The Hawaiian gazette., 1890-08-05

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must have just appreciation OF tn
honesty and integrity required OF ont
who would worthily exercise the dutie
of a citizen in free land And wheI
can he learn these fundamentals bette
than along with his reading and multi
plication table or his language work; be
fore his mind is corrupted, while 1t II
open and appreciative of the truth, as IL
the mind of the boy or the girl.
In no land is there so great a need Of
this kind OF instruction as in ours. In nc
other land do so few votes combine to
choose the members of Its highest legis'
lative body. In no other land does the
individual voter count for SO much at the
polls. Hence the imperativeness of this
need if Hawaii is to be preserved free
land having an autonomy that is respect
ed by all the great powers because of its
high and noble realizations. Our position
is unique in more ways than one, but in
no particular is it more SO than in the
| attempt to place upon a people just en-
tering into civilization the high preroga-
tive OF the elective franchise and full
citizenship. The experiment is not
ended. If the hope of America lies alone
in the intelligence and morality of its
masses, there with greater homogeneity
and centuries of training back of the
| exalted present, what is the hope OF Ha-
wall, with its heterogeneous population,
and a history in civilization that can be
compassed by the lives OF some we know
among US, and an experience in self-gov-
eminent of less than fifty years l answer
that 1t lies in measures SO earnest, aid
on education so comprehensive that the
masses who stay only few years in our
schools shall 90 out with as much know
ledge OF the duties OF citizenship as they
have OF reading or mathematics. A
chain is no stronger than its weakest
link, cable than its poorest strand, and
a government is no more stable; the
power OF nation is no greater than the
stability or strength of the weakest ele-
ment in it, if that element is an active
factor in its administration. To restate
the question in another way, it is, how
can we make good Hawaiian citizens
not good English or German or Portu-
guese or American citizens-but good
Hawaiian citizens out of the English,
German, Portuguese, American, Ha-
waiian, half-caste and all other children
growing up in this land? He is wise
tons are those of crisis or of preparation
The present is almost sure to be either
overestimated or underestimated. But
venture to suggest that this nation is, in
a very real sense, in state of crisis at
this time, while L urge that We do not |
forget that we are sowing now for the |
harvest of the most distant future.
In a representative self-government |
the character of the citizens determines |
the character OF the government at any |
given time. This character, however, is |
not stable or fixed, and as the character |
OF the citizens changes, the change will |
be registered in a corresponding modifi-
cation of the Government. Let me pause
a moment to illustrate this from the
history Of the great republic. The con-
stitution of the United States as adopted
by the thirteen colonies in 1889 stands as
the register Of the character of its citizens
at that time. But these colonies had
suffered from what they felt to be too
highly centralized government in the
mother land, and their sensitiveness to
this sentiment is clearly reflected in the
haste with which constitutional safe
guards were thrown around the individ-
ual and the positiveness with which the
doctrine of state rights was enunciated,
all of which is registered in the first eleven
amendments to the original constitution,
adopted within four year after the nation
was founded. Then followed, as might
have been expected, an excessive and ex-
travagant development of this doctrine in
with the increase of slavery
and the efforts made for its protection.
But, as we have heard this eve, the
time came when the character of the
people was changed; still this principle
that had been fostered and had grown so
aggressive continued to assert itself, and
in vain attempt to establish the doc
trine by force of arms, it persisted, and
its loved and cherished institution was
destroyed and the Constitution amended
so as to abolish it forever But the war
had developed the tendency to centrali-
zation of power in the national govern
ment and amendment has followed
to that end, defining federal
and prohibiting the states
rom interfering with or limiting this
right, and finally comforting manhood
suffrage upon all citizens of the United
States by constitutional amendment.
Thus we see that the national character
axes the complexion of the character
If its citizens. The citizen is the unit
and the unit determines the compound.
Men must have correct ideas of law and
liberty and the limitations these impose
before they can even be expected to be-
,ome law-abiding, law-respecting citi
.ens. False ideas concerning these
principles are responsible for many a
lot in this and every land, and will con-
inue to be until corrected by the truth.
Now, think l am doing no injustice
when l express the conviction that Ha-
yaiian homes, Portuguese homes, Chi
lese- Hawaiian or Chinese homes, as I
It present constituted in this land, are t
lot places in which there is given much
# the needed training or discipline in
elfcrontol that will develope the kind
f citizen contemplated in this address.
Whatever influence of this kind touches
he children of these homes must come
rom the schools and the teachers The
lords of General Morgan apply in this