The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1901-04-02
HOME RULE.

The return of Delegate Wilcox ma
have some effect upon his party. a
man cannot go to Washington and
mingle in it's political circles without
learning something more than what
he set out with, and under any circum-
stances Delegate Wilcox set out with
a more practical political knowledge |
than any of his followers in the Terri !
tory.
More than half the session has gone
and the Home Rule party has done
nothing. 1t is divided within itself, it
starts abortive measures, and casts
them aside when it has carried them
half way. 1t allows it's members to
propose ridiculous measures at their
own sweet will. 1t has no proper con
trOi of it's partisans. 1t brings in crude
and undigested measures, and then
every member of the party declares
that he has never read them.
Take for example the joint session
which was to select Senators for four
years. 1t was to do wonderful things.
The future was to assured to the In
dependent party by a majority in the
Senate two years hence. The joint
session sat, and then it was discovered
that the concurrent resolution which
had been prepared was lost, and both
Houses pat their hugers into their
mouths and went home for the day.
Yesterday the Joint session met and
was again adjourned, till the tiItieth
day. This is only one instance of the
vacillauon Of the party, Were the
party hampered by a narrow majority
which might be broken up at any time,
there would be an explanation Of the
constant hesitation but there is no
reason for hesitation when there has
been all through the session a strong
majority in favor of the Home Rulers.
AS to this joint session Senator
Brown points out that it is not recog-
nized in the organic act and is there
fore illegal But in the minds of some
of the Home Rulers there is no such
thing as illegality. What they 20 is
legal. 1t is their own sovereign will.
Moreover the joint session was called
to elect Senators for four years. AT
the last election all Senators were cleo
ted for four years, What the Legisla-
ture has to do is to elect what Senators
shall sit for two years
AS for crude and undigested legisla-
ton, take the county bill as d speci-
men. This bill is the king pin of re-
form 1t should have been introduced
at the beginning of the session. 1t was
not introduced till half the session had
gone by. 1t should have had the COM
nile of ma bar Of he
party before it appeared in the House.
When it appeared every member of the
Home Rule party denied having any
knowledge of it's provisions 1t proved
TO be fun of absurdites, contradict
tons, sentences which carried no mean
ing and provisions unsuited to the con-
ditions here. 1t insulted the Hawai-
ians by calling for census of the
school population under the divisions
white and "colored," thus classifying
the Hawaiian with the negro of the
mainland a classification which had
been avoided when the Federal Census
was taken 1t was not only crude, but
raw. How long it will take to lick it
into shape one cannot tell. but it all
means waste time. And until this bill
is passed all other important legisla-
ton hangs fire. Had this bill come
in at once, it could have been passed
in from twenty to twenty-five days and
other important legislation which
hangs on it might be under copsidera-
ton now
AS for bills or petitions of a ridcu-
lous character we have had plenty of
them. There was a petition to repeal
an act of Congress. and yesterday there
was petition TO abolish all laws re-
curing burial certificate, and a couple
equally absurd. The reading of such
things may make the House laugh, but
they waste the time of the House.
Members neither come here to laugh,
nor to make jack buildings of them
selves, and their constituents require
them and expect them to attend seri-
ously to business.
Perhaps Delegate Wilcox may be
90 able to get all these Earring elements
into working order. To urge upon the
members not to waste time, to prevent
them from vacillating and from trying
to perform illegal acts, to see that the
various important bills are stripped of
their crudities, to prevent the Hawai-
ians being classed as "colored" people
and to put an end to the presentation
of ridiculous petition. 1t is task
worthy of comparison with that of
Hercules cleaning the Augean stables.
Is Delegate Wilcox a political Her
cules?