The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1895-09-11
ANOTHER OPEN LETTER.
W. n. Armstrong Writes to J. S.
Alves and MANY Others"
CriticiEes the Spirit OF Their Criticism.
Claims They Dc Not State
Exact Truths.

To j. >. ALVES, and "many others, 4"
Portuguese residents OF Honolulu
Your open letter of the 9th inst, to
the editor of the ADVERTISER, pub
lished in the Star, has been read by
me. I am not, at present, its editor.
1t appears to be an angry demand of
me for an explanation of my motive,
both as temporary editor of the
ADVERTISER and as a member of the
Labor Commission, in using language
which does not class your race with
the ''white'' races.
Your letter, it is plain enough, is
not written for the purpose OF clearing
up any misunderstanding, but rather
for the purpose of "making it hot" for
me and clarifying yourselves. Sol you
falsely state that have been "insidi-
ously working against any closer rela-
tions with the United States" You
make this statement in order TO make
me feel badly, and to show what
dreadful antagonists you are. 1t quite
justifies the reply that if the color Of
your skins is as black as this lie you
tell, the Congo niger is very white by
your side. If your whole body were
compelled to pay me 10 cents for every
dollar / have spent in the cause of
annexation, the whole of you would
squeal and take to the woods.
The ADVERTISER, so far as know
anything about it, is not ian especial
ly favored medium of communication
between the Government and the
public" as you state it to be. This Is
another of your falsehoods. No MEM
Der of the Government has given it,
during my connection with it, any
special information or privilege what
soever. No member of it has, at any
time, suggested its policy or tried to
control its sentiments, or made 1t in
any way a special medium of commu-
nication to the public, and at all times
the suggestion has been very prompt
ly resented, that it was in any sense
Government "organ." This you
could easily have ascertained by a
simple inquiry from any member of
the Government. You were not after
the truth; you wanted to "warm me
up,u j1st as the Holomua used to
make me delightfully."- warm.
If you had approached the subject
with good temper, and with an honest
effort to get some explanation, /
would have willingly met you, andI
no doubt, removed any cause of irrita-
ton. For i would have liked to show
that as political factors here, your
people may possibly, in the future, do
better service to good civilization in
these islands, than either Americans,
British or Germans, and that, after
all, the hope of the future here may
be in the young men and women of
your race now growing up. But it
will not be done by men who write
such foolish stuff as you have writ
ten. 1t is pity that some of the adj
mirable men of your race here, who
are Justly regarded as men of high
character, and are rated among our
best people, could not sit down on you
or touch you up with little of their
wisdom and sense.
If there is any occasion here for race
contempt, it is for the doings of my
own, the American race, which could
never rest satisfied until it forced the
Chinese and the Japanese to trade
with it, and now, that it feels itself
overmatched in that trade, both in
goods and labor, is resorting to all
sorts of tricks to get rid OF them. 1t
wants their cheap labor, but don't
want any reciprocity.
VIM. n. ARMSTRONG.