The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1886-06-29

existence Of the qualifications required by
law, in those who appear before 1t and
claim right to vote Their decision is a
judicial judgment, as binding, until re
versed, as a Judgment Of the Supreme
Court.
As further safeguard against the adj
mission Of unqualified voters, the law pro
des that:
Z: shall be the duty of each inspector of any
election TO challenge any person Offering TO vote,
whom be shall know suspect not to be duly
qualified q voter.
After challenge and examination, if the
right is still claimed, the inspector admin
listers prescribed oath to the claimant.
If it appear in the course of this proceed
ure that he is incompetent, or he refuses
to take the oath, his name is stricken from
the register. There is thus provided a
lawful way of reversing the decision of the
board of inspectors If a name has been i'm
properly inserted by them upon the list.
The facts of the case, as laid before the
Assembly, are these, and we believe them
to be substantially true The Board of
Inspectors met before election, as pre-
scribed by law, for the purpose of hearing
evidence upon applications from those
who claimed the right to vote, but whose
names were not on the register. Acting
in their Judicial capacity, the board rem
dered Judgment in favor of twenty-five
applicants, and placed their names on the
register. The district has but few voters,
and it was an easy matter to count noses
and ascertain that if these men were al
lowed TO vote the Independent candidate,
Mr.. John Richardson, would be elected.
This was done, and a report of the result
sent to Government headquarters; the diff
1iculty was laid before the Attorney Gen
eral and he was equal to the occasion.
He saw that the only way to carry the
Kaanapali election for the Government,
was to bulldoze the inspectors into remov-
ing enough names OF independent voters
from the register to leave majority for
the Government, and this is precisely what
be did
Ignoring the fact that the Constitution
expressly has provided that the execu-
tive and the Judiciary shall ever be main
tanned separate and distinct, he, one of the
heads of the executive department, die
tated to, and threatened those acting IN
the Judiciary department, for the purpose
OF carrying on election in favor of the Gov
ernment. He wrote letter to the inspect
ors, stating, ''it is your duty to strike every
name in such manner enrolled from the
full list. and quoted in full the laws in
ficting penalties upon inspectors of elect
ion for on-performance of duty. The
letter was written on official headed paper
and signed by the Attorney General in his
official capacity The letter, coming as it
did from the head of the law department.
and bearing about it the semblance of law
and authority, had the desired effect, and
the frightened board of inspectors, with
views of fine and imprisonment before
their eyes, carried out the orders of the
Attorney General. When the men whose
names had been placed upon the register
in accordance with the law, presented
themselves 10 vote, they were not chal
lenged nor sworn, but were simply in.
formed by the board that eve have let
ter from the Attorney General, and he says
you can't vote, and'so you can't;" and the
whole number We're thrown out, "because
;5he attorney General said So" The Gov
eminent candidate received seventy-one
votes, and the independent sixty; the
scheme was successful and the district Of
haanapah was swlndled out of her right
TO elect her own representative by the lille
gal act of an INSCRIPTIONS official.
Evidence was also produced before the
judiciary committee of the Legislature
concerning seven of the rejected names
and it was proved that they were residents
of Kaanapali The report of the majority
of the committee was worthily headed by
j. L. Kaulukou, and the style of argu-
ment which he used to support his recon-
mendation that the election be confirmed
is worthy of the calibre of the Assembly
to which it was addressed. The CHIEF
reason on which he based the decision OF
the committee, was that although the vot-
ers had been rejected without challenge
as required by law, they had not repeat
eddy asked the inspectors to be allowed to
vote, and they had not come before the
committee and told the committee that
they wanted to vote for John Richardson
With the law and the facts as nl2in, IS
~ ..----Sss - 49, - S'eneral VIII MS
band of Legislative invincibles has brazened
it through, and by a strict party vote the
Attorney General was whitewashed, the
Kaanapali election confirmed, and Gov
eminent methods of obtaining endorse
ment at the polls indicated