The Daily bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Hawaii]) 1882-1895, 1885-11-27
WRONG VIEWS,

When Burns penned the sentiment
that it would be of great advantage
to us Wad some power the giftie
gle us, To see oursels as ithers see
us. the Hawaiian Islands were
little known, and the city of Homo
lulu had not reached the protoplasm
stage of development. The poet
may therefore he excused for doing
the Honolulu ofthe latter part Of the
10th century manifest injustice;
for il would be almost national
calamity if we should be subjected to
the necessity of seeing ourselves as
others are disposed to see us. As
seen from abroad. we are an isolated
set, exiled from civilization aud
afflicted with unbearablc cnnui. That
we have paved streets and n road
supervisor is noted with amazement
by tourists who land on our shores.
The astonishment almost invariably
experienced by visitors during their
first days in Honolulu is proof posi-
tive that this Kingdom, even in the
great centers of population abroad,
is an unknown country. Persons
have landed on these shores with the
notion that the native element in So
ciety is nonentity, and are sur
prised to find the ancient Hawaiian
clothed and in his right mind y
like his white neighbor. Nor are
these absurd opinions confined to
the unread and ignorant by any
means. The readers of the Augustus
Sala letters could see cropping out
all through that brilliant authors 3
writing the idea that the evidences
of advanced society he met here
were almost startling in their novelty
to him. If to the half-frozen deni-
zens of two. thirds of the North
American continent in this month of
November we could convey any
adequate idea of the supremely salu-
brious climate of Hawaii, and con-
nected Herewith the fact that the
best society of Boston, New York or
Montreal has its counterpart in Ho-
nolulu, and that the institutions of
benevolence and moral enterprise
for which more pretentious cities
are famed, are in full blast in our
midst:~it would come before them
like new revelation. Moral eX-
hortatons in Sunday schools in
America are very commonly spiced
with the ominous warning that some
wicked boys perform feats of in
EQUITY that would be bad
enough for Sandwich Islanders. "
They forget, or rather never knew,
that the crowning vices of the Ha-
waiians. as a race, are those intro
duced from the headquarters OF
civilization. As regards the native
population, double mission work ha;
been very effectively performed
They have been Christianized to {
large extent, and, at the same time
too many of them have been, il no
demoralized, shunted off on to new
tracks on the road to ruin. While
all the ways, both bad and good, o
civilization have been fully rooted il
Hawaiian soil, there need be NJ
doubt in the minds of foreigl
tourists on pleasure bent or invalid
in search of salubrious winter eli
mate, that in the latitude o
Honolulu they will find air, societ,
and institutions adapted to thei
several tastes and necessities. Unit
these facts are thoroughly ventilated
abroad, justice demands that tn
gift of seeing ourselves as other
see us be transferred to other peopl
in such way rs that they may wisl
to inform themselves of our claims
to be properly known and unde
stood.
.-a--a...--r-.--.---a...4.