The daily herald. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1886-1887, 1886-11-05
A SUGGESTION.

Complaints and protests against public
abuses and common nuisances are very
familiar to the readers Of Honolulu
newspapers. Besides what appears
there is much of the same thing which,
for reasons commencing themselves to
the editors, never sees the light or is
only dealt with in an editorial refer
ence. Moreover there are gross evils
existing in the community we'll known
to every journalist, which it would
hardly be proper to discuss in public
print. Not only for that reason, but
because experience has proved that the
authorities, are very slow to act In the
way of nuisance abatement that gives
them any disagreeable work. This is
a fault of the powers that be. almost
everywhere, generally obtaining in in
J verse ratio to the size of the jurisdic-
ton.
The writer in gong about town the
other evening was an involuntary ear
witness to a notorious scandal, one that
has been harped upon over and over
again in the press. The impulse of
the moment was to treat the crying
abomination to yet another exposure,
as caustic as could be made. Second
thought was, however, that it would be
of no use, for the authorities would not
act and the community would but read
and assent, doing nothing to procure
redress of the common grievance. AS
an instance of the impotency of mere
exposure of an evil, take the case of
the scandal stated by contemporary
the other day, that of the boys in a
Government school being freely de-
bauched with opium given them by
designing, villanous Chinese. Why
was this exposure not followed immedi-
ately by public demand from the
Board Of Education for the designation
of that school, coupled with some assur-
ance that the Outrage should be imme-
diately suppressed and punished7
In view Of this discouraging lassi-
tudc on the part of the authorities, in
respect to their duty of investigating
and endeavoring to remedy alleged
abuses, 1t has occurred to us that a
special branch Of police supervision
should be opened, which might be
called the "Police Intelligence Office" {"
The functions of such branch would
be to receive complaints of public
nuisances and annoyances, grievous in
their nature but difficult of tracing to
the actual authors, or of securing con-
viction of such under specific laws.
For such conglomerate population as
that of Honolulu there is gratifying
rarity of grave crime, so that the police
have for the most part only to keep
moving, more or less leisurely at that,
TO preserve almost perfect tranquility.
The force ought therefore to be able,
without an increase of number, TO
attend to the abatement Of such
offenses as, though not hagrantly Grim
inal, are yet the cause of more annoy
ance to the public in general than
would be periodic acts of vio7
lence in the slums or low resorts hid
from the common sight and hearing,
From the proved futiity Of attacks
upon notorious abuses in the papers,
We argue the desirability Of system
of police protection from this large
class Of ohenses. Without anything
partaking Of the nature of police espi-
onage that might be overdone or
abused, we should recommend the
opening Of complaint book of record
at the Station, from the entries in
which the regular patrols could take
their cues for quiet but effective sur
veillance over persons and places that
might be accused of having become
obnoxious through offensive practices
to their neighbors and neighborhoods.