The Daily bulletin., 1893-04-12
A Bit of Comparative History.

'i'lp ~ NSl'ulhiN q hiuNh S''piSNi
case against Liliuokalani than there
was against James H." AS facts of
history quickly fade from memory,
perhaps you would allow me space
to take the case against James III.
as it is summed up by Macaulay:
During three years the King had
been proof to all argument and all
entreaty. Every minister who had
dared to raise his voice in favor of
the civil and ecclesiastical constitu-
ton of the realm had been dis
graced. A Parliament eminently
loyal had ventured to protest gently
and respectfully against a violation
of the fundamental laws of England,
and had been sternly reprimanded,
prorogued, and dissolved. Judge
after Judge had been stripped of
the ermine for declining to give de-
cisions opposed to the whole com
mon and statute law. The most
respectable Cavaliers had been ex-
cludcd from all share OF the govern
ment of their counties for refusing
to betray public liberties. Scores of
clergymen had been deprived of
thoir livelihood for observing their
oaths. Prelates, to whose steadfast
fidelity the King owed the crown
which he wore, had on their knees
besought him not to command them
to violate the laws of God and of
the land. Their modest petition
had been treated as seditious libel.
They had been browbeaten, threat
ened, imprisoned, prosecuted, and
had narrowly escaped utter ruin"
Can anything approaching the
above be made out against Liliuoka-
lani? When all the TRADES that
have been issued against Her Maj
esty are boiled down, the resi9uum
that is left is this: THAT the
Queen, declining to exercise her pre-
rogative, did not refuse her sigma
ture to the Opium and Lottery Bills
the former Of which had the support
of half of the Brown-J ones Robin
son Cabinet. If this non-refusal was
an error, it was an error on the side
of yielding to the popular will as
expressed by the Legislative Assem-
bly,. To have done otherwise would
have exposed her to denunciations
for straining the prerogative from
the same party that now pours out
its wrath on the Queen for abstain
ing from it's exercise. 2-That the
Queen consulted her Ministers wit h
regard to the PRONUNCIATION of new
Constitution, and finding them OPP
posed to it issued a proclamation
signed by herself and her Ministers
that no steps would be taken that
were not in accordance with the
Constitution of 1887. 1t may be
confidently asserted that could
James II. have issued similar pro-
clamation to abide by the Constitu-
ton of England, any time between
his abortive attempt to cross the
Channel ON December IL, 1858, and
his final flight on the 22d, William
of Orange would have gone back tc
Holland and never have sat on tn,
throne Of England. In institutins
a comparison between the two case
it must be borne in mind that tn
curtailment of the Royal preroga
tive is far from being the principa
source of the dissatisfaction whicl
the most constitutional Sovereign
must feel with the Constitution o
1887. lit was forced on the coun
try at the point of the bayonet. .
The Supreme Court has been unabl
to agree as to its Interpretation
3-The alteration it made in tn
franchise was designed to increas
as far as possible the foreign vot
and curtail that of the native:
The limitation of the franchis
to those only who could read ant
write was struck out to admi
the Portuguese. The propert
qualification for the vote for Noble
was set at figure which the wage
Of a large number of foreign luna
and teamsters then in the countr
would reach, but the native earning
fall below. Mot only was tn
Constitution of 1887 thus unfair
} the natives of the soil, but, by di:
t | franchising all Asiatics, it violate
, the provisions of treaty made be
tween Hawaii and Japan in 1S9
How the Legislature of 1892 coul
!, have run its protracted course will
g out single voice being raised t
call attention to the demands {
!, Japan for the observance of h,
}. treaty rights, which lay on the tab
/ of the House in the Report of I'll
c Minister of Foreign Affairs, pass
, comprehension. 1t is evident tn;
until that part of the Constitute
is amended, a great wrong remain
= to be rectified.
: 1t must be concluded, then, th
=. compared with the unconstitution
career of James H., ending with b
abdication of the throne, Liliuok
/ lani has given no cause for whic
Il she should lose the crown, viii,
: she has surrendered under appeal
Y the safe-keeping of the Unite
States.
Before laying down my pen,
d may be interesting to pursue tt
i comparison further, and submit Il
t history of the Interregnum to
4 mcditated on by the p. q. and
supporters. The most revolutiona
= Wing in December, 1858, and Ja
J uary, 1859, never dreamed of owe
e throwing the monarchy of Englan
Y Wings and Tories were united in
maintenance. William of Orans
though established at st. james
e with his Dutch troops, steadfast
i refused to make any show of fore
+ or to assume the Crown of Englal
=, without the declared will of the Il