The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1872-07-27
SATCRDA Y, JULY p.
The Ministerial Crisis.

constitutional governments that presented a par
alIeI with the present state of affairs in these ISL
ands, where two principal Cabinet Ministers have
continued 10 bold their positions in the face Of
such general. widespread unpopularity as the
Ministers Of Foreign Affairs and Finance. They
are to be spoken of thus together, not particularly
because they rank alike in the general estimate
Of their dcmerits, for as one star differs from
another in magnitude, 50 differs the caliber of the
two Ministers one from the other, but because
TO follow out the similitude-one is the planet and
the other the satellite shining in reflected rays of
baleful light. The general unpopularity of the
first of the two Ministers mentioned, has been
steadily growing in the public mind ever since the
subversiOn Of the Constitution in 1864, in which
he was the prime mover, until to-day it is per-
I fectly safe 20 say that he stands alone, without n
sincere friend beyond the pale of interest. And
what, it may very naturally be asked, has brought
about this result in this mans case? The answer
is found IN tie history Of his official career. 1t
has been one continued course Of selfish gTasping
after place, power, and aggrandizement the con-
slant aim Of a mind marked by no real talent be-
yond that of cunning and intrigue, and display
ing no noble and generous principle, but eliarac-
tcrized by turns, by burning jealousies, and
petty spleens; at one moment timid and preten-
tiously complainant, at another arrogant, petulant
and obstinate; ~bctayiDg the suppleness of n pre-
destined schemer, the restlessness of quackery, or
the mOroseness Of a bear-but always and by
instinct, supremacy selfish. Can it be any Won
der that such a character ut the head of a Min
istry has failed to throw over the intelligence Of
the community and the nation the charm of a
general confidence? 1t indeed sounds like pure
mockery to use the term public confidence" in
this connection, when it is n fact patent to all,
that the Minister in question does not possess it
in the slightest degree.
The ready impudence of chattering imbccility
assumed by him in the Assembly, would be simply
ridiculous, were it not that the scheming object
was invariably at bottom. TO-.
The spirit of unfairness and trickery which
characterizes the Minister Of Foreign Affairs, was
evineed by the attempt made by his colleague
of course by mis- instigatiOn,-t to spring upon the
country during the last days of the session, dis
guised under a fictitious title, 4 new tariff act.
making a large increase in the import duties. 1t
is true, that for rather potent reasons the meas
ure was not brought forward, but the intention
certainly was I'm the minds of the two c~onspira-
tors To do 40 and tba hiry ~asdnIy nrenared 'Tha
attempt. says the law, is merged in the offense,
and the intent is the point to be closely scanned
by the tribunal Of public opinion. Thus we
charge these two Ministers as guilty of an attempt
to foist upon the nation, suddenly and without
consultation or discussion, a system of indirect
taxation that would have been seriously felt from
one end of the islands to the other. And for what
purpose? To make good to the Treasury the cost
of unauthorized and unwarranted Ministerial
apanuTafion in bofal bnaI1,n1 A.. ,,oo3 I.-o L.
fciency in the revenue as compared with the pro
posed expenditures, and to furnish the basis per-
haps of new speculative enterprises during the
coming two years. Looking at the past, what
guarantee do we possess that these two Ministers
may not ere long conceive some new project or
scheme to again involve the faith of the Govern
ment in the payment of preposterous bonds?
The want Of public confidence in the two prin-
lcipal Ministers of the Crown which so palpably
exists, must inevitably result disastrously to the
country, If they continue longer to hold their po-
%sitions. The feeling of distrust and uneasiness
which is engendered, and which it is no longer
desirable to deny or conceal, will and indeed does
already, make its influence perceptible in that
most sensitive of moral barometers-capital
With an unprincipled p%lotter in the Foreign
Office, and his Eighty but docile mate in charge
of the Finances, with our experience of the past,
what sinister complications may we not fear in
the future?
And now we ask our readers, those whose in
terests in the country ale deeper and more valua-
bic than the mere profits Of n few years business,
whether the time and the occasion are not ripe
for a more pronounced and formal expression of
the public sentiment than is contained herein.
The announcement that the Attorney General
has placed his resignation in the hands of His
Majesty, is received by the public with a very
general expression of regret. The country can i'll
afford, at this ~juncture, to lose the services of an
official of the high standard OF character of Mr..
Phillips, both as 4 well-read lawyer of long ex-
and a statesman of enlarged and liberal
incapable of STOPPING to petty schemes of
personal aggrandizement. While it is to be sin
oerely hoped that he may, by the fortunate turn
Of affairs, be induced to retain Office, it cannot
surely be a matter of surprise that he has taken
The course indicated, when We consider for a sim
gle moment the present composition Of the Cabi-
Oil and water cannot mix. But with the
in such hands as Mr. Phillips and the
present Minister of the Interior (who, with all
MS traits Of brusque eccentrieity, possesses a deal
" strength Of hOmely shrewdneSs and impurtur-
,able will, that is at all events honesty and a head
or the Finances, selected from abundant good
Material at hand.-public confidence will be as
ured in the administration of public affairs.
y We beg to direct attention to the COM
lunication in to-day's issue, from "a member
& the Chamber of Commerce - and we heartily 1
ndorse the suggestion made that a public meet {
ng be called to give expression to the feeling of {
rant of confidence in the Ministers of Foreign {
and Finances, which now exists in the /
Immunity. {
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