The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1900-01-04


The Star is not going to discuss the
pros and cons of the reasons for APP
pointing three laymen, and three physi-
clans. 1t has to deal with the "Attor-
ney- General" That marrying of the
office was done purely on account of
w. o. Smith. He had shown ability in
this work, and the makers of the law
probably thought that w. o. Smith
would live for ever and occupy the
same position to eternity. OF course he
can do neither. But it shows the
absurdity of such legislation.
However at the time this act was
passed the only step taken was to make
the Attorney General a member of the
Board AS far as the act goes there is
no necessity that he should be Presi-
dent of the Board. w. o. Smith by his
strong views and untiring energy was
elected President and proved to be a
good one. But it never was the inten-
ton of the Legislators that the Attor-
y-General should always be Presi-
dent of the Board. The present MEM
bers, for motives of their own, may
have been willing to follow a precedent
against which some of their number
were warned, but which they chose to
follow. The result is that at the pres
ent moment the Attorney Generals
work is utterly neglected and it is ques-
tionable whether the President of the
Board of Health's work has always
been well done, because the President
had to be in court and meetings of the
Board have been postponed before the
present crisis rendered it imperative to
sacrifice the legal to the health inter-
csts.
But there came a time after the
Health act when it was deemed neces-
sary to have reorganization of the
Education act. W. r. Castle drew up
very careful bill upon the subject
he was then President of the Board Of
Education with no Cabinet seat-and
his bill was somewhat summarily killed
before it passed from the Cabinet to
the House. A substitute bill was drawn
by the then Minister of Foreign Affairs
and went through the Legislature of
1896.
The bill of the Board of Health had
made a minister a member, leX) officio,
of the Board. The Education bin of
1896 went one better, and made the
Minister of Foreign Affairs, ex officio,
Minister of Public instruction. Central
ization was quite decided upon what
It wanted. There was to be no chance
for any monkeying with electing head
to this Board. The Minister must be
head of the Board.
1t is interesting to note how quietly
and insidiously the move was made
from the one to the other In the one
bill the minister might, or might not
have full sway over the Board. In the
other the Minister became the Board.
1t is ever a thing to be guarded against,
is the Capitalization of power, and now
we see the evil effects of it, our Attor-
ney- Generals Department is suffering
because our Attorney is en-
ployed as President of the Board of
Health.
But this can be easily remedied, far
more easily than could the Public In
struction matter which the present At
torney- General framed There is no
necessity for the Attorney General 10
be President of the Board. Let him re-
sign his position and let the Board elect
another president. The criminal bust
ness of the country would then not suf-
fer, and the Board might still have the
benefit of the minister's advice, though
the full burden of responsibility woulc
not be on his shoulders. The change
can be made, legally in the Board of
Health, in the Board of Education,
should it become desirable, it could not
be made.