The Daily bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Hawaii]) 1882-1895, 1882-12-08
TRUTH ABOUT DRUNKENNESS.

disagreeable: to some it is positively
offensive: it is rare to find any who
are in perfect harmony with all
truth. A sincere man, who is con-
scious of his own defective conform
ity to his ideal standard, is depress-
Cd by the conviction: truth to him is
humiliating. A man whose life and
actions are not in accord with honor
aud rectitude, dislikes to be told so
to him truth is displeasing. A man
whose dealings with his fellow men
are unjust and dishonest, gets angry
when accused and exposed: to such
man truth is an actual offence.
There are people, too, who are
displeased with truth because the
unfolding of events and development
of facts do not agree with their pre-
conceived wishes and expressed an
ticipations. OF this class, some
have the honesty to admit and accept
the truth because it is truth, not
withstanding its being contrary TO
their desires and expectations.
Others of the same class are not so
candid, but boldly deny the truth,
although conscious that they lie by
doing so. Among the latter may be
classed many of those who per-
sistently declare that the present
liquor law has not conduced to the
increase of drunkenness among
natives.
These people were always advocat-
ing free rum, not only on the ground
of equal rights, but, as they contend
cd, in the interests of temperance
and sobriety, often adducing the
illogical and exploded argument,
that prohibition encourages drink
ing habits" They got what they
asked for. That is, an act was pass
ed by the last Legislature, annulling
the old restrictive law, and author
Using the sale of intoxicants to Haw-
aiians as well as foreigners. This
act received the Royal sanction, and
became operative on the first day of
last October. There was no sudden
outburst of revelry nor conspicuous
increase of intemperance. For a
few days things remained pretty
much as they had been, and many
earnest friends of Hawaii who fore
bode great evil to the nation, emit
ted sigh of relief. But, gradually,
the restraint which nobly withstood
the first shock of change, began TO
yield and drunkenness began to in
crease, and it has continued yield
fng and drunkenness has continued
increasing.
This is truth-plain, unbiased, I'M
impassioned, unpublished truth
truth that will bear the clearest
light, the severest scrutiny, and the
closest investigation. If the testi-
mony of clergymen is reliable, if
the assurances of physicians are adj
missible evidence, if the statements
of employers of laborers are not
Misrepresentation, if the words of
shop-keepers and butchers and
coffee saloon proprietors are entitled
to credence, if our own eyes and
6ars do not mislead us, we confne
ourselves strictly within the limits of
truth when we assert that the free
liquor law has demoralized many ma
eve husbands, rendered many devoted
native wives unhappy, robbed the
backs and stomachs of many native
families, and made drunken sots of
many native people who before were
sober and respectable. However
loose was the enforcement of the old
restrictive law, it did operate as a
check; and however stringent some
of the protective provisions of the
new free law, it does assist the
spread Of drunkenness. And yet
some of those people who contended
that the removal of all restriction
would not have the effect of induc-
ing Hawaiians to drink, have not
now the candor to admit that they
were wrong. They know that we
have spoken the truth-the truth
supported by incontrovertible evil
dence-but they will not confess it.
Does denial make the truth any less
true?