The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1876-05-10
The Lesf.Iarure.

TIE usu4l bse--T4I ooa:eSs n tlse ASscably
4 IN ressr5 70 sss rSsbs u the Ministers 70 vO,e
. cane IT On Thursizy and Prs3zy q LIST vssk,
. and. as might have beea expeese5, the Rep-e-
1 ssn,atiyes sustained = defeat. the Ministerial
vO,e being =. Of which Is were cas- BY Ne
bles, BY Representatives, and BY the Min
listers, against Il os the Opposition, On Sat-
ur,iay the matter was again brought up under
a new resolution, with the same result. In
more enlightened Countries, where the cxer-
I else by intelligent constituencies Of the right
I OF suffrage constitutes the bulwark Of popu-
lar liberty, such condition Of Affairs would
be deplorabIe, but as things on Hawaii nei are
at present constituted, we confess to a feeling
! of partial resignation in view Of the fact that
the popular branch Of the Legislative Assem-
I bly, is practically out-uumbered by the Mobiles.
Although the Opposition is SO weak, tits by
no means useless, for it can exercise a whole
some restraint in the Assembly, and in various
ways exert a salutary influence. An opposi-
ton is indispensable to healthy action in
Legislative body. 1t prevents the majority
from making excessive use of its power, and,
under skiIlful leadership. is even sometimes
able to usurp the prerogative of the majority
and carry its own measures, as was recently
done in the American Democratic House in
the great Amnesty debate by the opposition
under Blaine. The one thing needed by the
opposition in our Legislative Assembly is a
capable leader With such man as Blaine,
or Lord Harrington, TO manage it, it might be
made not only useful, but formidable.
Our neighbor has well said that we have an
opposition in the Assembly, numerically su-
perior to anv in the past years; but we can
not say that the opposition is as able as We
have seen. The first weeks debate has prov
ed that the self elected leaders of the opposi-
ton have not the talent which enables them to
mass their followers, there is no cohesion in
the party, it is often found in cross purposes,
and it may be that the country is the safer for
this weakness.
The timely arrival of the D. c. Murray with
the mails saved the Ministers from an other
wise untenable position. We allude to the
appointment of twenty-one Mobiles The OPP
position were about to ask the Ministers how the
mistake in the count came about, when it was
whispered about the Assembly Hall that His
Majesty was in receipt of the resignation of
the Hon. c. g. Hopkins.
1t is very evident that the opposition dis
trust the Treaty of reciprocity with the United
States. The President of the Assembly has
taken his stand Enthusiastically against the
constitutionality of the act to facilitate the ma
king of the Treaty, and was encored by the
majority of the representatives and the audi
ence. Just why any opposition exists regard
ing the treaty would require solution by
mind reader; for. certainly no reason has been
uttered as yet, neither has the Treaty been
called for by the Assembly. 1t would seem
to be the part of wisdom to know the tenor of
the Treaty before exhausting epithets were
hurled at the Ministry.
On Monday the stock Bill to make all fisher
les free was up for consideration. The As
sembly went into Committee of the Whole and
the Bill was ordered to be reported to the
House for engrossment by a very close vote
The vote stood % to % when the Chairman
Hon. Mr. Naukana cast his vote for the Bill. |
The Member for Lahaina, Hon Mr.. Preston, |
made an able argument, against the Bill, |
for which he will probably be called to book
by his constituents. The fisheries are vest
ed right, recognized as such for all time past,
and viii probably remain so for time to come,
unless the Members of the Assembly propose
to vote money enough to buy the rights and
them to the dear people. We are
sorry to have to record the fact that the foreign
Member for Honolulu voted for the Bill in
Committee, but trust that he viii right himself
IN the adoption of the report which will come
up to-day Tuesday,. AS well might Bill
De passed to allow persons to enter bakery
md take all the bread they want: or cloth
er's and fit themselves to a suit of clothes.
bakery and store are alike recog-
lized as property and must al be held alike
acred to owners The opposition lost their
opportunity, happily, in this matter for want of