The Honolulu republican. [volume] (Honolulu, T.H.) 1900-1902, 1901-11-29

EAAAubu6A NnE LIS nc SAANA-A IL
blossom. neither shall fruit be in IN
vines: the labor of the olive shall fail
and the fields shall yisld no meat;
the flock shall be cut OF from the fold
and there shall be no herd in the
stalls: yet | will rejoice in the Lord,
( I viii joy in the God of NV salvation.
These words of the Prophet are
hardly in accord with widely pre-
vailing sentiment as to the ground for
individual or national thanksgiving.
When the barns are filed with plen-
ty. and the processes burst out with
new wine" when men have all things
they can wish for richly to enjoy,
when they sit in peace under their
vine and under their fig tree, and the
shadows of grief or. adversely are far
from their door, then they acknowl-
edge that thanksgiving is due to the
Almighty ever of all good.
But the language of the prophet is
pitched in a very different key.
Though there be no sign of fruit on
the fig tree, and no clusters on the
vines. and no return for the labor
spent in the olive gardens. no harvest
to reap from the corn fields, and the
flocks and herds are perishing for
lack for water" he will not reioiced,
but seeing the hand of loving Faith
er and creator in these dispensations
of His providence. says: Il viii re
joice in the Lord. | will joy in the
God of nv salvation"
This is the disposition We have
need to cultivate. the true note OF
thanksgiving to which We have TO at
tune our hearts. For. if am not mis-
taken. these are voices to be heard
around us, uttering words like these:
Why should we keep Thanksgiving
Day? What have we to be thankful
for when our national life has been
absorbed in that of another nation,
when strangers devour our lands in
our presence, and the sovereignty
| which for upwards of half a century
! gave the Hawaiian Islands a place
| among the empires. kingdoms and re
publics of the earth, will soon be a
I fragment of forgotten history?
And then on another side We hear,
what cause have We for thanksgiving
/ when the new laws to which we are
| subject make the cost of cultivating
| the cane fields four times what il was
in former days, and the gilt edge OF
our dividends is terribly planed down
And then again we hear: What am
| | to give thanks for, for increased tax
alton. rise in prices. for a general
unrest that has taken the place of the
calm ease and tranquility of former
days?
Such are the sentiments to which
voices among the Hawaiians. the SUI
gar planters and the ordinary citi-
bens respectively are giving expI es-
sion Ii is unnecessary to point out
that such sentiments are out of har-
mony with the language of the pro-
phet They are the expressions OF
blind unregenerate humanity, while
the words OF the prophet come from
one whose ewes were opened b. the
grace of God.
What reply shall We make TO these
several voices? All should be remind
ed that the proverb whatever il is
best" expresses an invariable truth.
That the whole course of this world is
ordered and controlled by an Al
UllEIlF ana AtA-NA SG IAHAtt. anu LAkGAN
fore under whatever conditions or cir
cumstanees our lot is cast, we ought
to recognize the Hand of a loving
Father directing those circumstances
for working out His own eternal pur-
poses
And so it would be the wisdom OF
the Hawaiisns TO look beyond the ~
ticular circumstances which brought
about their loss of independence. No
nation or people was ever Yet depriy-
ed OF its inheritance merely by the
occur ences that brought il about
Those events were but the means in
the Hand of the Ruler of the earth
to carry out His will. At the begin
ming OF human history the duty with
which the human race was charged
was 10 repleniSh the earth and sub
due IT, 1t has been the duty of the
several families of mankind to fulfil
this command in those portions OF the
earth which they have received for
their inheritance. But whenever a
nation or people have failed to popu-
late their country and have lacked
the energy or intelligence 10 cultivate
its lands. II is in accordance with q
Divine law that goes back six thou
sand years that the Inheritance OF
that nation should pass into the hands
OF others who are capable OF replen-
ishing and subduing IL
Next TO those who would regulate
their thanksgiving with the rise and
fall Of stocks. and the amount OF
their dividends. NAV il not be pointed
out that. il the cost o, Nusar raising
and manufacture by free service is
four times that OF contract labor. Il