Evening star., 1895-08-02


coast of filibustering expeditions sailing
thence to restore the queen. Certain exiles
there, particularly the Ashfords, find some
sort sort Of satisfaction In supporting such
succeeded thereby in deterring a few tour
lists from spending few weeks here. Wis
itiDg TIE volcano. &c, all of which would
contribute a little money. The tourists
who have come are glad they had the good
sense not to be frightened by cranks. AS
l think l have pointed out before, it would
require nothing less than nearly a thou
sand veteran troops, with artillery, to
have any chance of seizng our government
buildings. But no force of half that size
could escape arrest before sailing. Nor is
there any one sufficiently interested and
able to supply the large funds necessary TO
enlist equip and transport such force.
The alleged force of one hundred flibusters
coming here would be handled by with
very little effort They would get no help
from royalsts here. who have no stomach
for any farther Instructions and next to
nothing TO gain thereby, except the graft
fication of a sentiment
The change in the tone of the newspapers
issued by royalists Is significant. There
has never been time since Blount arrived
when those papers have exhibited SO little
violence and venom. They appear to have
practically given up the battle for a lost
cause. They evidently feel what all must
feel, that the republic is well established
ana has come to stay and whatever ef-
fort is made for political ends must be
government and system. This applies to
the English papers. There are two or three
scurvy little native sheets. which continue
to froth out royalist absurdity trusting
TO the semi-idiocy of their readers.
Native Elouuence subsidinE.
Among other improvements under the re-
public is conspicuous advance in the tone
of the native members of the legislature.
This relates to the lower house, nearly half
f1FN
is only one pure native. who speaks Eng
lish, and is vice president-a man of great
elevation of character. In the other house
the services of the interpreter are required.
just as in former sessions. This interpreter
is man of great aptitude and humor. and
a thorough master of Hawaiian, with per-
feet art in the free. expressive vet sutfi-
GENTLY close rendering of good transfer
ence of thought between tongues SO utterly
diverse in structure and expression as Eng
lish and Hawaiian. He states that in the
present house there is nore of the long
winded senseless defamation which char
acterized a majority of the native speeches
In former sessions. Those vox ct praeterea
nlhil outpourinss were a serious tax upon
the patience of the gifted interpreter, as
well of the white members. Now the
native members talk somewhat to the
point, and with reasonable brevity and
good sense. This is partly because they
are of more select class of natives, ex-
Guiding the windy demagogues, and not
less because all are sensible that the re-
public means business and not mere talk.
In former sessions 1 have often heard this
interpreter, after listening for fully five
minutes to the vociferations OF legisla-
tive orator, when he paused for breath.
render the entire substance of his remarks
IN fifty Or i hundred words. Mr.. Kanaka
would ask. why don't you tell all said?"
That was all you said; go on The Poly
neSlan Cicero would good-humoredly SUBJ
nit, and go on mouthing for five minutes
in ptarn In re,, fa,1 aNy-
actly the same he said before. That is all.
Go on And the Interpreter was doing
full justice to the speaker. No one con-
tested that fact, although there Were many
members of the house familiar with both
languages. 1 think there is no native ora
tor at all of that class now in the house.
Very likely no such characters will be
elected hereafter, although when the mass
of the natives have taken the oath and reg
istered they will not unlikely choose some
scuryy characters.
1t used to be quite a treat to listen to
this interpreter, especially IL one under
stood native. His gesticulations had all the
animation and grotesqueness of the Ha-
waiian. Whenever an amusing or forcible
Illustration came in he showed quiet en-
joyment in bringing 1t out In such CONVEX
sion of form would make its application
intelligible to the other class of intellects.
He has necessarily learned an instructive
sympathy with Hawaiian ways of looking
at things, and has acquired a touch of
their easygoing temper, SO that their
slackness of thought and action are less
irksome to him than to many others.
The Hawaiian has a special gift for in
terminable talk. Any Hawaiian can spread
out speech Indefinitely around and about
any topic whatever. 1t Is only in coming
to the point that he fails. A teacher can
stand up almost any ordinary youth in his
school and tell him to make a speech on
any familiar assigned topic, and the boy
will show no backwardness or difficulty in
moutking away. He will really say nothing
ut dc 10
than orsensical travesties of statement
and reasoning, with frequent ''therefores"
and "becauses," which are totally irrele-
want and non-secretive. 1t Is all parrot
ish mimicry of such talking or preaching
as he has heard. Much of the oratory
among native legislators partakes of sim
liar rhetorical qualities Such Is the inborn
structure Of the Hawaiian intellect. l have
known a high school teacher to assign
seven-n,inute orations to dozen members
of a graduating class, with stringent orders
not to exceed the time Every essay hand
ed in would range from twenty to thirty
minutes in length. filed with preambles
perorations and digressons Of ambitious
Kanaka rhetoric foreign to the topic
Handed back to be boiled down three
fourths, the speeches would return still
twice the due dimensions, and the teacher
would tediously cut out various pet corus-
cations and irrelevancies. to the profound
chagrin of the ambitious pupils. who felt
like the unhappy guests of Procrustes.
The Public DeDt.
The 10th instant in the senate Finance
Minister Damon presented statement
comparing the financial condition of the
government of July 1, 1895, with that of
one year previous.
The bonGed and interest-bearing
debt of July l, 1925. was. So, 73S, 600
The bonded and interest t-bearing
debt of July l, 1894, was........... S,52G, 900
Showing increase in one year of. .s212 600
This sum of $4,000 had been expended
upon public works. as authorized.
Besides this remunerative increase of the
public debt by S212GOD, the finances had
fallen behind in one year S167.G0O. as fol-
lows:
July 1. 1891, cash on hand $4,000
July !, 1895. cash on hand. 121,o0O
Reduction Of balance in one year. .slO9, 900
July ], 1925, floating debts. .S117,O0O
July !, 1921, floating debts. $1,000
Increase floating debt in one year.. $1,000
Total falling off in one year,. .S167 900
The public credit continues excellent, and
no difficulty is experienced in selling a par