The Hawaiian gazette., 1884-09-03


munity has escaped from the imposition
of fetter which itwOuld i'll have brooked.
| The object of the bill was to muzzle the
| press in every possible discussion that
might arise with reference to the King.
Now there is great deal of nonsense
talked about tine discussion of the King
and about the crowning piece of nonsense,
| the weakest. wishy- washiest argument in
favor of community getting on Its mar
row bones and wOrshipping Its ruler, was
the letter of Mr. S. NJ. Damon published
| in the Bulletin of Friday evening.
''Ships are but boards said Shylock,
and Kings are but men say we. II Is lot
the province of public press We admit
to discuss the private character of the SOW
ereign, unless that private character is so
| notoriously bad that notice must be taken
of it. But it is the province, nay the un-
doubted right of every citizen living under
constitutional government to criticize
the public acts of his sovereign. The days
of the divine right " of Kings are gone
and gone forever; and the sovereign of a
constitutional government has no more
hho about him than the head of a consid
cradle banking establishment In fact
less, because the former may owe his po-
sition to a lucky accident, while the latter
gets his position by sheer hard work and
ability.
But we would like to reply to Mr.. Da
mons answer categorically. He formu
lates three positions; First, that Hawaiian
etiquette and the customs of Monarchical
States forbid that the sovereign should
enter the newspaper arena and defend his
honor" To this we would reply that there
Is no such etiquette. That sovereigns
time and again, either directly or through
their agents, have appeared in print, and
that King Kalakaua is no exception to
what we say, of which we hold proof in
our own hands. SO much for number one.
Proposition two makes out that to dis
cuss the King is to 'cast a lasting stain
upon the people, This would not trouble
Mr. Damon so much if the result was ''only
local." but the cirrus spreads and the coun-
try is apt to be injured abroad morally
which apparently does not matter very
much. but what is far more important ito
an appreciable amount, financially"
In reply to this it need only be said that
no harm can be done. either morally or
financially, if the Kings acts are pure and
good Captions and carping criticisms
always defeat themselves, and the sover
eign of this country need fear nothing
either at home or abroad as long as his
acts are dictated by pure philanthropy and
enlightened patriotism. The Queen of
England is not injured one title by the
attacks of certain English and Irish pa
pers. Why? Because her good deeds,
her non interference in the affairs of party
government endear her to the hearts of
the majority of the people She is strong
in love, not in law.
Proposition three states that, the indie
pendent party yield the essence of liberal
ideas when IT is stated that responsibility
can be transferred from the representatives
Of the people and the Ministers of the
Crown to the throne" To this Mr. Thurs
ton replied in words which we cannot bet
ter. He said: mol it is not in abandon
ment of those principles but in pursuance
of them, that we openly discuss the Kings
acts. If he has trodden the Constitu-
ton under foot and ignored Ministerial
rights and responsibility have we not the
right to discuss his actionsl Ii he defes
alike public opinion and the opinion of
the Representatives of the country, and
governs the appointment and dismissal OF
Cabinets by his own irresponsible will, in
stead of by the will of the people, have we
no right to obiect?"
The fact is that in all constitutional
countries the sovereign as well as the
meanest citizen is under the law. 1t sur
prises us immensely to find a descendant
of the Puritans. formulating in a doetriadire
fashion, principles so at variance with the
very traditions of his stock We would
ask Mr.. Damon to glance over Thackeray's
-Four Georges" to make himself familiar
with many of the biographies of the early |
part of this century, to read what English |
have dared TO say, and after |
that careful study, to turn to the Ameri
can press. After he has passed a thorough |
course of this literature we feel sure that |
he will give as verdict that the Hawaiian |
opposition press in its fight for cOnstitu-
tional liberty is really mild, and that its |
claims for criticizing the King publicly |
are sound.
Bless us! we started to review Mr. Kau-
lukou's libel bill. We have however, taken
mp kindred subject The bill and Mr..
Damon's letter are so near akin that it was
to get them little mixed
OF course we are sorry for. Mr.. Damon be
cause it cannot be pleasant to he in com.
Dany with knuluEOu