The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1883-02-17
Governor Ben Butlers's Extraordinary
Message.


deem themselves perfectly blest if a presi-
dent assumed the tasks. resolved to execute
them throughout the whole country; which
General Ben. Butler pro poses to discharge
in Massachusetts,?
Then, too, General Butler says he will
not be a candidate for reelection. and in
every aspect of tn is address it is simply ad-
mirable. 1t would fill half the pages of the
Register, and therefore we can only give a
synopsis of this State paper. There is not
a suggestion. or idea, or recommendation
that does not breathe the spirit of devotion
to the best interests of the people. He turns,
the San says, the whole system of State
administration ~topsy-turvy with his I'M
pleasant acts and unwelcome advice. Let
US see what he tells the startled inhabitants
of Massachusetts:
THAT Massachusetts has spent 800. O7s.-
$50 on a railway and TUNE enterprise that
is not even now s~elf-supporting.
THAT by a capitation tax Massachusetts
denies free and equal suffrage to he1 citi-
zens, and practically offers a bounty of from
one to two dollars for neglecting town meet
ing and staying away from the polls.
THAT Massachusetts refuses to 1851
of her male citizens over twenty-one years
of age rights and privileges guaranteed by
the Constitution of the United States; that
her laws disfranchise SO per cent of her
voting population, and that there are pro-
portionally fewer voters in Massachusetts,
than in any other State of the Union. north
or south, except five.
That the present laws of Massachusetts
i'll regard to registration are a h~indrance to
honest voters in the exercise of their rights
That in some parts of massachusetts
T.
and that "A system of sealed ballots is needed
to protect the Massachusetts voter from in-
timidation at the polls.
That the Massachusetts / ,ws regulating
naturalization, by restricting the process to
the Superior and Supreme Courts, operate
to nulllfy the laws of the United States and
that the restriction should be repealed.
That there is a snobbish tendency
among officers of the Massachusetts militia
to ape the airs of officers of the regular
my, and that this disposition will be dis
couraged by the present c~ommander-in-
thief.
That of the money spent by Massachu-
sets on her reform tory, correctional and
pauper institutions eighty-seven per cent.
goes in salaries and perquisites.
THAT the cost of supporting every sane
and insane pauper of Massachusetts, is double
what it used to be and what it ought to be.
That the so-called charitable and re-
formatory institutions of Massachusetts are
nests of extravaganza and scandalous abuses.
That the School for Idiotic and Feeble.
Minded Youth ought to be wiped out of ex-
istence. since a well-fed, well-cared for idiot
is a happy creature, while an idiot awakened
to his condition is a miserable one.
THAT a State Prison convict ought to be
allowed to work off a portion Of his sentence
every month by diligence and good behavior
say ten days out of every thirty, as the
highest reward of merit; and that a certain
percentage of his earnings while in prison
ought to be invested for his benefit.
THAT in place of the present system of
executive government by irresponsible COM
missions, the Governor and Council should
have power to summon witnesses and take
testimony in regard to abuses in the admin
~istration of State affairs, as well as power to
apply the remedy.
"That at least one-third of the Office
holders of the State should be cut off as
superfuous, and that the salaries of the re-
mainder should be reduced at least one-half.
i will undertake. says General Butler. ito
carry on the needed business of the State
with the reduced number of officers and if
the present officers resign their places (which
most of them will not do) on account of the
reduction of their salaries. | VIII fill their
places with equally good and efficient in
cumbents selected and appointed under the
most carefully prepared rules of competitive
examination.
That the tax evaders and tax summers
of Massachusetts, ought to be pursued with
a vengeance, and that taxation should be
lessened by abolishing unnecessary officers
and cutting off useless expenditures.
That the Legislature might help to re-
duce taxation by shortening its sessions.
THAT railroad accidents caused by over
worked employees should be prevented by a
law against working railroad employees
more than ten hours a day.
THAT the boosted educational system of
Massachusetts is far behind that of many
other States--in fact, that she is the nine
teenth State of the thirty-eight in respect of
illiteracy, while there are only two States
which expend more money per capita for
education. Gen. Butler finds that of So, 1885,
600 which the State expends for education,
S4,494225 goes for salaries of teachers. He
finds that the pay of the male teachers of
the higher grades and of the fancy
branches disproportionately large. A spe-
cial class of pupils is taught music, DIR W.
ing ,physiology physics botany. zoology, geo.
logy, astronomy, chemistry, psychology,
Greek, Latin, French, and German, while
the spelling book is banished. Oar school
money he says, is diverted extravaganza
ly from the many to whom it does belong TO
the few to whom it does not belong"
Of these and other topics of less import
ance Gen Butler treats with great f~ullness
and unfla gging common sense. Massachu-
sets in the year 1883 is blessed with a
Governor.-The Washington National
! Register.