The Hawaiian gazette., 1885-06-10

Enron GAzErrE:-As belong to countries where
Municipal Government has fourished for centu
ries and have myself been Municipal Council
lor, - you will perhaps allow me to say word on
the question which is now being discussed, as to
the advisability of giving self Government to DO
nolulu. The thing, know has been discussed as
you say, "again and again. but believe never tf
the proper point, and never with view to ITS
ssee eqcidatl9n M kpaIiat6 aceorpS
tttGe AdreTtisers theories it is useless to discuss
things which exist elsewhere but do not exist
here makes me feel most decidedly in its favor
and have long thought it would be such good
thing for this town, that during the last Legisla-
ture had bill prepared on the subject but could
not find any one willing to submit 1t to the House.
| Thus ] was sorry TO see the GAZETTE disposed
rather more to oppose the measure than TO support
/ If; and as know that every course taken by your
valuable paper is dictated only by some very good
reasons, have given your ideas peculiar attention
But, although thoroughly concurring with some
of your points, / beg to differ ON some others
| equally important.
Your premises are unimpeacEable: (" a good
| Municipal Government would be good thing, the
reverse would be intolerable." But from those l
| draw two sequences: lst. If the Municipal Gov
| ernment could be good and desirable thing in
itself, must hare H. even if given by the Greeks
and you evidently had "f,Deo DaHaos g. d0nd fer
entes' in mind when writing your article: ID. If it
be given to US, we must look out for it to be gODd
| and not bad, and that, / shall now try to show
rests entirely in ourselves. Then l 90 further
still as TO the event of its being Jdd of course
/
who were, for the shame of the capital, returned
| at the last elections, would be sore burden on
! the Honolulu population, but might not even that
prove healthy thing, for this reason that, by be-
ing so utterly bad and unsupportabe, perhaps our
patient or phlegmatic population might nj last
make up their minds not TO support il any longer,
and once the torrent having broken through its
dams, 1t might sweep away the whole system
against which there has been so much growing,
but no acting.
You further say: ''it cannot be denied the mer-
camille interests are wholly unrepresented in the
Legislature" and ] shall add, in the whole admin
istration.' Perfectly true. But why is it so? Sim
ply because our mercantile men are too indolent
or too absurdly proud, or too cowardly disposed
for putting themselves In the way of commanding
proper representation.
Now Put il down as an irrefutable fact that if
every merchant, every landowner, every mechanic
every artizan and every laborer in town,-all of
whom are positively lnterested,-though many
don I seem TO realize it-in having good Govern
ment, both municipal and national-wuuld only
qualify themselves for voting, they would at any
time. command the vote of the town, and conse-
quently would have Just whom bieg might think
Dest 10 administer the local affairs, as well as TO
represent them in the Legislature. They have not
yet done It, and perhaps will still not do it in time
for the next elections, and that will be the only
thing that can insure another lease of power to the
present bad administration. But if we had NUM-.
clpal Government with the perspective or the fact
OF its being bad, then perhaps many who now SO
disdalnfully refuse ito lose their nationality"
AAlu IL a ubCtSSllN protecting tlelr
pockets-to qualify themselves so as to assist IN
controlling the election of the City Board or NUM-
clpal Court, as you call it.
Let us then have Municipal Government, even
as proposed by the official monopoly organ,
But let us have our self called patriotic" mer-
chants, our proud but not wise Plapterss lS"i65v i65v
name If proper times came, let all good and in |
huential men set the good example of taking part
In the voting: the smaller fry of nov unqualified |
residents would very follow suit and swell the
electoral lists to the point of reversing tine politi-
cal tables.
But if they will not, please, dear GAZETTE, do |
not bother us any more with their complaints |
against what they deem bad Government but LET |
US submit contentedly to what you call the rule of
nonentities, and that rule could not be a BIT |
worse for having sham municipal board added
TO IT, than II now is III being conducted by n min
lstry which you call sin antagonism with every
interest in the country, whilst it might do great
deal OF good to many private interests, if there
were a few more places and percentages" for
agreeable candidates. and few more "prices for
vote" for friendly voters.
On the other hand, if my argument hits the nail
OF the head, and if the classes have alluded TO
above, realize that something must be done by
them, let US lose 10 time in organising the ''res
ponslDle constituency" you speak about and in |
preparing for the future fight
A. Nj