The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1873-02-01
Il
Commercial 3Nbertisrr,
SATURDAY. FEB.
THE COURT.

VIII lEbDapiJ 90 aDIpdn thost4y lOr 2 visit Oi =
year or more. We have reason to think that the
report viii not unlikely prove 10 be well founded,
and If 50, we sincerely trust he may be Of adj
vantage TO the country in any foreign negO-
tiatiOns with which he may be charged. His
knowledge Of our situation and wants and his
experience in diplomacy should constitute good
grounds Of hope that through his agency some
thing valuable may be accomplished for the
country. But in this connection, we are forcibly
reminded that we shall be deprived of his assist
ance in the Supreme Court, and this leads us to
the consideration Of the composition Of that trib-
unal.
The Supreme Court. when properly constituted,
Is rightly regarded az the palladium Of the peoples
rights. Its justices, We have the right to expect,
shall be not only men Of integrity and high moral
character, but learned in the law. In the event
Of the absence of the Chief Justice, which We
apprehend is probable, how shall We be left in
respect to the highest tribunal-the last resort?
Shall we have, during that interval, even two
Justices in the sense really intended and required?
This Is an important inquiry, which Is now made
in the public interest, and which we propose 70
discuss without reference to personal considera-
tons or motives.
IL Is true that this community is so orderly
and welLdisposed that W have recently run
along without a King for a whole month, with
no disorder and but little inconvenience, but it is
not well to proceed too far on the principle Of
luck, and letting important interests take care Of
themselves. And it is important that the commu-
nifty should have cause for entertaining the
highest respect for the Supreme Court of the
Kingdom, as being composed Of no less a number
than THREE members, who shall be not only OF
unblemished characters as honest, firm and good
men, but also men Of respectable legal ability and
standing. This the community expects and
demands. 1t will be interesting here to review
the history Of the Court which has led to this
settled result.
About twenty years ago, Judge Andrews, who
was Of the purest character, OF good education,
faithfully attentive to business, familiar with the
native language and customs,-was respectfully
retired with a pension from the Bench, where he
held a commission for life, for the lack of a legal
education. Judge John Ii, who remained on the
Bench some years after the retirement of Judge
Andrews, was kept there solely from the desire Of
having n native Hawaiian on the Bench, as g
concession or a compliment to the Hawaiians. lie
was n naturally shrewd man, and well yersed in
questions where ancient rights were involved. He
attended to 4 good deal of purely native business,
but with no pretence to legal knowledge, aud it is
not for us to say that he bad not his period of
usefulness but as time elapsed and the country
advanced, it came to be seriously seen and felt
that the day Of such judges on the Bench of the
Supreme Court had passed, and so he was honor
ably retired. In Judge Davis, who succeeded
Mr.. Ii, the traditional policy was continued of
one Hawaiian on the Bench but he was chosen
as being n legal man, of respectable standing at
the Bar. Though entering the profession in
mature life, he had been studious, and had
achieved a good reputation as a lawyer, practi-
cling in all the courts, and had moreover for
several years very ably filed the office of Police
Magistrate of Honolulu. The promotion was
cOnfcssedly a deserved one and expecting from
him the full and regular duty of an Associate
Justice OF the Supreme Court, the salary of the
Second Associate was at once raised from 81. 900
per annum to about an equal figure with that of
the First Associate Justice, and finally (alter
Judge Davis had retired) it was fixed at the same
\ statute was passed, giving the
Second Associate equal jurisdiction and imposing
equal duties with the First, and in most respects
putting both Associates on n par with the Chief
Justice. Previous to this the law had been con-
structed with special personal reference to the
then incumbent, and the Second Associate could
not entertain jurisdiction in either admiralty OF
equity cases, and in other ways his powers and
duties were Disseminated.
The years during which the Bench was occu-
pied by the present Chief Justice with Judges
Robertson and Davis as Associates, may Justly be
regarded as comprising the most satisfactory
period in the history of our jurisprudence. These
three legal minds, not each excelling in just the
points, combined to give us Il Bench of n
Court of law. The decisions of the full Court
were then the decisions of three legal men, and
were settled and founded on legal argument and
authorities. In proof of this statement, it is
satisfactory TO know that the dicta of our Court
during that period have been more than once
quoted in foreign forums.
The experience of years then, as we have re-
viewed history, had resulted in thus constituting
the Court, and upon this basis statutory provi-
sion had been made for jurisdiction, and salaries
were fixed accordingly. The appointment. there
fore, three or four years ago, Of the present
Second Associate Justice, was a surprise TO the
public. We do not now propose to reproduce
the expression of opinion, public and private,
that appointment called forth at the time,
for we are to-day competent to judge of its pro-
priety as shown by the interval that has elapsed.
The gentleman who was selected to fill the
important post of Second A~ssociate-quite as
important, as we have seen, as that of the First
known as an active business man, firmly
attached to Hawaii mel by his life associations
and his investments, and quite familiar with the
native language and character. But he was not
known as a student of law, nor did he pretend to
be in any respects a lawyer. The most that was
for him by his friends was, that he wasa
man of such powers of adaptability that he