The Hawaiian gazette., 1876-08-30

I prove II. We think that every bill OF the I'M
! portance of this should be published in the
) newspapers before being acted upon, that the
| public may have an opportunity to judge of its
: merits As we suggested last week would
very likely be the case, the salary grabbers
| made another attempt to get another 500
apiece, but theytlid it with degree of audacity
t which was entirely unexpected A full ae-
| count of the affair will be found in our record
of the proceedings of Saturday. In this open
and direct violation Of the Constitution we sec
the results of the ubiquitous examples which
have been set the pee pie by Ministers and those
high in authority in the government in numer-
GUS instances, as well as a result of the feeble
ness which has heretofore characterized the
present Cabinet. The prompt and manly &C
ton of the President in resgning his chair
rather than be a party to this high-handed
deed must command universal appreciation
On the motion to reconsider, the Attorney
General came out boldly in condemnation of
the resolution, all expression OF opinion on it
having previously been shut off by the calling
of the previous question. He talked with the ut
most plainness, telling the ''grabbers" that they
might with equal propriety enter the vaults of
the Treasury and help themselves to the money
lying there and that they were to all intents and
purposes, thieves His speech was one of the
best things he has done during his iDcumbency,
and we can only regret that he should
have subsequently deemed it expedient
to take it all back" In reply, Mr.
Kaai made long and Incorporate speech
in which he illustrated the shallow
ness of the Hawaiian mind by his reliance
upon such silly arguments as that because the
Assembly might without violation of the Con-
stitution vote themselves postage stamps, sta
tionery or ice, therefore they might vote them
selves money to bay food and clothes. In the
course of his remarks he called the Attorney |
General liar, and to the surprise of all the lat
ter took no apparent notice of the insult. |
However heated or excited the members may |
become in debate the Ministers should always |
insist upon receiving that courtesy 10 which I
their official position entities them. They can
not do otherwise without loss of dignity and
of popular respect For once the Cabinet
stood together, Mr.. Green ably seconding what
had been said by his confrere, and informing
the impecunious members that while he amply
sympathized with their sad state of hunger and
destitution, still not dollar should be paid
them in the manner they proposed without an
order from the Supreme Court pIonouncing
theiraction lawful. Speeches were also made by
Messrs. Nahallu, Nawahi and others of the ma
tive members, all exceedingly bitter, denunci
atory and personal. The utter inability of
these gentlemen to see the disastrous results
of their trampling underfoot the Constitutional
law of the land, if persisted in, may well grieve
the hearts of the friends of Hawaiian independ-
ence
On Monday the waters were troubledby the
action of the Attorney General, in requesting
that the offensive language uttered by the Hon.
S. Kaai, on Saturday, be entered upon the
record This brought the Hon. Noble to his
feet with the retort that the Attorney had also
used offensive language, by which the feelings
of a majority of the numbers we're hurt, inclu-
ding H. R. II. the Prince Leeioholu.
After some discussion, the Attorney Gener-
al explained the manner in which lie had used
the Objectionable epithet. He said that on
Saturday he had remarked that if the 1nombore
had the right to vote themselves one hundred
dollars each, contrary to the express provision
of the constitution, they had the same
right to march to the Treasury and take the
last dollar out of its vault. Some person from
the representative side then said "That
would be stealing" and that he had replied
" Yes, it would be stealing" He had not,
however, intended to say that the members
who voted in favor of the Resolution were
stealing. Mr. Kaai, then said that the Attor-
ney General had not modified his language:
that the Attorney General had said just what
he, Mr.. Kaai, had charged him with saying,
and that he, Mr.. Kaai, did not see fit to retract
the statement that the Attorney General was
a liar.
The Hon. Mr. Nahaku presented peniten-
tial resolution setting forth that the action of
Saturday last was dsreputabe; that he had
voted for the extra pay, and now desired to
abandon the resolution; that the newspapers
be requested to say nothing about it. His
resolution was indefinitely postponed.
A resolution was offered by the Hon. Mr.
Pilipo to this effect: that the Secretary of this
Assembly be ordered to draft upon the Urea
sury for the sum of $4,000, and that he be
also instructed to pay the members the sum of
500, as by the terms of the resolution of Sat
urday last During the debate upon the reso-
luton Mr.. Pilipo accused His Elk. the Minis
ter of Foreign Relations of provarication (too-
punipun,.) His'Excelency Immediately rose
and insisted that Mr. Pilipo should relract his 4
language. After some sparring Mr.. Pilipo re- 9
tracted. The resolution was indefinitely post
poned, thus putting an end to the salary grab.
The Hon. Mr.. Kaai introduced a resolution
to allow His Majesty the sum of $4,000 to de-
fray the expenses of his mission to Washing
ton, making a few remarks in favor of the :
resolution, and moved the previous question on
taking his seat The previous question (which
shuts off all debate prevailed, and the reso-
luton was carried, the Ministers voting in fav-
or of the resolution Several of the members
refused to vote on account of the manner in
LII A. ro.olnt;o, y-os ;ntroducad opd /