The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1888-09-06

w dlDlO, 9O,OOO.
Noble Smith said he wished to distin-
guish himself, now in the last days of the
Session, and would move the previous
question.
Noble Wight-My motion was in ahead.
Noble Wight'S motion carried.
Noble Townsend moved to strike ont the
item: road, Wailuku to Lahalna, $15, 900.
Carried.
The Appropriation bill, the aggregate of
the items being 81, 379, 713 90, passed to en-
grossment, to be read a third time on
Friday.
AMENDMENT TO THE CONSTITUTION.
The following amendment to the Consti-
tuition, submitted, 1st inst, by special COM
mittee, was taken up and considered:
Be it resolved by the Legislature of the
Hawaiian Kingdom: That the following
Article be and hereby is proposed as an
amendment to the Constitution
The Legislature may by law name or
limit the occupation or employment of
every kind whatsoever in which Chinese,
fully engage or continue to pursue; the
estate and interest In land they may aC-
quire, or acquiring, hold, and the duration
thereof; and the number of years, not less
than six, during which any Chinese may
lawfully reside in the Hawaiian Kingdom :;
and may provide for the registration and
identification of Chinese; Provided how
ever, that no law shall be passed which
shall operate to diVeSt any Chinese of the
ownership OF any real or personal property
owned by any such Chinese at the date of
the final adoption of this amendment, nor of
which they may thereafter lawfully become
the owner or owners; and provided fur
Their, that no law shall be enacted which
shall operate to prevent any Chinese from
continuing to engage in any lawful en-
plOyment in which he shall be bOna-tide
engaged at the date of the final adoption
of this amendment; Provided further, that
no law shall operate to make 1t unlawful
for any Chinese to engage in the cultiva-
ton or manufacture OF rice or sugar,
or in the cultivation of any other
product of the soil; and, provided
further, that no Chinese within the
Hawaiian Kingdom when this amendment
becomes part of the Constitution shall
thereafter be compelled to depart the same,
except such Chinese as shall be legally sem
fenced to transportation or deportation for
forgery.
The Legislature may enforce the pro-
visions of this amendment by appropriate
legislation; and no such legislation shall
be declared unconstitutional because con-
fined in its operation to Chinese or any
body or class thereof.
In this amendment " Chinese" means
any person or persons, male or female,
wholly of Chinese or Monaghan birth or
descent, whether born in China or else
where, and whether citizens or subjects
y,
include and apply to all and every person
or persons wholly of Chinese or MOngOliaIi
birth or descent who are now or hereafter
may be a citizen or citizens, subject or sub
jeCtS OF the Hawaiian Kingdom; Provided
however, that the provisions of this amend7
ment shall not be construed to include OF
apply to persons of Japanese birth or
descent; nor to Chinese who were natural
lied subjects of the Hawaiian Kingdom ON
the first day of July in the year OF our
Lord one thousand eight hundred and
lightweight; tnOr to children and descend
ants of Chinese born in the Hawaiian King
dom who have not departed from the
Kingdom.
Minister Ashford said-I hope this
amendment will pass. l do not recognize
i'll it the presence of the wrongful
and unjust features alleged against
it. 1t first proposes to permit flu
ture Legislatures to name and limit
the occupations in which Chinese may en-
gage, or continue to pursue, but this au!
thOrIty is checked by the extensive pro-
VlSOS which guarantee to all Chinese the
absolute right to engaged in any agricultural
pursuits, and which prohibit Legislative
interference with their right to pursue
those avOcatlOns in which they shall be en-
gagged when this amendment shall become
a part of the Constitution. This is aimed
chiefly at those Chinese who shall here
after come to our shores 1t is one of the in
CldentS of sovereignty that any government,
unless restricted therein by treaty or statu-
tory provisions, to exclude from It's shores
any and all foreigners whom it may will
to SO exclude. By virtue of present treaty
stipulatiOns, all the prominent races of the
earth, except Chinese, are now entitled to
come and reside in Hawaii upon terms
with the sons of the soil. But the Chinese
enjoy no such treaty privileges, therefore,
it is optional with this Government
whether it will enforce it's natural and
sovereign right to so exclude them. The
right of exclusion includes the right to im7
pose conditions upon the entry OF Chinese
into this Kingdom. The present amend4
ment proposes to authorize the
imposition of such conditions, within
the limits of naming and limiting
their future occupations, and the estate
in land which they may acquire or
hold, while avoiding any injustice from
interference with such occupations as pres
ent residents shall, at the time when it be-
comes part of the Constitution, be pur-
suing, and shielding from invasion all
property rights then existing. | consider
that these provisions. taken III conjunction
with the absolute privilege of all Chinese,
whether now here, or hereafter to come,
to engage in any and all agricultural pur-
suits, sufficiently guarantees them in the
exercise of all rights consistent with the
welfare Of the state. With regard to those
Chinese now in the country, their right to
here remain cannot be abridged, except as
they shall be lawfully sentenced to depor-
tatiOn as a punishment for felony. This
right of judicial deportation is exercised
by nearly all nations. 1t has existed and
been exercised in England from time i'm
memorial, and many of the communities
in the Southern Colonies of Great Britain
were formed by convicts so transported
This amendment is aimed at, or intended
to be applied to the honest, industrious
and thrifty class of Chinese. 1t is a pro-
vision in the direction OF preventing the |
Chinese race from acquiring an undue pro-
portion of the property and controlling an
undue proportion of the industries of the |
to the exclusion of the native Ha-
waiian and other foreigners. 1t is pro-
posed as a means to prevent our subiuga-
ton by the Chinese race. 1t is the idle and |
vicious element of that race of which we
chiefly complain, and if the better classes |
of Chinese had heretofore co-operated |
with the authorities in the effort to re-
strain, regulate and punish the vagrant !
and vicious members of their race in |
H. \ Z