The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1882-08-16

OF brought against her for near $50 yeal
ia Hawaii unless fortified on a similar sea
ad to the exclusion or destruction of a
of peaceable commerce might be starved Of
ar in month.
of The keys Of the Pacific coast are on tn
ID coast.
a. The keys held by Hawaii are its ow
II independence, misunderstanding goo
rs behavior-by the great powers.
Il. |
w 'T#oueHrs Of I'M Clusrs OF mn PRESENT d.
10 CONTENT =" The King vas supposed to besto
le his confidence on a set Of persons called u
5, Kings friends who belonged to no school {
Of party Who had political maIims whatever, VII
I merely represented the private feelings Of ID
- Court. ana selected, overthrow, and rcconstruote
o EDHuSp BuEKE.
&c The recent session OF the Legislatur
!. has been as every one knows fruitful o
i evil, but 1t Is not to sinecures and sala
5, ries, nor even palaces and pedigrees
b crowns or coronations, nor any of tn,
score Of contrivances for placing larg,
sums Of public money at the disposal o
the Ministry, bat to a more weighty anC
more important matter than even fritter
, ing away a million and a half beyond tbs
national income. that this article vii
endeavor to draw public attention.
Whatever may have been the occasional
short comings or follies Of the executive
the Judiciary from the Chancellor of the
Kingdom to the Junior local magistrate
! has been hitherto held in respect Nc
, former Ministry has attempted to dabble
in the fountain Of Justice itself.
On Thursday, July Is, being the fifty
j sixth day Of the session, Mr.. Kaunamano,
the member for Hamakua, Hawaii, gave
notice and read for the first time An Act
to amend Section 919 and 922 of the Civil
Code, relating TO the appointment of Dis
trict Justices This attracted little notice
at the time and was read second time
by its title and referred to the Committee
on Judiciary who kept it in hand until
Saturday, August 5th, the last day of the
session, when in company with number
of other bills, it was read by its title in
the native language only, without remark
rnshed through lie third reading, and on
Monday, the day Of propagation was
reported as having received the ROYAL
signature
Now what was this Act that was adroit-
| ly smuggled into the House. and so silent
" hustled out of it, in the last hour of
! Legislative action IN Act TO amend =
certain sections OF the Civil Code appears
simple and perhaps unimportant, we turn
to the sections to be amended and find
that one defines the appointing power,
and the other regulates the payment OF
| the District Justices throughout the King
dom. but yet the direction of the proposed
amendment does not appear The Sec
ton provides that 50 the respective gov
| errors Jy and eth De 0drire Of he JHstices If
TIC SRpreae Court shall appoint one or more
District justices, etc, this it Is which is |
TO be amended. and one might think that |
the alteration would be towards placing |
the sole appointing power in the hands OF /
the Supreme Court, but the reverse Is the |
fact the advice Of the judges Is no longer |
necessary. and hcnceforth the only quail |
fication required for a District Justice is
that he be a friend or proisgee aud nominee
OF the governor Of an island
There are four governorships. OF these
two are held by His tx. John O. Dominis
who Will accordingly hold absolute I'M
checked control Of all District justices
throughout Oahu and Maui In like man
ner II. II. Kekaulike controls the district
judiciary Of Hawaii and His Ex. p. p.
Kanoa jr., OF Kauai How far these three
officials, or indeed any three individuals
are fitted for the unrestricted exercise of
an appointing power Of such vast import
ance let every ono. native or invader,
Judge for himself.
In making a change so radical, so wide
spread in its effects. in any constitution
ally governed country, public interest
would have been aroused, public discus
sion invited, and public opinion deferred
to- Here, the public were carefully kept
il the dark, indeed It Is doubtful If one :
half OF the legislative body knew what
Would il anywhere else. be believed, /
would it be thought possible, that an Act {
stripping the Judges Of the Supreme
Court Of one Of the most important of
their functions, might be brought forward ,
and passed as has been described, without =,
or even apprising the Bench 4
Of what was proposed ? Yet even this was :
done. neither the Chancellor nor either of i
the Associate Judges had the faintest ink
ling of the iniquity that was being perpe t
Irated until the third reading was passed. 5
Even then it came their knowledge by an E
accident OF course the Bench were not +
90 rcmiss in their duty or unmindful OF s
heir own dignity. as to Withhold a serious t
but by some boc'spgcss their a
protest was made to appear as coming too o
late. and in breach Of all etiquette, indeed
IN defiance Of the constitutional right of q
he Chancellor TO hold direct commUnica
ion with the Crown the Minister Of For
ign Affairs replied TO a communication
by the Chancellor to the King.
The correspondence which passed on this I;
occasion, may il is to be hoped some day .
DC made public. at present even the sec a
ions as amended are inaccessible in their +.
Attest form Common courtesy it would G
,eem should have dictated course exactly il
he opposite Of this. o
The Governors Of Islands are dependent h
IN Royal favor, and now the whole Of the u
District Judiciary is made dependent on o.
he Governors. II
In making such change as this there
would be. in a constitutionally governed "
COUNTRY. some reason known and approved; u
ONE pressing necessity universally &C a
here nothing Of the kind is u
lnown. The suitors in district courts u
lavc made no sign the district justices, :,
whenever they have erred through igno-
ance or apathy, have been generally 5,
menablc to a hint from the Supreme l..
jourt The Governors when perhaps 10
they have been about to make m
N injudicious appointment, have listened OF
o a recommendation from the Bench-now pi
low does IT stand IL
The District justices. originally with I'll
in matters 10 the value OF 500 in
ave been empowered to decide questions f:
INVOLVING values of 5000 They are sala- bl
led officials they may be. and some arc N
members Of the House Of Representatives; IN
hey may be. and some are tax assessors hS
r collectors they may be, and some arc 81
gnorant Of any language but Hawaiian +; y
nd yet the sole check on the appointment -
( unsuitable or Enthusiastically Justices, IL
IL, the approving power Of the Supreme i;
)oTt, is thus suddenly swept away. Tho ar
district Justices have jurisdiction in the he
rst instance on the innumerable questions n
rhich are constantly arising between en- an
lovers and employed ; questions Of water fr
ights. boundaries, contracts, etc, 10 the ve
mount Of $500 are constantly being de liz
ided by them Some few are native law 81
ers. the majority are men without any dc
,gal training whatever some are apt 20 on
e absent from their posts, OF neglect to vi
eep their records, or refuse appeals. Al Of
lese matters have hitherto been kept in u
rider by the guidance Of the Judges Of ye
he Supreme Court. This power has been
1ken away ~
In fact II is not too much TO say that the y,
tatus Of the Judiciary Of the Kingdom Is ~ -.
hanged the hitherto unstained justice VI
{ the Hawaiian Courts Is endangered az
be twenty-Odd District Justices are Great nm
res OF the three Governors. who are an
reatures Of the Crown \,