The Independent., 1898-04-13
Doleful Times in hawaii

shadows the breaking up Of the
oligarchy.
When a government by minority
has to stand under arms, as admit
ted by the Chronicle, it is apt to do
other things not common to govern.
ment by majority. In the Hawai-
ian Senate the copdition OF the pub
lie exchequer and accounts has first
excited suspicion, and that has been
followed by alarm. A Senator OF
the Government party made the
official statement that the Board OF
Health accounts were in suspicious
shape. The Attorney General re-
piled on the floor Of the Senate, and
the Government organ, the Adver-
tiser, attacked the Senator so brutal
ly that he replied to the organ and
the Attorney General by saying:
"My charges were backed by docu-
mentary evidence. This morning a
newspaper scurrilously blackguard-
ed me and attempted to intimidats
me from making criticisms on the
members OF the Government. One
Senator told me this morning that
he would hesitate before making any
criticism of the Government, as he
did not want to be attacked in such
scurrilous articles"
The Advertiser makes rejoinder to
this in an article entitled "The Party
and the Government" which in its
way is an ingenious gem. 1t says:
Appearances are misleading. The
American element Of the community
expects that all proceedings in the
Legislature here will be conducted
as they are in the forty-fve legisla-
tive bodies Of the United States and
in the American Congress. The
universal rule in all those bodies is
for the members Of party to stand
by the government it has put into
power. This rule is carried so far
that even just criticism of public
officials is strictly taboo. Gross
frauds committed by officials who
are members of the party are con-
oealed. All dirty linen is washed
strictly in private excepting by the
ignorant or the irrepressibles who /
lose their tempers.
"The fact that members Of the
dominant party are trying to annoy
the Government of their own cre-
alton creates the impression that
they wish to change it. The real
truth is that they are inexperienced
politicians and do not seem to have
heard OF the way politicians conduct
their business in America or Great
Britain.
"The conduct OF several members
of the dominant party iustifes the
belief that they are crippling the
Government OF their and our own
creation. They are too willing to
gloat over what they think are rot
ten spots in the record. In taking
this course they refuse to follow the
example OF party men elsewhere,
and they may be morally right
about it. 1t is not good politics,
however. 1t is said that white men
cannot work in the tropics. Per-
haps it may be equally true that
white men can't legslate wisely in
the tropics We are learning some
thing every day"
When it is remembered that the
oligarchy has disfranchised all OPP
position to the dominant party and
that only that party is represented
in the Government, the plea for imi
tation of party methods in the
United States is the most amusing
piece of public rascality that was
ever printed Here in every State
Legislature and in Congress is a
strong opposition party that often
overdoes the criticism Of public Off
cials. But in Haw ali there is only
one party; the opposition is disfran-
chised, and the Government being
absolute, if sheltered against expos
ure of corruption by its own parti-