The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1874-11-07

The sELDrTIoN Of a Cabinet Of Ministerial Ad-
visers i the Constitutional prerogatiye Of the
King; they are commissioned By him, and hold
their oaccs during hrs pleasure, subject to i'm
parchment in the form prescribed By the Consti-
tuition. The Official acts Of Ministers arc GER
tainly proper subjects for comment and criticism
and under a Constitutional Monarchy public opin-
ion should, and often does, contribute t5 the re-
movaI OF a Minister whose course in Office is pre-
Judicial to the public interests. But to condemn
a Minister who is not yet fairly seated in Office,
and to pronounce q oGLhedra, on his unftness be-
fore he has had an opportunity to perform a sin
gle official act, Is a subyersiOn Of legitimate criti-
cism that must be condemned BY all lovers Of fair
play. The King should be-and the recent ap-
Pointmeuts very plainly indicate that His Majesty
KALAKAUA is-entirely above and beyond the in
fusnce Of parties, cliques, or TingSJ He (ride the
Constitution conducts his g~oyefnment for the
common good and not for the profit, honor, or
private interest Of any one man, family, or class
OF men among bis subjects, In the exercise there
fore Of his undoubted prerogatiye to select such
men as in his judgment will best assist him in
carrying out bis policy Of government, all loyal
subjects will give His Majesty the credit Of hay-
ing acted from thoroughly patriotic motives.
Doubtless there are many in the community who
imagine they could have made better selections IN
the making up Of a Cabinet-it would be strange
If it were not so; but fortunately they were not
called upon to choose for the King. To hear
some Of these wiseacres, one would imagine that
the proper thing would be to submit the election
Of q Ministry to the popular vote, or to a show
ing of hands on the street corners. That some
have been {" surprised and disappointed" at the
formation Of the Ministry, is unquestionably true;
but these adjectiyes will not do justice to the sub
ject. Instead of surprised, read shocked, as by
an electric battery and in the place of disap-
pointed, read " plunged in a gulf of dark despair"
With such persons, to whose imaginations Alto
lani House has presented the pleasing and hope
full theatre of future quiet but deep jobbery and
lucrative preferment through the judicious mani
pulation Of various wires, the Of
the new Cabinet must have i~mpinged upon the
senses after the manner of an earthquake, or n
clap of thunder out of a clear sky. Like the lost
spirits described by Milton
In Others eouHrnanee read his own dismay
There was electricity in the air on Monday
morning, and the Gazette felt it.
The ~prOpTIety as well as the justice of filling at
least one Cabinet Office with a native Hawaiian,
seems to be admitted by all thinking men but
the difficulty with some is that they Themselves
wish to be the judges of the fitness of any native
for Office, and the result would be the exclusion
of all. As for instance, no native Hawaiian has
yet been sufficiently educated outside of his own
language to intelligently fill the Office of Minister
- E.-.s-. A = II II = - - H.
in that Of Minister of Finance, the directors
wOuld Immediately have pointed to the loan bill
as a proof that some one is needed at the head of
the Treasury who is familiar with financial ques-
tions. The department Of the Interior however,
which is in every respect a very important one, is
that in which the great majority of native bust
ness is transacted from one end Of the islands to the
other. The fact that the head of that department
is a native Hawaiian, will undeniably have the
effect among the people at large to inspire a feel
ing Of confidence in the administration Of govern
ment that would not otherwise exist. In the
proposed absence from the country of His Majesty,
the necessity OF securing and maintaining the
sentiment of trust and confidence in those at the
head Of affairs will be even more apparent than
ever. We believe that the recent appointment of
a highly respected and prominent native gentle
man to the Office of Minister of the Interior will
have that effect on the native mind, instead of
tending 81 to foster public distrust, " as the Ga@eHe
asserts. But that Journal speaks-or pretends to
speak-for n small fraction only of the foreign
population of the country, ignoring altogether
the 80, 200 native Hawaiians.
While we endorse the new Cabinet appoint
ments as wise and proper, and freely accord to
the honest intention of performing their
respective duties with faithGulness and for the
advancement of the public interests,-and are
therefore DESTROYS that they shall have a fair trial
it is however our province as public journalists
to scan with critical eye their every public act,
s naught extenuating nor setting down aught in
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