The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1876-07-12


upon The Hon. Mr.. Kaai gravely arose and
moved: That the members of the Assembly do
all laugh, and they, did SO without calling the
question.
On Friday the Hon. Mr.. Preston presented
the following resolution: " Resolved, That the
Committee on Finance be requested to ascer-
tain Of what kind of coin the money now in the
Treasury consists, and for what purposes and
under what circumstances the same was re
ceived by the government, and to report them
forthwith" This action was called forth by
the depreciation by Bishop s. Co.'S bank of the
coin known as the Peruvian Sol, Chilean Pesos
and new Mexican dollar and half-dollar The
Committee has had session and will doubt
less report at an early date.
The Bill to make the governors the Inspec-
tors of Schools, in place Of an Inspector Gen.
eral for the group, passed by a strong MAORI
ty, in spite of well considered speeches against
such action by the Hons Godfrey Rhodes and
J. Mott Smith of the Mobiles. To our mind
the action of the Representatives in this mat
ter has been provoked by the Board of Educa-
ton. 1t is well known that the Assembly of
1874 found fault with the Inspector General
for several reasons, one being that besides his
salary he had drawn literally for his travel
ing expenses. The money for the item COM
planned of had been drawn from the sup ap-
propriated for Support of Hawaiian and Eng
lish Schools, and in order to check drafts for
travelling expenses the Assembly voted the
the sum for "support of Hawaiian and Eng
fish Schools " for 1874 and 1876 with the pro-
visO That no part of this sum shall be ex-
pended by the Inspector General of Schools
for travelling expenses" In spite Of this pre-
caution the members of the present Assembly
found that the Board had allowed the expen-
ses of travel to be drawn from another fund in
the Appropriation Bill In any struggle be-
tween the Board of Education and the Assem-
bly, the Board will find that the Assembly is
the most powerful, and that the Representa-
tives may be provoked to the commission of
acts which the cause of education will suffer
for.
The Board knew that the Assembly was OPP
posed to allowing travelling expenses, and
should have governed its action in accordance
with the expressed wish of the Assembly, and
in case the influence of the Board was weak
ened the responsibility would be with the As
sembly. As it is now, if the Board is crippled,
the fault is its own. Again, the Board must
have been aware that the Inspector General
was personally disagreeable to majority of
the Representatives and that the action of the |
Assembly of 1874 was taken with the hope |
that he would resign. The present Assembly
several members OF that of 1874, |
and these members find that the hint they
gave has not been needed but the Board has
allowed the Inspector leave of absence to at
tend the Centennial Exhibition, with salary /
continued, and travelling expenses provided
for, where he finds market for the ferns
which it is limited he spent his time as Inspec-
tor in collecting. As the Bill is clumsily
drawn, some way will be found to evade the
provisions made.
The Opium Law Of the Attorney General
was before the Assembly on Monday and was
handled without gloves by the members. The
opposition said that it was q Bill drawn in the
interest of druggists; that this class of per-
sons would sell as much opium as the licensed
iealers used to, and that the Treasury would
ose the large sum formerly paid for licenses.
It is evident that the majority favor the sale
If opium under the license. The remarks of
he opposition in regard to the sale of opium
" druggists has some force when it is remem-
,ered that one of our drug stores was entered
ONE years since and the only article reported
tolen was some ten or twenty pounds of
plum, enough to have lasted two generations
# druggists, if legitimately used.
1t has been suggested that instead of the re-
zeal of the present opium law an amendment be
made providing that any person having opium
d his possession for sale or otherwise shall be
liable to punishment for smuggling. The pres
mt law is defective, but it is admitted by all
hat the use of opium among Hawaiians has
zen very much diminished since its enactment