The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1868-02-08

I aUT L TEIru tFCu NTUWH -IIhIsttTS UtCIdIt TINT Al
amendments would be properly submitted to the Leg
stature then elected but not convened. l confess thai
l began to have some misgiyings when I saw homes
men subjected to ~indignity in that Convention ; wher
I heard the fippant tone Of Ministers, and recognized
the attempt TO curtail the liberties Of the people anu
incorporate exploded doctrines into the instrument
which WAS the keystone of the arch under whose
shadow | had 50 confidently rested. When the dark
days came-when l saw that body diSmissed-wheu
l saw the violent subVersion of the Constitution
when | saw Ministers and Government officials Of all
sorts forgetting their solemn oath-when saw rulers
falling TO remember that all governments are insti-
tuted for the good Of the people-when l saw the for
eign community only DESTROYS of being let alone
when / saw the tame submission Of the peopl@then
| knew that the whole Government was even as il
now is the baseless fabric Of a dream"
The courts tamely pronounced that the Constitu-
ton under which they had gained renown in dispenS-
ing justice, and under the provisions of which they
dOnned the ermine, was but the toy Of an hour, and
that the utterance of u single man suficed 4 to blight
and wither il away.
Now l know that | went to my daily work sadly at
this time. / had often rallied at Americans for the
confusion and anarchy which reigned in California !;
but they had told me that there was a BASIS there,
and that order would yet reign, and that progress
would be the watchword of that State while here
there was no basis. Well, L see il now.
have visited California since the Vigilance Com
mittee times, and | saw there a stability which proved
that somewhere was q principle and a Government
strong enough to bring order out of seeming chaos,
while here the lack of principle had brought chaos
out of what seemed to be order. That great nation
had been in the tlrOes of mortal agony, and out of it
they had come with cleaner garments, n purer judi
ciary, a purer land and l found that it had q stable
Government.
Now / am an annexationist, because I am conserv-
alive. / love to feel on 4 sure foundation. l do not
like change. like to wake up in the morning as l
was ut night. L went to sleep on the 10Th of August,
1864, thanking my Maker that l slept under the
broad ;egis of the Hawaiian Constitution, with GER
tain inalienable rights; 1 awOke to find there was no
Constitution and that | had no rights. l retired liv-
ing under a constitutional monarchy. L lwOke under
an absolute autocracy. Tonight, after this writing,
l may see to the safety of certain documents | have,
which through n long succession give me the right,
title and interest in some land based upon an award
by a Land Commission, which existed about the time
the Constitution was adopted. On the morrow l may
read a poster that the Land Commission titles are
abolished, and | must pay its value as it is now, i'm
proved, into the Royal Treasury.
l hold n note for some little savings from my daily
industry, for the loan of some coin, and to-day if it
were due, | could claim coin. Tomorrow, alas L
may read that the Treasury is authorized by Royal
warrant to issue paper which shall be a legal tender,
and another article has been graciOusly added to the
Constitution giving such power to the Minister of
Finance.
If were charged to-day of crime, I could leave the
question to a jury; tomorrow the decree may issue
that persons charged with %offenses may be punished
without the Intervention of n jury
have qualified myself to vote for q representative;
but 1 am admonished by experience that if my repre-
sentative should oppose a ministerial measure and
find Il sufficient number to sustain him, the body to
which he belongs may be unceremoniously abolished.
Now lie; me ask, What is to prevent all this? All,
.. public OPINION 4" Royal ~oaths,'' Supreme
Courts d. i. rising of the people" L placed my hopes
in these things once and they all failed. Oaths were
violated, courts refused to intervene, and the people
failed. Now l find that l have no security, my civil
rights, my property, are all continually in danger.
| can look TO nothing in this country to give me
SECURITY. l find nothing here to fall back upon in
case my rights are invaded, SO l hope for annexation.
So far L have regarded this question selishly, re
garding the question as il affected myself personally,
which - inst tho "a IL affects my uairbhor who
owns n plantation, and who has not the moral cour-
age to examine his foundation; because he feels that
it is not sound, just rs people heavily involved dislike
to examine their books when. they know they are in
solvent.
Now taking q broader view Of the case, I find the
country suffering from prostration of commercial and
agricultural interests; capital scarce and umid; no
sufficient market tor its products; acres lying in the
fecund sunlight, buried in weeds, which should be
producing something to bless and gladden. man; peo-
Pile idle and enervated for lack of stimulus to arouse
their energies; geographically situated for a large
commerce, yet none to speak of; on the track of
steamship lines, yet avoided by all-surely not full
filling the destiny which its situation and resources
seem to promise. When L think of the spurs to life
and activity, Of the crops these valleys and mountain
sides might bear, of the commerce which would radi-
ate from rhis ocean centre, L ask what consideration
should be allowed to prevent these Islands from TAX
ing their proper position in the world?
As respects their position among nations now, how
UNNECESSARILY below what they would be as a part of
a great nation. AS l now stand, my citizenship may
be forcibly changed tomorrow by a hasty word from
a Minister who shall give oiense TO some great power.
/ of course know that hatred of the United States has
been frequently expressed by two of the Ministers now
in power. How am / to be assured that such jealousy
may not lead 10 n ccssion of these Islands tomorrow
to England or France 70 please the petty spite of
some one man against America. The efforts now
made by Government officials to rouse the natives into
active hatred of a portion of the whites q have known
of two speeches 10 this effect lately) may yet render
the intervention of some power necessary to preserve
order. and in that case the independence of the ma
would be gone, without the provisions to protect
the rights of the natives which could be stipulated
for in u treaty of annexation. which would prepare the
country for the change and provide for the natives in
proper manner.
Now, 1 find that 1 AN AN ANNExATIoNIsT, becauseI
no Government of sufficient stability TO guarantee
Inc my rights, and because I wish to live under a
Recommendations | believe the best inter-
of the nation and the interests of humanity would
be served by it-because / believe it will increase the
prosperity and happiness of the peOple-because l be-
lieve il will be gladly assented to by the governments
and peoples of other -powers-because L have faith in
the justice and stability of the American nation-be-
cause / believe the possession OF these Islands Will
some time revert to the United States-and that the
hostility of the present Government to that country
will hasten the event, aud because, feeling thus, | am
in favor of its being brought about in a proper man.
ner, with proper guarantees, for the security of titles,
for fulfllment of contracts, &C.; and if advisable, 1
believe pro .ision can be made by which one island of
the group can be retained for the exhibition of the
shifting lights of Hawaiian constitutionality.
Thus / am an annexationist, and if to believe thus
is to he an enemy to the Hawaiian people, and a con-
then am l a conspiratOr; and if all who hold
these views, with perfect and proper Difference to the
King. chiefs and people of these Islands, would hon.
avow their belief, then l should be found to be
one of " a party"
T.-. T.: