The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1892-06-28
THE TREASON FIASC0.

tered the oath prescribed for legis-
lators to Robert w. Wilcox, the
member for Waialua, and his act
was the solemn denouement of the
serio-comedy of the treason cases.
In the game which has been play
ing between the agitators and the
Government, the honors are, per-
haps easy"
The Government has scored two
points. 1t has succeeded in per-
suading Col. Ashford to try a
change of scene, and it has intro
duced a little, a very little, mild
CONSERVATION into the ranks of the
alleged conspirators. On the other
hand, the boosted sure case against
the prisoners has utterly failed to
materialize, and long, laborious
and costly prosecution has ended
in smoke. The honors therefore
are easy.
In endeavoring to form an opin-
ion on the wisdom or folly of these
broken-down prosecutions, it is ex-
eeedingly important to note one
thing: The evidence entirely failed
to prove the one fact on which the
course of the Government depended
for its justifcation-the fact, viz:
that an uprising was actually i'm
minent. It was freely stated by
the Marshal and his coterie, before
the arrests were made, that an in
surrection was to be expected any
moment; that the day and hour
had been fixed, etc. Now, the ex-
animation not only failed to show
this, but it showed the direct oppo-
site. 1t proved that the conspiracy
was in vague, obscure and elemen-
tary stage; that the members Of
the League were divided among
themselves, full of mutual distrust,
uncertain in their aims, without
plans and without arms and
ammunition to carry out any
plans which they might have had.
The trial showed moreover that
there was no strong popular feel
ing behind the little knot of dis
affected persons and nothing to
furnish them that support without
which they could not have acted
at all.
Nothing affords a more signifi-
cant commentary on the real char
acter of this burlesque conspiracy
than single incident which we
will mention. The members were
sworn into the league by a deeply
solemn oath, attaching the pen
atty of death to every be-
trayal of the secrets of the
the organization. Yet, when one
member was suspected of having
so betrayed secrets, what was done?
Did anyone propose to kill him ?
Was his head cut off, knife put
in his back, or did anyone feed
him to the sharks ? Not exactly.
The Executive Council held a
meeting over his case, and decided
in solemn conclave to "use inhu-
ence" to "beat him out of a Gov
eminent jobp"
This most lame and impotent
conclusion affords a key to the
whole situation. The conspiracy
was very small affair, which, to
paraphrase a famous author, began
in mystery and would have ended
in mist if it had only been given
half chance. The public, in feel
ing no solicitude on the occasion,
showed an instructive appreciation
of its true character.
That conspiring of some sort was
going on was certainly brought out
by the evidence, but anyone with
ears and eyes open could have
told so much before. On an i'm
partial survey of the evidence,
it appears very doubtful what was
the precise nature of the organiza-
ton. That it was one of dis
affected persons, is clear. That its
talk was seditious, and the coun-
sells of some of its members more
or less reasonable is, we think