The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1874-05-30
an Appeal TO History.

nj appeal " AAAStOAS
MR. EDIroR The remark has often been made.
that if the restrictions are taken of from the traffic in
Intoxicating LIQUID to native Hawa;ians they will no;
drink 50 much as they DO now To prove this it has
been said that, in early times before the tabu on
liquor was placed through missionary influence,
when the natives were free to drink all they wanted.
they never drank to excess!
Jaryes, who wrote in 1912, speaking Of the year
1888, when Ksnehamesa III. first assumed the re-
sponsibiIitiss Of Government with Kinau as Kuhina
Nui, says on pages 29s and 500 Of his history, as
follows: The principles of the King had become
loosened, and he longed to indulge in the forbidden
pleasures of his race. The moment was opportune;
he was persuaded aud finally gave the signal. Hoa-
pill fastened to Honolulu, to endeaEor to arrest the
torrent, and persuade the King to retire with him to
Lahaina. But he had gone too far to retract. He
immediately issued a proclamation, eentering in him
Sc: all legal authority, the power Of life and death,
and taking of all penalties Of The lqlrs, excepting
those for murder, theft and adultery. " . The
consequences of the sweeping away of moral restraint
and municipal regulations in a weIl-ordered eommu-
nifty, can be imagined; how far worse the conse-
quences among q diSolute populatioDs ripe for crime,
riot, debauehery and revenge. The scene that follows
beggars description. Some remained faithful to their
instructions, and had the amount of missionary good
been confined TO those few, their labors would have
been amply repaid. The worst scenes were enacted
at Honolulu, but a general civil and moral anarchy
prevailed throughout the group. Schools were de-
serted, teachers r~elapsed, congregations were
thinned, excuses abounded, and in some places,
especially in the district of HilO, Hawaii, idOlatrous
worship was again performed. Several churches
were burned, and some lives lost. GrOggsries lrere
- .,J. J;eg;JE~ses s{ "a r,oFso, The v,ll
orgies of heathenisn rioted over the land; men left
their wives, wives their husbands; parents, brothers,
sisters, and relatives united like beasts, in common
prOstitution; they Eambled. they fought, for old
grudges were scored 81; they drank and they reveled."
On the 10Th of March. 1888, a law was passed by
Kamehameha III. and the chiefs, Regulating
the sale of ardent spirits" It's preamble reads,
'Whereas, we have seen that drinking Of ardent
spirits and other intoxicating liquors is Of great
injury to our country; therefore l with my chiefs
have sought for the means OF suppressing it."
This Act was a license law-and q note by the
Editor of the HuIoaiian Spectator, vol. i, page 3S6,
says, "Under this law, two houses have been per-
United to take out a license instead of II or IA as
has been the case for three or four years back"
Previous to this, laws prohibiting distillation of
spirits, and also the selling of liquor to natives, had
been passed. But the King was anxious to do more
towards suppressing this miserable traffic, and on
the 18th of August, 1888, ga law respecting alcoholic
drinks and duties on wines,' was passed.
Hear its preamble: Whereas, great evils have
arisen at these islands in consequence of the importa-
ton of ardent spirits and the consequent use of the
same; and whereas, natiye-born citizens, whether
with or without authority, are no longer permitted
to engage in the distillation thereof and whereas,
many highly respectable foreign merchants, resi-
dents and visitors, have advised that all trade in
such articles should be discontinued; and whereas,
there is abundant evidence that the best interests of
the mercantile community, as well as of the nation
at large require the measure; therefore, be it enacted
by the King and the chiefs of the Sandwich Islands,
in council assembled
81. That from and after the LIST Of January, 1889,
the importation of rum, brandy, gin, alcohol, and
all distilled spirits whatsoever shall be entirely pro-
hibited, and they shall not be permitted to be landed
at any port, harbor, or any place on the Sandwich
Islands, Sc.
If foreign interference had not prevented this law
from being carried out, Hawaii might have been
free from the curse of rum drinking now.
One more quotation, and l close this article. 1t is
ffhqqP laHRad sfRp8 Z by tHAssullapd iss B 8fSyycf "a FiT Page 90 1T
is well known that q barbarous, or semi-barbarous
people have no command over their a%ppehtes, and
therefore they do not drink alcohol with any degree
of moderation, but, so long as it can be obtained,
use it to fatal excess. The consequences, therefore,
are certain. This has been the case here to an
alarming degree, and would be so again, were the
restraints of prohibitory law removed. Not only
was alcohol imported in great abundance, but every
neighborhood had its d~istillery, and the materials
for making it were spontaneously afforded in ex-
haustless quantities. The consequences a0ere, that
not longer ago than In tho days of Rihoriho, this
was q nation of drunkards. Whole villages of men,
women and children, would give themselves up, for
days together, to drunkenness and reyelry.
Rum had slain its thousands ere the rulers were fully
aware of its effects l. HoOLE.