The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1874-06-13
Something About Hoodlums, etc.

Mr.. EDITOR If the word hoodlum (now in use)
is synonymous with rowdy or BLACKBOARD, we have
the class amply represented in this little town; and
the wonder has been that so little attention has been
paid to the fact by those vaunted guardians of the
public peace, the police.
That this should be so, and these blackguards be
allowed unmolested TO disturb the quiet of the night,
entertaining the public with their practical Jokes at
the expense of decent citizens seemed strange indeed.
But from your issue of the Both ult. we were informed
that it was merely in consideration of the feelings of
the families of these delectable youths, that they
weren not exposed, although they may be well known TO
yourself as well as the police.
That the immunity Of INSIDERS from punishment,
is, in the nature Of things, sometimes dependent
upon the influence of friends and relatives, needs
not to be learnt; but, that such q state of affairs can
be consistent, and so acknowledged by the public
press, is certainly something new.
But here we have the explanation why, for in
stance, Mike Murphy, Jr., is sent to the House of
Correction fer his residence, while the son of the
more worthy or more wealthy, (Which y Mr..
Somebody else is merely given to understand that he
has no right to set law and decency at defiance, but
at the same time there is nothing to prevent his doing
so, as long as his parents maintain the position they
now occupy in society; for the authorities are actu-
ated by too tender motives to cause his parents any
concern. That the administration Of our laws savors
highly of this tender solicitude for the feelings of the
influential to the positive detriment of society, is too
palpable to admit Of disguise.
As a case in point; we can all remember not a
great while since, the expensive joke p~racticed upon
the town, Of defacing the street names, and sundry
equally comical jokes, such as the tearing down and
changing of store signs, and the bursting of water
taps and pipes in the city streets, while the perpe-
traitors escaped the payment of their legal and Just
3ues-not because they were unknown, but because
they were gentlemen's sons.
It is this same spirit Of one sided justice that
allows certain individuals the privilege of building
temporary fences across sidewalks and an enclosue
for storage room, without any interference from road
supervisors.
But it is this spirit also that most quickly sees the
necessity Of enforcing the law against the obstruction
Of highways, and even hints at damages, when, some
high official coming in contact with the impediment,
happens TO fall and dislocate or fracture an arm. or
otherwise injure himself.
The driving Of wild cattle through the streets of
the town was suddenly discovered to be a nuisance,
when an accident happened, hurtful to the feelings
Of one who by position was entitled by this prin-
ciple to the most tender consideration.
4 judge was once heard TO say of a culprit, before
the evidence was taken) that he had a - most fright
full CONFERENCE.-The face is enough to condemn
him - when it was quite a sober question in the
minds Of others, which of the two faces bore the
worst expression-that Of the prisoner, or that of the
n agistrate. Doubtless the latter was an advocate of
this principle, or something akin TO it.
The paraded motto of our law courts Stat JUS
ticia Tuat celum. But this is either not meant for
the guidance Of those outside Of its immediate
vicinity, such as the servers of arrest warrants and
the like, or too far out Of the way to be ~remembere
by them, or else, there is no accounting for the
motives Of their conduct; unless it be that the hint of
the falling Heavens, by some confusion of thought is
construed to be the necessary result Of the doing Of
justice, in which case their scare would perhaps be
psrdonable.
II such an occurrence were possible, however the
police might regard it, they should at least know lin
the case Of the hoodlums) that 10 the afflicted such
an event would be far less disagreeable than the
falling through their windows of such unheavenly
things, as putrid eggs and filth of an allied kind.
ANTI-HoODLUM.