The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1873-05-17
OFFICIAL ABSEETEEIsM.

members of the Bar who were present, that 1t
was his intention shortly 70 90 abroad, for a time.
Constant application for q period of years to
the routine Of labor and public business-what-
ever may be said in praise of the virtues of indus
try and flithfulness-muE inevitably wear upon
and reduce the powers of both body and mind
Especially viii this prove to be the result IN q
tropical climate, where there is no recurring
change of seasons TO invigorate the system \
few months-say four or hye-devoted to for
eign travel, with utter relaxation from the cares
of ofice, at intervals of about FIVE years, would
be o just and reasonable indulg nee for the Judges
of our Supreme Court, and one to which it is
probable that public opinion would assent without
cayil. Bot n leave Of absence for the purposes
contemplated should never he allowed to extend
beyond n certain limit of time, sufficiently short
to prevent any danger Of 8 neglect or delay OF the
business Of the Court, or of parties htigant.
The rule of service with judges Is well as with
other classes of employees should be ga good
days work for II good days wage and if the
pay is TO continue during a holiday granted for
faithful service, this should be regarded as q high
favor, and not as a matter of course. But this
small and weak government is in no condition
HildllcidAll. duu NEVER llAth ~ ~ present
time, to pay the salaries OF officials during pro-
longed absence from their posts of duty, and the
precedents in this regard created by the visits of
the Chief Justice to the United States in 1864 and
in 1869, are to be deprecated. His Honor on
those two occasions was absent from the country
and his post something over two years, for which
time he received not only his full pay as Chief
Justice, but a portion of the time an additional
salary as Plenipotentiary. And if the Chief can
do this, why not the Associates, Gas they have)
and if the judges, why not the Ministers, and
their clerks, and in fact all the government
officials, down to tide-waiters and constables.
There is a provision of law respecting absentee
lem of Ministers, (Section % Civil Code) which
reads thus:
every Minister shall reside and keep his office
ut the Seat of Government, and shall not leave the
kingdom during his continuance i'll Office, except
upon public business with which he may be charged
by the King"
BY parity Of reasoning, the principle here
enunciated as to Ministers applies to Judges, and
with vastly more force. One Minister can with
ont the slightest difficulty or inconvenience, either
to himself or the public service, perform the du-
ties of two or more separate Departments, and
we have seen this exemplifed more than once.
But with the Judges of the supreme Court, the
case is quite different. both in theory of law and
in practice. There must be three to make a quo
rum, the bench is incomplete with less, and the
country is entitled by law to demand as many.
Nor can one finally or completely do the duty or
Eli the place Of two. Every citizen has the Con.
stitutional and legal right to free and prompt ac-
cess to the Courts of justice in all matters civil
or criminal, and under all we'll organized govern
ments these rights are amply ana at all times
provided for, without any unnecessary delay. In
the absence of the Chief Justice there can be nc
immediate appeal to full Bench there would
be virtually none from the First to the Second
Associate Justice, for obvious reasons and thus
really without a Judiciary, the country at large
will be burdened and injured by the laws delays.
We are not easily alarmed, but in view of the
past there is now just cause for solicitude for the
near future. We can remember when, in 1864,
while an uneasy feeling pervaded this community
of coming contingencies, the Chief Justice gave q
similar notice Of intended departure, and when he
was gone there came the abrogation of the Consti-
tuition of Kanehameha Ill. We remember toe
that some were SO mkind at that time as to suggest
that His Honor W. aware of the coming event,
anu DclnR 700 CONSCIENTIOUS TO b0uCClOH the meas
ure and too loyal ! the person of the King
to oppose his revolutionary scheme, he with.
drew for the time. After having Tin nau-
teal parlance) taken the lee helm of tbs
ship of state-for n valuable consideration-this
letting go the wheel and taking cover when n eea
threatened to board, was construed in a not very
complimentary sense. Everybody comedies thai
our present condition, both as a business commu'
nifty and as a state, is unsatisfactory, not to say
one of jeopardy. Therefore it is a time whcr
those who have shipped for all weathors shoulc
either stand at their stations ready for any emer
gency, or take an honorable discharge, so that W.
may make up our complement of able men before
the storm overtakes US. Adapting Nelson's mot
to to our case, let US insist that : Hawaii expect,
) every man this day to do his duty
We can in some sort appreciate, though it ha'
not been our lot to experience, the arduous labor
involved in making up a Cabinet slate during al
~interregnum the consummate ability required Il
fix things in harmony with leading interests; thu
carking care that wears upon one in the discharge
of such conscientious and loyal duties. But TIN
people who pay the wages, will not hesitate to as
sert the right to demand Il quid pro guo-that The
work goes on-or the pay stops. The people, cog
infant of the wear and tear incident to late polit
zeal changes ought, and no doubt will be willing
(were their wishes, it may be added, considered
worth consulting in the premisos) that a WORTHY
servant should take q trip for recreation, to somc
point within call but for the first subject of TIT
realm to leave us and our recently crowned
King to cross an ocean and span a continent, ever
for the laudable object of Joining ones family. il
asking more than public opinion is ready to con
cede. Public opinion questions the fairness 0
leaving vacant SO important a place of trust anC