Evening bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1895-1912, 1896-05-14
AN OPEN LETTER TO THE HAWAI-
IAN LEGISLATURES.

placed In your SeaIS Dy I'll oNer-
whelming majority of an over
whelming minority. The Consti-
tuition of the Republic is estab-
lished on lines that forbid the |
adherence of a majority more !
overwhelming than either OF those
above mentioned. This majority |
however overwhelming acknowl-
edges itself completely overwhelm-
ed. Bayonets have tossed this
country which does not belong to
the bayonets as an offering to a
friendly power, which in turn has
tossed it back. BY bayonets the
government which was establish
ed to secure annexation has Sc
cured to itself perpetuity.
The great overwhelming class,
to which the writer belongs,
recognizes the Republic without
endorsing it, acknowledges the
Constitution without subscribing
to it and yields to the laws en-
acted Hereunder as the only laws
of the land. Shut out from parti-
cipation, and deprived of voice in
political affairs we are forced to
accept whatever is offered to us in
the way of legislation. You hold
the unique and unenviable posi-
ton of Legislators independent of
and it might be truly said against
taxation. That much of your leg
islation, hostile to the general
public, indicates stalwart power
cannot be denied but it lacks the
feature Of generous conciliatory
policy. Bayonets may uphold
audacity but it is in the range of
possibilities they may ultimately
rebuke it. How much more stall
wart is that power which finds a
support in general acquiescence.
1t is possible for a minority rule
to be a good and even the best
one. The experiment has yet to
be carried to its sequence. If due
wisdom prevails in the councils of
the nation it is highly possible
that non-participation and oppres-
sion may not be synonymous. l
am aware that a hot-headed
class of demagogues contend
that the Legislature owes no.
thing to the wishes Of non-sup-
porters except to ignore them, but
| trust wiser and more generous
sentiment pervades your body.
1t is patent to all that the plant
er is the lobbyist who shapes leg
islation in these islands. And
who are the planters They
were formerly an humble class
who sought and obtained paternal
legislation and concessions. Treat
les were made for their benefit,
immigration fostered for their ad-
vantage and stringent laws en-
acted for their protection. No
where else on Gods globe has a
class been the recipient of such
governmental aid. They started
in with a wall for cheap labor,
later on they made the discovery
that more cheap labor was essen
hal and continuously thereafter
have told the same story. No
figures have ever been adduced
nor have they ever been required
in support of their modest claims.
The slogan "what would you do
without the staple industry" has
operated to silence the clamor of
the opposition and the middle and
laboring classes with a magnanim-
ity and folly truly unprecedented
have sacrificed their own future to
the Unsuitable greed of plantations.
The history of the planter is the
usual history of monopolies with
the monopolistic creed of securing
everything possible with the least
possible return. Gifts and con-
Gessions have been eagerly appro-
priated by them with no apparent
Indication of obligation to make
any return therefor. Where form
erly they sued they now arrogate.
Where once they availed them
selves of the government they
now own it. In one breath they
boast that the staple industry con-
stitutes the wealth of the country
and in the next dictate the lower
ing of assessment for taxation
purposes. The desirable white
population of the islands has
melted and continue to melt
away. In proportion to the in
crease of profits and dividends of
DlantatiOns their clamOr for re-