The Hawaiian gazette., 1885-03-04

L L now nearly three years since the
present Minister ascendei the stsps Of the
| Foreign OHice- It may be well to review
some ot the principal events Of the inter
val and see into what sOT1 Of 8 position be
has landed Us. and what sort OF admins
traitors they are to whom the King has er-
trusted the four portfolios Of the Cabinet
>EEi9-ss 7riorgt. The Minister Of Foreign
Affairs i the only one who has held on
through deeper and deeper shades OF evil
report from his first installation. through
out the kaleidoscope period til the Min
-st-y seems TO have crystalIZed into lis
present form During al this period the
gushing feature has been mess upon
muddle- middle on mess. here a muddle
and there muddle. blundsr on Job and
Job upon blunder- The history Of these
three years Is history Of prstentiOus in
capacity and Of vulgar failure. Of vsstetul
extravaganza n oStentsiOus uselessness.
and pItIful parsimony IN matters OF public
utility.
To the Foreign Minister We owe the
fruitless expeditions OF foreign missions
IL all directions 10 the Emperor Of all the
Russiss. 10 the second King Of Rumtifoc
II the South Seas To the same ingenious
person Is due, the fact that scarce royal
entertainment OF state ceremony has taken
place, which has not been marred By the
vTonghesded dissusngements insisted on,
! IN defiance OF precedent hF the general
marplot- With France. the sudden unac-
1 countsble exit from Paris OF the Hawaiian
Minister. and the unpleasantness with
Capt ChsteaUmin0is With Great Britain
the Kadosf muddle, the Flowerdew mud
de, the Theobald middle The bombastic
absuriity Of the Protest met for the
most part with silent contempt by the
great powers. and handful Of absurd ad
dresses from naked ssysges in the South
Seas The giving and receiving Of orders
and white elephants. The genealogy Job,
the multiplication Of secretaryships. and
the using the newly created secretaries for
private purposes all 20 to make up the
record ot the Foreign Office for the last
three wears.
Of the Minister OF Finance-what can
be ssld-sImply that he Is an unqualified.
unmltlgsted impersOnation Of incspscity.
and Is treated accordingly by his col
leagues In the Cabinet. and appreciated
sccontulgly by an outraged public Absent
from BIS post for weeks at time. he merely
sticks up notice. gone to Kauai Interior
vii look after my shop. or at the most
critical financial period in the history Of
IL g kingdom goes of to Maui for few
vfeeks while during his absence important
documents are issued BY the Govern
menf'' bearing his signature. Did hesign
a quire OF 30 Of blank fselscap for his col
leagues to Ill IN. IL his absence, OF did
they presume on his notable helplessness
and unfitnessi Not that II Is to be sup
posed that the public welfare suffered by
his absence, only some little consideration
should be shown to public sUseeptibilities.
II the Minister of Finance be notoriously
incompetent II should be the business Of
his colleagues to show the least and not
the most contempt for him.
The present Minister Of the Interior IN
herited very evil heritage Contracts
given away without competition, system
Of partiality and nepotism: $4,000 OF
4 bridge contracts given away to relation
Il Of the Foreign Minister. He has done
better than his immediate predecessor, but
Z still has failed to STIR the stsgnsnt pOol
/ into which all important public works have
( fallen The mos1 pressingly important oi
these, the water supply Of Honolulu !;
! only forwarded by the prospectus Of {
costly project which Inay be brought int
operation two years hence If the vote f0'
= the purpose be honestly used therefor