Saturday press. [volume] (Honolulu, H.I.) 1880-1885, 1884-01-05
rnE NEsDs or rHg morn.

Failing the election of a majority of
intelligent and independent candidates
TO serve at the coming session of the
legislature, the outlook for the pcrpetu.
ity of this as an independent state is
bad indeed The very foundation OF
its free existence has been ndely
shaken by the more recent follics OF
the present reign, so that from being
the well governed little kingdom, whose
fame had encircled the globe, Hawaii
has arrived at an era in her history
when chronlclers abroad, who deem
her worthy of notice at all, are able to
speak of her in terms only of ridicule
or pity. The unfortunate pertinacity
with which the king has adhered to the
counscls Of those who are not only in
competent, but careless of all else than
their own personal advancement, has
had the effect of tightening the esteem
in which we have been held abroad
and shaking the general confidence at
home to an extent which makes it APP
pear a necessity that many legislative
changes be established before a proper
equilibrium can again be restored
And these must be such as tend away
from absolutlsm and to an enlargement
OF the peoples power, including such
measures as will once and forever
secure to the people a representation
that they and they aLoHe will be able to
control OF what avail is it to the
people Of Hawaii that they elect repre-
scntatives under slippery promises
which Immediately give way under the
pressure of official influence and the
bcstowal of gifts at the disposal of an
administration Such has been mani
icstly the effect of distributing among
members such offices as those of
assessorships, collectorships and the
Nlike a species of bribery, we regret to
say, not originating with, or peculiar
70, the existing administration; but
nevertheless more freely used than ever
to defeat the peoples will As nation,
we have arrived at that pass where the
common order of things has been so
disrupted and common policy so per
sistcntly abandoned that we have no
thing else to look to- than the might
which may be left us in Legislative re
presentation And, as we have said
before, unless this be strong, our out
look for perpetuity as an Independent
kingdom will be dark indeed. A
house packed with tools to do the
beck, and sanction further the i'm
bccility and extravaganza of an ad
mlniStrltion like the present one, may
damn the last hope Of Hawaii. Our
only hope lies in the election of a
majority of men in whom are united
intelligence, rectitude and indepen-
dence, and their work must be not
only that of analysis but also of syn
thesis. The props of absolutism, or
even its semblance, need cutting away,
while the will ofthegovernednecds better
seCutity than it has ever yet had. 1t
needs To know that the ballot box is
not altogether farce, and that the
men who ask the franchises of the peo-
pie in return for promises made may
not afterwards be able with impunity
to thumb their noses at their constitu-
ents, The people need men to repre-
sent them who will return to their con
stituenoies with clean hands not men
Haunting IN the voters faces upon re
turning to their districts a petty govern
ment commission as certificates of
their periidy, Further, guarantee is
NEEDED that there shall be some def
ni:e limit to the prerogative of the
crown. The constitution needs to be
better defined, for the evil day has
dawned on Hawaii when not only the
spirit OF this may be disregarded, but
even the very letter of the law itself