The Hawaiian gazette., 1890-06-24

Kingdom. Inc Bulletin seems 10
imagine that we have objected to
the complexion of the new Minis
try because it is not all drawn from
the ranks of the National Reform
party, an objection which certainly
has never crossed our mind. This
is. on the contrary, the very fea-
ture of the new Ministry which
commends it to our favor.
What we find particularly extra
ordinary in the Bulletin article is
the following statement, and the
reasoning by which it is supported:
''There is not parallel between
the conditions here and those In
England. 1t is all precedent there,
it is all written law mere. In Eng
land the executive and the legisla.
tive are interviewer as the warp
and the wool In Hawaii the ex-
eoutive and the legislative are by
the written law to be maintained
separate and distinct"
The Bulletin further asserts that
there is no obligation on the part of
the King to select his Ministers
from the dominant party in the
House. g
The contention that there is no
parallel between English conditions
and ours merely because our law is
written, is one which has been so
often exposed in these columns that
further discussion of it can hardly
avoid repetition, AS a matter of
fact our constitution was largely
borrowed from the English. 1t is,
with some important exceptions, a
conscious imitation of it. Where
did we get our Cabinet system;
was it from America? Where did
we get the principle of ministerial
responsibility; was it from the
United States? Where did we get
the plan of giving the Ministry
seats in the House, with the right
to vote as members of it? We're
these things inventions of ours?
Every one knows that they were
borrowed from the English consti-
tuition They do not cease to sug-
gest their origin, merely because
they are written down in a definite
instrument. They must continue
to be interpreted in the light of
their original prototypes, if they
are to be understood at all. If the
English constitution were to be
written, would that affect its inner
character? Everyone knows that
its content would be absolutely the
same, not differing from its former
self by hair. The only difference
would be an external. not a sub
stantive one, viz: in the manner of
changing it. The only fundamental
distinction between written and
an unwritten constitution, is in the
method of change One is rigid,
the other flexible. One is above
the legislature. The other is SUBJ
ordinated to it. The real underly-
ing difference between our govern
ment and that of Great Britain is
that in that country the legislature
is absolutely sovereign, the reposi-
tory of all the powers of the people,
while here it possesses only those
powers which the people in the
constitution have granted to it. 1t
is perfectly possible that the powers
thus granted, should coincide in the
minutest detail, with those exer-
cised by the legislature in accord
ance with the unwritten law.
Suppose the trainers of the Amer
can Constitution had intended to
reproduce the English Constitution,
had simply meant their own funda
mental law to be precise copy of
that of the mother country, would
not American statesmen, whenever
a question arose under the Consti-
tuition, whenever that document
was silent with regard to any adj
illustrative detail, have looked to
England for precedents to guide
them in Interpretation?
It is a great mistake to suppose
that IA written constitution, merely
because it is written, contains or
can possibly contain, the whole of
the fundamental law Details must
inevitably be left to be settled by
custom and usage, by growth and
by judicial construction. All con-
stitutions grow, whether they are
written or not, and the law of their
growth is determined by their past.
For us to attempt to cut loose from
the precedents of those countries
whence our institutions are derived,
would not merely be arrant folly,
but would be contrary to prece-
dent, and unscientifc. Where our
Constitution is vague or silent, we
must develop it according to its
spirit, and to understand its spirit,
we must look abroad to the
countries from which its provisions