The Daily bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Hawaii]) 1882-1895, 1894-03-27
Electoral Franchise.

EpiToR BULLETiS:-
The Advertiser and the crowd il
represents are just beginning tn real
ize the old proverb that what is
sauce for the goose must be also
sauce for the gander." II took them
q long time-seven years--to feel il,
but 1t has come, and better late than
never. The missionary" Constitu-
ton Of 1887 was supposed to have
played a very smart game against
the natives, by allowing the right Of
vote to all the white vagabonds who
are dumped on these shores, nobody
knows from whence. But il now
looms out that, il this unpreccdent-
ed concession is maintained for white
strangers, il cannot be refused to
Asiatics; and, as these stand Chinese
and Japanese together) 5000 able
bodied men against 5000 Caucasians,
Portuguese included, We know what
the results will be-that the whites
will be showed under and forced to
20 away All restrictive qualiGca-
tions, OF property and knowledge OF
English il education il you
will-will be OF no avail in the stu.
alton, because the number OF Japan
ESQ and Chinese who already know
English aud OF those who are eager
iy learning IL, is constantly increas-
ing, aud the order evidently comes
from Japan to the Japanese here, to
qualify themselves for seizing the
country by legal means. The only
salvation Tor white government is
therefore to return to the universal
political rule, that citizens alone can
have the right OF vote. Citizenship
has always been the most precious
right OF nations, the one the most
zealously guarded, the only solid
wall against outside sncroachments
and annihilation. As long as the
Roman citizenship was exclusive and
limited, Rome ruled the world; as
soon rs the missionary" Constitution
OF the times allowed the privilege OF
"Civis Romanus" to all the barba-
risns Tread foreigners) that had been
conquered, or were allied, or came
to live within the imperial bounda-
ries, so soon the hitherto inyincible
Empire began to disrupt, and then,
like now, the right to the franchise
claimed by foreigners only served as
a pretext for barbarian invasions,
Just as the Chinese and Japanese are
ready to invade the Hawaiian ISL
ands, il the franchise is not granted
TO their subjects as to all other for
eigners. The Advertiser is therefore
quite right, in this mornings edito-
rial, to discover that the only remedy
lies in restricting equally the right
Of vote to those only who are legally
citizens. And Furthermore this
ought to be done even il there was
no threatening Asiatic question,
For we have here $500 Portuguese
males, whose number is rapidly in
creasing through their children, all
OF whom are, and will remain Portu-
guese subjects, and who will be able
at no distant date, not only to rule
and dictate here, but even to trans
form this kingdom into a Portu-
guese colony by the sheer force Of
their number, acting unitedly
against the various other contend
ing factions OF 2.l4 percent Ameri-
cans, l.4s percent Britishers, ] 10
percent Germans, etc. And who
knows whether the Advertiser will
not recognize next, that the only
basis for stable government here, is
through the much abused native
element, il they can be properly
cOncili8tel1 EATHERL AND.