The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1871-04-01
Public improvements.

nm -0AACN
Of UNNECESSARY CHATTER and fuss from time to time
made by the :. Cabinet " press over Pubic
Works.r t Concrete Stone vs.. Wood" &C.,
whilst as far as my experience goes, outside the
, Clique and its favored ones, nobody appears to
know anything of such matters, and less people
care. They adopt the happy Toot's philosophy
and cry (when they cry at all.) 1T isn't the
eiightest consequence"
Doubtless, this is a very comfortable condition
of things for an irresponsible ministry, who slyly
laugh in their shells and grow fat as their natures
viii permit on the generous Indifference and vol
untary blindness Of-s1h1f2 the public? Alas !
Ue haze no pubic, and that's what 5 the matter.
To state a case,-eertain fortunate gentlemen
Of miscellaneous antecedents receive from an in
duIgent budget certain handsome salaries "ROt
TO do it, and another certain gentleman OF pleas
ant neutrality-suspicious. professor of laEsitude
and logic, IS paid, handsomely aias) to proclaim
now and then in still more elegant phrases, To
- Citizens,' how beautifully, and how Denef-
ciaIly, and how wonderfully well the matchiess
thing is done,-apd 50 they all go TO dinner with
clean hands and conscienees, satisfied with the
situation, aud above all, satisfied with themselves.
They pay their way like honest men, and | hope
that in the laudations they receive in print, they
get their money 's-worth.
l think, however, we must concede TO one of
these gentlemen, even he who reigns 50 compla-
Gently over that department which is my present
subject, 80 Public improvements" to wit.0some
active, if not Efficient enterprise Yess0he Is NOT
dlICays doing nothing. Men of his temperament
are mercuriaIly disposed, so sometimes under the
impulsion of that spirit who is said to find special
employment s. for idle hands to do he ravages
the Kings Exchequer at no end of a rate under
the sanction of a certain heading in the financial
ledger, and plays such fantastic tricks with the
appropriations as might make hungry economists
weep. But what them? Is be called TO account
1 for 4ha<a ra r.rio1T Ia ~ ovor IN nsa mn orfyipal
expression, . hauled over the hot eoals?'' Never,
Alas again there IS no cook L do believe, that
were 1t possible for his genius, which fortunately,
though busy Is not soaring, to conceive the pro-
prIety OF erecting a windmill on the top Of
Mauna Loa or Panchbowl Hill to show the people
in the moon which way the wind blows, and
grind up their remarks upon it for the GGzette,
he'd ask for an appropriation under the head of
"Roads and Bridges and set his obsequiOus
genii at work incontinently. For he'd get it :
He'd lobby our unrivaled Parliament and promise
a majority the b..
p have heard some of this gentleman's friends
and p~artisans say that lie is honest and means
well. That is saying much, remembering his as
soeiations, yet, let US be willing to believe it. L
suppose a Bull in a China shop is honest too, yet
all good citizens feel interested in getting him
tai so, mot that | have the least idea that
long suffering : +. citizens . will agree with me.) it
would be well for this country If his official
epitaph might be written forthwith, letting char
iy take it in band and 8 draw it mild "-as for
instance:
He did not do much harm, nor yet much good
lie would have been much better if he could"
A UtopIan idea, utterly impracticable! For SO
long as nobody /" wants to know, where's the
use OF telling? So long as patient citizens .
Qike other patient animals) bear burdens so
meekiy, pay taxes so promptly, acquiesce IN stu
pidity so ~placidly, and lift their hats SO toadily
to tie Perpetrator of Illustrious Blunders and
occasional Giver of Good Things, and so long as
the constituencies send the usual amount of High
Intelligence to the Senate, SO long will the blind
lead the blind until we all fall into the ditch
/ pray you Mr.. Editor to tell me how many of
your patriotic +" citizens " know aught of public
improvements on the Island of Hawaii How
many know what is meant by 81 mountain roads"
and - mud lanes?" Which of your enterprising
merchant citizens can tell whether the ports of
Honomalino and KahoIalele are in the Desert Of
Katana or in County Connaught? Do your
:. casnals, . returning from a venturesome tour on
Hawaii render instant and grateful thanksgiving
for getting safely through the Hilo road, and do
they consider the Paukaa light house an engineer
ing triumph? Have any of them discovered that
the capital city, even Hiio, by the gracious gen.
eroslty OF the Improving gentleman Aforesaid,
possesses one porfabks lamp post, now Illuminating
the dirty little Station-house, and anon shedding
effnlgent radiance over the empty harb0r? ls
there 4 single taxpayer in the circle of your ac-
quaintance who can say how much money bias
UCc luTOdH away u III SuCD anu eIIDI1dr" improve
ments," simply because a willful man mann
lac HE way?" III e
Did it not occur to anybody who might make
knowledge profitable to the nation that a
covered bridge might last longer than an open
one,-that painted timber stands the weather
better than unpainted,-that a civil engineer is
likely TO know more of roads, bridges and
than an analytical chemist or a marine
apothecary
3 Either from want of knowing, OF in defiance OF
such knowledge, what c~gregious follies are per-
What sleepy stupidity steers the State,
What sublime Indifference stills the people,-Q
beg pardon : 8. Ciizens,'') What smooth reports
bury the lost and dead appropriations ! What
envIable impertinence inspires g Oliver asking for
more - 1861 7a- y f
Are we not really the tribe once called Isacbar,
sweating between our burdens? For they sweat
us and we sweat, whilst the Elegant Eulogist of
the Cabinet saunters along with the true s. tone''
of languid officialism towards his Office and pens
his precious tributes to " Diana of the Ephesians,
set in jewels of his own peculiar cutting, and
extols the inestimable virtues of his peradventure
predecessors and the quiet beauty land conven-
ience) of patient patriotism.
Now, l am inclined to present a picture of
another color. In an anniversary address to the
Institution of Civil Engineers, (British) it was
stated that Victoria, Australia. with a revenue Of
600 900. spends G300 900 yearly on roads and
Ceylon, with a revenue of 81, O0O, 900 !
spends 9230,0 900, ditto. Mauritius, with a
revenue of 1850, 600, spends $40. 900, ditto.
Cape of Good Hope, with a revenue of G860, 900, |
spends 100000, ditto. Exclusive of rail roads.
And III venture to say that had one-ffth of
these sums resulted in utter failures after the
fashion on Hawaii, IS citizens - would have IS got
their backs up, to a purpose haply unknown
here on these Sunny Isles of Eden.
Hawaii, March 10, 1871.
a Protest Against CharIvarIs.
-E-t1'
To the Editor of the Pacific Commercial Advertiser:
SIR Permit me a mail space in your paper to
lsk a few questions. In our quiet little town of