less-is a
parent from the language Of Jas. +. Il. Marsha
~ Esq. in one of his addresses, from which we quot
81 have made several applications at the Office OF the Min
ter of the Interior, for permission to select the my ~eTes
D. i1nd, that were devoted some years since by a law passed
nursery. But owing to the non-comp'etion Of all the surve
il the land has not till now been ready fer selection"
This certainly is definite enough to satisfy al
one except the President Of the Agricultural ;
II ciety. Ito whom probably it will be a piece
4 news.) that the government allotted fifty acres
= and not merely :. eleven acres and 4l-lOOths"
: stated nv him. The truth will become appare
& bv and bye. perhaps. that the n~ineyear preside
has some things vet TO learn. and that he has pro
NJ. ed himself not the most qualified person that mig
- be selected to manage the affairs of the Societ
o If any other proof were needed, the above lett
n affords sufficient
A ChrIstmas .Surprise'' at KohnIa.
y Mr.. EDITOR May 1 beg sufficient space in 20
It columns. to do what Hawaiian country pastors a