The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1896-03-21
people to crawl out of might not be to
the best interests of the country.
Minister Damon Objects.

Minister Damon SAID he hau HStenet
with attention and pleasure to the
statement of the Attorney-General, Blu
in his mind he had not come down t
the real principle, the essence, of the
thing In mOnarchical countries the
first point was restriction; in a repub
lie, freedom was the foundation prin
cipIe. Minister Damon explained thai
the law, if passed, would become {
hardship in many cases. A man going
from Honolulu to Olaa for the purpose
Of improving his coffee lands might
be asked for his certificate by some
officer. Should he fail to have this
with him he might be required to 90
to Hilo or Honolulu for it, thus requir-
inc; him to lose time which might have
been spent on his land. 1t seemed as
if the law was contrary to the principle
OF all free institutions
Minister smith - HeckIes.''
Minister Smith asked the Minister of
Finance how it was that the United
States had passed a restriction act two
years ago, the provisions of which were
in every way more burdensome and
hard
Minister Damon said that he could
not think that the Attorney-General
was trying to ''heckle" a man while at
tempting to say something. However,
since he had asked a question, he was
entitled to an answer. The Act was
passed for the express purpose of rid
ding the country of the Chinese-for
the purpose of making the conditions so
odiOus that they would be forced to
leave the country. The conditions
here were entirely different. The coun-
try was indebted to that class of labor
for it's wealth. They could not well be
driven out of the country now, nor
would it be just or proper to place
bonds upon them. Such laws that
place restrictions on the freedom Of the
people should be stricken from the stat
ute books. Instead of adding restric-
tions they should be removed.
Rep. Rycroft Favors 1t.
Rep Rycroft said he could not see
the force of the line of argument in
troduced by the Minister of Finance.
Why not throw off all restrictions?
Why get a permit upon leaving the
country? Why get ticket at a steam
ship office? If a man should make up
his mind to go to Olaa he should think
about it first and should take along
with him his registration certificate.
He would in all probability take his
purse. Why should he not carry his
certificate? Rep. Rycroft said that if
he opposed for one moment the law
would take one iota from his freedom
he would not think of voting for it.
In his opinion he would feel freer after
registering.
Rep. Hanuna said that the matter of
registration was by no means a new
thing. 1t had been talSsed about for Il
good many years. In his opinion
there should be some kind of law and
he was in favor of shortening the pc
riod provided for in the bill. There
had been strange things on Maui.
People who had never been seen there
before were found at times, roaming
about in various places on the island.
How did they get there? The surmises
were that they came along at the same
time that opium was supposed to have
been landed. Registration would en-
power certain officers to demand GER
tificates of such people at any and all
times. Rep. Hanuna was in favor of
shortening the period to one month.
Rep. Richards Ag'in It.''
Rep. Richards said that the bill was
against the Hawaiians and Anglo-Sax-
ons, and probably others too. He did
not feel as if he wanted to do the reg
istering act. Perhaps Rep. Rycroft
thought ,the provisions of the bill
would not reach him. Rep. Richards
was in favor of immediate registra-
tioa upon arriving in the country. All
should be made to do the same thing
1t was a mistake to think that the
United States would be down on Ha-
wall for making such q law. That
country had had a taste of the same
thing.
Rep. Rycroft said that the member
from Hilo did not seem to think that
he knew just exactly what he had to
do. The law was not for him, but for
safeguards against AsiaticS. That was
what it amounted to when boiled
down. Every honest citizen should be
willing to undergo this little incon-
Yenience, if such it really was, for the
good of the country.
Favors Chinese.
Minister Damon spoke again, saying
that the discussion of one point had led
into the discussion of the bill as a
whole. He repeated arguments previ-
OuSly stated. Laws antagOn1St1c to
Chinese could not be we'll entertained
In the matter of the enforcement of the
provisions of the law by the officers,
there was a chance for a great injus-
tice, such as paying up an old grudge. |
During the three years past there had |
been no registration law. Why should |
there be retrogression at this time?
Minister Smith said that the bill, in |
order to be effective, should be full and |
complete. The argument of the Minis
ter of Finance that discrimination was
dangerous seemed to be sound The
Constitution provides for legislation on
any class of people taking up residence
in the country. This is embodied in
the fundamental law of the country,
and was done after deep thought by
Americans, Europeans and Hawaiians.