Saturday press. [volume] (Honolulu, H.I.) 1880-1885, 1881-04-16
The Advertiser and Truth.

tatDpH ~ the fact We ever remember ~ have
mot with appears In LAST Saturdays Issue NJ
tho AdreTso, on tho subject u tho sessions
of the Special Committee n tho Piiyy CDun-
cil On Padons, which. says that paper,
"clicited great deal of talk and opinion.
mons N which was under osth" This ws
suppose for the sake II discrcdiilng tho said
| opinions. as IL IL vol known that none " the
| proceedings wcre under oath that tho com
mitteo was not tribunal for examining per-
sons accused n crime, but investigating the
grounds for tho opinion profossed 10 bo held
| by tho elgnes of certain petition, who were
"oited" which the Chief Jistiee explained
meant in Ibis instance "onllcd ~ invited" to
| give their reasons for holding theso opinions.
"Much waa said" proceeds the Adooi,sDS,
"by several medical gentlemen, ba mn H,ai-
/ icd Opbt,Us, bmad 1DDn n peysmud czHtU,-
hDH, msre qirc0, ercpt uhh rms oBeyd by D..
/ WcJb." This iH tio statement of the ddser-
hfer, and we venture 10 assert that no state
mcut more Intentionally, wilfrlly, consciously,
the oxtrcmcst departure from truth, was ever
printed. No medical opinions, based upon
personal examination 10 What do tho medical
gentlemen say1 Dr.. McKibbin says, as tho
Adseriscr very well knows, a. saw PoIna at
Oahu priaon Me b,y bsfDrs ye'tc,ttiy at request
Of tho committee; had long conversation
with him" Then follow the particulars Of
tho conversation with him aud with the officers
Of the prison, and the confirmation Of their
answers by the prisoner himself "At present
he is in perfectly sound mind there is no
excitement; be is perfectly cool from the
mans account and memory I should say he
was not insane when he committed the deed, +,
but from taunts and drink he was excited !;
said lie bought the knife at the store
and sharpened it for the purpose Of killing
her" DR.. McGrew "weut IN Oahu pri,on
could talk pretty good English; have just
heard DR.. McKibbin's statements have M
roniatioas N muhe; Judge him to be a
man slow to anger; had been cool and col
lectcd purchased the oh0kehw to nerve him =
self If had not had careful report or dag
nosis Of his made By skiful person who
had sen and crnmiaed him, and had only
street runors of incidents, | should not be
able ms medical man to give any valuable
: opinion touching his sanity or insanity;
from what have heard Of the circumstances
/ do not consider Polua was insane when he
committed the deed" DR.. Brode: "At re-
/, quest Of chairman Of committee visited Polua
in prison yeste,Ctay, and from my er'maiaution
do not consider him to be Of unsound mind.
Dr. Hoffman, has "been surgeon and medical
attendant OF Oahu prison for twenty years,
more or less; hare seen Polua ere serera
times, five or six times physical con-
dition very good, when L irst him, and
now pulse good; not insane
t now, ETC." And this is what the AduTt,se'
represents "no medical opinions based
upon personal examination" Can anything
be more fatty opposed to the truth ? DR.
Webb's opinion is excepted whereas the fac
, is that at the time Of that gentleman's frs
appearance before the committee he had no
, had personal examination Of the prisoner; bu
{ when he visited the committee room th'
second time, on Monday, he stated that he hat
visited the prisoner that mor,iHg: found hear
disease: high and huctuating pulse; and con
G sdered him insane at the time of the murder
Here is the truth of the medical opinions
s based on personal examination, and it must b.
r admitted that it is directly opposite to tn
AdoertiseT's statement. Again, that pape
0 says "a is erideat, as Judge Jones says, tina
b a very weak defense was made at the trial,
whereas Mr.. Cecil Brown says, Kalua AM
y Nawahi were assigned to defend him; Nawali
o is, in my opinion, the best Hawaiian lawye
r at the bar; from the evidence ad
= duced, think no foreign counsel could hav
r defended him better; from the nature of th
crime and the evidence, believe lie was full
e aware Of what he doing when he coin
u mitted the crime" Both A. Spencer and
y Spencer had every opportunity to offer evi
dence. Here are the professional legal opin
); ions. Four clergymen had oonversed with tn
y prisoner, once, twice. and several times, cover
c ing period, in the case of the Rev. II. II. Par
= ker, of some MONTHS" To Father Raymon
1t and to DR.. Hyde he pleaded intoxicalion. I
Mr.. Parker that he was enraged, overcom
n with passion when he did the deed !; but on n
o occasion did he suggest insanity. Temporar
20 insanity, as is very well known, is merely
phrase permitted by coroners, in order to pre-
:, serve the property of suicides from forfeitul
and their remains from the indignities whc
formerly followed the verdict of .fslo de S
With murder it is otherwise. Suicide is
crime which cannot be repeated, and therefor
70 the verdict is of comparatively no consequence
Murder may be, and often has been repeate,
and we never yet knew of verdict of ten
:; poriry insanity accepted in murder cas-
u and in this such verdict would have bee
- wholly contrary to the evidence. To plea
for mercy for ap avowed criminal is well
=, plead irresponsibilily in the case OF a respor
~ sible agent IL the reverse.
m TRoLIrsoME and enterprising young goat W
browsing ON the spur of the mountain just whs
y the ridge overhangs the pools of Ai,koke. Wis
j. ING to investigate the characteristics of certa
punches of vegetation growing in the cracks al
60 crannes in the face of the cliff he jumped dow
of to little shelf projecting table rock SON
five six feet below. He leaped and goat-hi
u, landed in safety and ON his feet, and having soS
ne satisfied himself that tho grazing the elm vi