The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1885-12-17

PLANTERS MONTHLY POLITICS.

1t lisa misfortune in one respect that
the official organ of the Planters Labor
and Supply Company should be con-
Quoted by a gentleman actively en-
gagged, among other things, in Ha-
waiian politics. Indeed, this has
been its weak point from the beginning
Under these conditions it necessarily be-
comes a partisan publication, and meas
ures of public policy are looked at through
the lines OF personal ambition and self
interest. OF course the editor of the
Planters Monthly" has a right to his
opinion he has likewise Il perfect right
70 express it either orally or by writing;
and if the p. J.. and > Company are COP
tent to issue Il monthly publication to
promote the election of any individual no
one has Il right to complain But the
organization need not be surprised at the
conspicuous want of influence and lack
of usefulness which characteriaes their
representative organ This is regretabIe,
because great possibilities of usefulness
and influence lay before it with differ
ent policy. =
In its December issue the Planters
Monthly" opens with an editorial article
on ''Politics and the Planters" Instead
of being a careful and weIl-balanced ar
gument, such as one might reasonably
expect in monthly review or magazine,
it is as crude in It's fabrication and as
biassed and reckless in statement as
nverage Opposition editorials in local
newspapers! There is an excuse for the
latter; there is no excuse for the monthly
writer on Hawaiian politics
1t is assumed that the Government is
corruptly using its influence to carry the
elections, and it is broadly stated that
the election of certain native Hawaiians
who are named, "means only Il sub
servient and serviIe House. 1t means
(the writer continues) the enactment Of
such laws as suit the dominant individual
and without reference to the public needs.
1t means the rash and wicked appropria-
ton OF the public funds for useless and
foolish purposes, and the neglect of the
public needs Now, how does the
writer of these sentences know what is
to happen in the future if the constituent
cies should elect "Kamakele, Nahinu,
KaunamanO, Kaulukou and Others" to
quote his own selection of names. If he
does not know, and he cannot possibly
do so, Is it not gross impertinence, to
say the least, to sit in judgment upon
others, and pronounce them corrupt by
anticipation.
The whole tone and tenor of the article
IN question is that neither the King nor
native Hawaiians are to be trusted with
the management of their own national
affairs. Ii they are not, we should like
to know who else is TO be trusted? Most
certainly the least desirable OF the ma
tive candidates is to be preferred to any
of the young legal aspirants for legisla-
tive honors, who have thrust themselves
forward in the hope that the public pap
may supply the sustenance which dis
eliminating litigants deny Given
Weakened Hawaiian representative
and hungry attorney if ii job is to be
worked through the Legislature, and the
chances are about "A hundred to one i'm
favor OF the honesty of the native. The
truth is, the legal aspect of the Opposi.
ton ticket is one of its most objectiona-
BILE features, not that we have any quar-
rel with lawyers in their proper place,
but that place is not exactly the Legisla-
ture. As Il rule, practicing lawyers are
failures in parliamentary bodies, and we
see no reason why inexperienced mem
bers of the Hawaiian bar should prove
an exception to the general rule.
In conclusion, the remainder of the
Planters Monthly consists mainly of
clippings from the Louisiana Sugar
Bowl and other newspapers, together
with a report of the Committee on
Ramie Machine, . which the ADVERTISER
anticipated ii couple OF months ago in its
regular news column. Methods of Gull
tivation,' by Franklin IL. Austin ''AIac-
Grafton" by Robert Cation; and ''5Iac-
Grafton aud the Two-roll MILL by ). n.
Castle, are original papers.
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