The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1885-07-10


respecta bic citizens who had spent theii
lives and their energies in gaining fol
themselves reputation and character. were
educated to the point OF indifference &C
charges Of Iiciousness. dishonesty and
crime; if their moral natures became like
stagnant pools, smooth on the surface and
filthy underneath, which could not be
dashed into agitation even by tempest of
calumny and falsehood.
Even among the dives of Pacific street,
in the lowe,t haunts OF crime and prostitu'
ton, it would be difficult to find man who
would consider it a compliment to be
called a thief or woman who would
experience pleasure In being publicly
And yet. if personal journalism is to be-
tolerated, if the estimate OF libel both ex.
pressed and still more strongly implied in
this is the standard to which the best, and
not the worst. elements of society in this
State would be reduced.
! OF course, | know that this is not what
the learned counsel meant; he has too much
! of selfrespoct and too much regard for a
! community in which many OF his past fruit
full years were passed, voluntarily to take
, such position; but 1t IS what he said in
. his representative capacity, and it cor
rectly depicts the only possible foundation
/ upon which personal journalism can rest
itinvolunta rily interprets and explains the
animus and the nature of the attacks upon
! Claus Spreckels and his family which ap.
peared for years in the pages of the Chron-
icte. OF course, [ know also that he who
J
God and man may seek to evade the force
! of those criticisms by segregating articles
! and parts OF articles, each from the other
I by dividing them into a number of exceed.
ingly vulgar fractions, and by insisting
that the worst personalities wero not in
| terms directed against Claus Spreckels;
but this disingenuousness, if it be at
! tempted, VIII not avail him. | propose
! from the evidence. by means of the record.
to prove my opening precisely as it was
made, and at the end of the examination
,lr
where an isolated phrase wrenched from
its context and from the whole volume of
DEGRADED LITERATURE
| Which has been necessarily read in your
I hearing, might suggest doubt to deter
mine fairly, justly, as men of at least aver
age intelligence and education, whether
Claus Spreckels was meant or not. And
mark you, gentlemen, l shall rigidly ad
my opening remarks. The tendency of
my views will be not to restrict but to en-
large the substantial liberty of the press
and to add weight and dignity to it's legiti-
mate discussions of public questions. /
honor and esteem the manly and intelli-
gent Journalists of this great republic, nu-
merously represented as they are in our
midst, represented even in the columns Of
the Chronicle itself for their bold and free
assertion and exercise o. the rights Of
discussion and criticism. Whatever my in
to support the reciprocity treaty be-
tween the United States and the
Kingdom of Hawaii, which has been
perfectly justified, however. by my friend
and associate, Mr.. McAllister, nor to quar-
rel with the Chronicle for having reversed
its original opinion and opposed the re-
newal of that treaty. Nor is il within my
province to object to any fair and reasona-
BILE opposition to any form of monopoly, if
there be any, that aSSailS the freedom or
injuriOusly affects the interests of the peo-
pie. Still less would it become me to CON
slider those questions upon which there is
absolute identity OF opinion between Claus
Spreckels and his sons and the Chronicle
such as intolerance of eyery-- form of
saver ana peonage. Steady resistance to
nIohsoIAant- iimml grafton, a Just apprecia-
SSl3HlrOf the inc stimabIe value of the Ameri-
can citizenship. 1t would be an unheard
or thing for merchant who came from a
land free from the stain of human bondage,
wEosprang from the ranks of the people,
and who. ~ the very necessities OF his own
career, retained his sympathy for the
human beings with which he was thus
inseparably connected, to outgrow his love
for the institutions under WHICH all his
prosperity had been achieved 1t would
be equally unheard Of for young man
born in the free atmosphere of the West
where personal liberty and disdain for the
narrow cOnYentionalisms and formallties
Of the older societies are perhaps even
among the participants in the same
heritage with himself. who were to be the
future pillars of a cosmopolitan com
munity and of majestic State; whose
daily and hourly associations promoted
those ideas and feelings which spring from
manly independence, it would be equal
Iy unheard Of / say, for such a young
man. free born and untrammeled except
oy the restraints or IN educated con
science, of family affections and dlsclpllne,
and of the laws essential TO the pupIC
81 fety and welfare, to have nech WlthouC
the deepest
LOVE AND REVERENCE FOR COUNTRY
And the most complete identity of opinion
with its opinions, and even with the pre-
iudIces upon which his comrades, MS
friends his acquaintance, the people at
large were substantially united. Oh! In
the gray and settling period or TINS ardu-
Gus human life, when so many illusions
have been dispelied, when 80 many aspIra-
tions have fed like the mists that pour In
upon W. from the peaceful sea, when human
ambition has with many OF US oeen lnclh-
Grated amidst the fires of jealousy and IN
charita bIeness, when the fair and lovely
dreams of early manhood have vanished
like the castles IN spain which so many OF
US have built, when our souls bear the I'm,
slightly seams of thousand conIlcts ana
defeats, when our aIiecu for humanity
itself is stained by bitter memories OF
treaChcry and ingratitude. and by the sun
bitterer romOrscful CONSCIOUSNESS OF our
own weakne >Se5 and errors, when all the
tenderness and all the h0pefulnesS that
remain to US are concentrated upon
that immortal existence where we may
look Tor rest and peace and yoy-ln
this afternoon 1t may be, this tWlllght OF
human existence, with what treII uiOuS
anxiety. with what yearning sympathy We
look upon the young men who are 10 M
our places and carry forward our work.
May they soar like the eagle, ana " klndle
their undazzled eyes in the full, midday
beam, held only by those invisible coroS
that tie the eagle to It's nest ana man 10 MS
earthly home: may they retain purity,
faith. intellectual and moral strength ana
balance, the command of themselves IN all
the ViciSsitudeS of business and or the 90,
mestic and social relations. hearts filled
with fresh juices Of manhood, minds pos
sessed with clear apprehension and
noble integrity, may they be hlled win IN,
dwelling truth and honor, with hatred and
Indignation only for what Is low ana vie
ana poiluting; may they regulate without
eXtirpating their appetites and their pas
siOns and pour their energies into those
streams which have fructified and beauti-
ned the history Uf man. May they realize
that law is sacred because it IS directly or
indirectly the voice OF God, that lie Is
sacred because it proceeds from Him, and
IN Jst return to him, but that reputation
and character are not less sacred because
they represent all that man can earn, all
that he can keep, all that he can III one
sense leave to improve the world in which
he has lived, and yet carry with him to
that highest sphere of existence to which
CHARACTER CAN BE THE ONLY PASSPORT.
1t is with generation such as this that
/ identify the defendant in thio case; and
when the chief prosecuting witness here,
or more properly the commonwealth itself,
holds him to strict accountability for any
act that he may have done that might
have although it did not, imperI human
life, 1 do not claim but place beside it one
of equal if not greater dignity and inn
portance; L say TO the proprietor of the
lost all respect for the truth, if you imagine
that you can assail, falsely and unjustly
assail, the reputation of American citizens
and incur no conSequences-if you believe
that, without justification or palliation,
with no motive in your mind of advancing
the public interests, but merely to crafty
your own thirst for revenge, or lower still,
with the mercenary object of throwing
inf iprn a aaRla or he