The Hawaiian gazette., 1896-04-24
INFLUENCE OF RIFLE PRACTICE.

| INFLUENCE OF RIFLE PRACTICE.
The refusal of some of the trustees OF
the Bishop estate to allow the Hawaiian
Rife Association to establish rifle
range in the vicinity of the Kameha-
meha schools has brought to light some
of the most shallow, weakened argu-
ments that our attention has been
called to for many day. The unpub-
lished reason for this refusal is that
the presence of the Sharpshooters going
to and from the range with their guns
will have bad influence upon the boys
of the school; that it will lead them to
believe that the members Of the mill
tary are practicing so as to be able to
shoot down the natives-if necessary.
We know very well that S. NJ Da-
mon, one of the members of the Board
of Trustees, is a dissenter from this
opinion. He is a man of too much
common sense to play with such twad-
die. We regret that we cannot say
the same of another member of the
Board who is swayed by well known
royalist proclivities. We regret that
force of numbers should allow such a
damaging argument to go forth as in
fluencing the action of the directors of
a school which the people of this coun-
try point to with well merited pride.
1t is hard to make out why any man
of average reasoning power and fair
knowledge of human nature should
lend his voice and vote to such mis-
cradle excuse. If it is true that the
presence of men with guns in their
hands leads the young Hawaiians to
believe that members of the military
are being trained to shoot them down,
some one ought to influence the Minister
of Foreign Affairs to arm the military
with pea-shooters and mud balls on ac-
count of the good moral effect
If it is true that target practice in the
vicinity of the Kamehameha schools |
will have bad effect upon the young
Hawaiian mind, it behooves the people
of this country to adopt a system of
political education that will wipe out |
the possibility of such a baneful infiu- |
ence. Does this pandering to the old |
royalistic idea mean that due care is |
not taken in laying the sound prin-
ciples of political freedom and growth |
which are at the bottom of the progress
of this country? If so, the aggressive |
leaders are not doing their duty in a.
lowing such condition to obtain. They
are not doing their duty if they with |
hold instruction because of the possible |
drawn in consequence of ig-
To pander to such possibilities
suggested by some of the Bishop estate |
trustees amounts to little more or less
than sanction of conclusions that are |
not only unwarranted but dangerous. |
1t makes but little difference to this |
paper whether the Sharpshooters have
their rife range at Palama or Koko
Head, but we cannot witness the resur-
rection of the antedeluvian skeleton of
weakness without entering
a protest. The Kamehameha boys are
taught military tactics. They should
also be taught that the military forces
If this country are maintained in order
20 protect the Hawaiians in their politi-
al liberty. They should also be taught
that political liberty is exemplified in
he principles of the Republic, and that
men should be willing to give their
ives to uphold those principles Under
such circumstances the presence of men
'erfecting themselves in order to better
protect Hawaii in case of emergency
would be healthful object lesson.