Evening star., 1896-06-11

the effect Of commercial prosperity, due to
the growth of sugar. Many new blocks OF
recently been erectedf Honolulu Is rapidly
changing and charging as it has never
done before. All this gives employment to
both skilled and unskilled labor. and it
considerable number Of unemployed per-
sons who really desire work, or if laborers
have any substantial or pressing grievance
just now. g
the complaints made by Portuguese orators
may be instanced their, outcry about the
indignity Of having to be registered with
thumb mark The new law requires every
male over fifteen to take out a certificate
of registration. upon which. as well as on
the stub. is to be placed the imprint of
his linked thumb. This is means of abso-
Lutte Identification, and the only possible
one. The registration Is required chiefly as
an indispensable means of enforcing any
regulations designed to limit and control
Asiatic immigrants. To its efficiency the
thumb mark Is Indispensable The consti-
tuition permits no distinction Of laws be-
tween races. All classes must be under the
same rule.
49, . The Thumb-Mark Law ..
The obnoxious thumb mark is thus ex-
pressly designed to promote and secure the
very object for which the Portuguese are
clamoring-to check the immigration Of
Asiatics and to hold them in control. And
now their orators inveigh in one breath
against the competing, Asiatics, and in the
ext denOunce the obnoxious thumb mark
intended to check those Asatics. 1t Is true
that many white men express a strong SEN
timent against the thumb mark as some-
thing like a brand. belonging to convicts.
One man writes: ITO enable a plantation
to capture runaway Chinaman or Japan
ese, forsooth, every self.respecting man in
the group must be subjected to the shame
full indignity of leaving the impression of
his thumb on the stub Of certificate.
must be degraded to the place of-a crimi-
nal. The requirement is simply Infamous
and revolving. 1t is only paralleled in mod
ern history in atrocity. humilia tion in
fanny and abomination by the fugitive slave
law"
While this excited citizen thus raves and
tears. large numbers Of our best people are
quietly registering themselves and pressing
their thumbs on the paper with pleasant
scientific interest in the intricate markings
Of that member thus developed and in the
endless variety of their convolutions, which
so differentiate one man from another and
which, never changing from infancy to old
age. supply an indisputable criterion of
identity. Among the earliest to impress
thumb upon paper was President Dole.
Over 1000 Of all classes have in ten days
followed hi: excellent example.
A Cloud ON the Horizon.
l must add a word or two about certain
Lnfavorable statements in the San Fran
cisco Call. attributed to Rev. E. S. Ollie,
DID,, of that city. who recently visited U.S.
The eminent character Of that gentleman.
end his earnest friendliness to us, seems to
call for notice of his remarks. DR.. Ollie
is reported to have said: The provisional
government (sic) Is apparently running a.
smoothly as its best friends could wish.
But 1t IS not a government of the whole
people. More stability is needed Tne Ka-
nakas are intensely dissa tisted In the
other islands distant from the capital there
Is plenty of rebellious feeling When the
leaders come, the timid islanders will again
rise In the interests of a native ruler. Rev
olution is not so remotely impossible and
even now the seeds Of rebellion may be
sprouting'
The good divine fell into the society of a
coterie of royalists during his trip to the
volcano and was evidently much Impress
eh ,ho by @ their vie views: Our public men. and
other classes, do not at all feel the stua-
ton to be the critical one which he repre-
sents. They see no signs whatever Of un-
rest or Of disposition on the part of any
to make revolution. 1t is certain that af-
fairs have never since the overthrow of
monarchy been so flee from all cause of
'neasiness as now. The Portuguese agita-
tions have no element of revolution in them,
or OF opposition to the government They
are directed solely against Asiatic immi-
grafton.
A mischievously Inaccurate statement of
the excellent DR.. Ollie Is the following:
Another question which comes up with
all its unplea santness Is that of finance.
The national purse, always a slender one,
has been pretty we'll ernptied."
Overa0wias Wealth
1t t. true that last year insurrection and
cholera exhausted the treasury surplus
That is all right again. Taxation has al
ways been light, and can easily be in
creased. The country a whole is over
flowing with wealth. The provisions lust
made for revenue promise a large surplus
ever current expenses. loan for over
ssn.WD for public improvements Is being
ordered. to be placed in Honolulu at ) Der
cent, one cent lower than any previous
bonds. and 1t is a common opinion among
business mer that even lower rate would
sell at par. Such Is our public credit The
improvements authorized are largely roads
and wharves. of such a nature as to en-
nance property values to an extent such as
to increase revenue from taxes far above.
the interest on the bonds.
DIR. Ollie has evidently been misled by the
royalists he encountered or else the Call,
which is controlled by our enemy Claus
Spreckels. has misre pre- sented him Some
statements. much worse and more mac
curate, appear in a Denver paper as made
by an artist. Hiliard, lately visiting here,
but he Is not a witness of any weight. 1t
is significant that Hilliard was in the en-
ploy Of John D. SpreckeIs.
KAMFHAMEHA