The Hawaiian gazette., 1901-03-19
THE
PRESS.

~HE House took itself seriously on
Saturday and made a futile at
tempt to GUST the representative
of the Advertiser from their hall.
For three quarters of an hour the indie
pendent members discussed two articles
which appeared in the Advertiser Sat
urday morning. After the greatest
amount of wind power had been ex-
pended in eXpiating on their individual
virtues, in which were couched all man
ner of threats of what the House would
do to the reporter who was supposed to
have stirred up the walls of their wrath.
the Home Rule members saw their own
folly, withdrew all their threats to eject
the Advertiser reporter or to send him
TO Jail for thirty days for contempt of
the House. and mild rebuke from
Speaker Akina addressed to the entire
body of newspaper men closed the incl
dent.
The air of the House was blue while
the various free lunch Representatives
took the floor and detained against
the Advertiser. They had evidently
been hit in a sore spot. Two members
waved the Organic Act which they de-
clared gave them the power to punish
the Advertiser reporter by imprisoning
him for a term of not more than thirty
days, and a motion to have this threat
carried out was actually presented and
duly seconded, when Representative
Beckley, who had started the trouble,
quickly arose and said to the House
that it wasn't the reporter who should
be punished, as he only represented the
paper which was obnoxious to the In,
dependent members. He intimated that
the House could not get "even" by pun
ishing the newspaper scribe. 1t was
the Advertiser itself that was RESPONSE
BILE.
Representative Beckley was embar-
raised when he found the Independents
wildly calling for summary punishment
to be melted out to the reporter and
asked the speaker not to allow such
radical steps to be taken. He conclud-
ed that the whole press should be warn
ed that in future there should be no
criticism of the individual members OF
the House on pain of being elected.
The speaker did so mildly, not particu-
larizing the Advertiser. Representative
Robertson, Republican member from
oahu, arose Immediately after the
speaker had delivered himself of his
"rebuke" and inquired whether he did
not mean the entire press, to which the
speaker replied IN the alllflnallNe,
Section 25 of the Organic Act, which
Representative Mossman sprung up in
the House, and which he thought would
meet the alleged offense of the AdVer-
tiser In printing the news of the House
proceedings. Is as follows:
That each House may punish by fine
or by imprisonment not exceeding thirty
days any person not a member OF either
House who shall be guilty of disrespect
of such House by any dlsorderly or con-
temptuons behavior IN ITS PRESENCE
or that OF any committee thereof; or
who shall on account OF the exercise of
any legislative function. threaten harm
10 the body or estate OF any Of the MEM
hers or sueh House, But the per-
son charged with the offense shall be
Informed IN writing, OF the charge made
against him, ana have an opportunity 10
present evidence and be heard In his
own defense,
The one article % which Representa-
tive Beekley took most exception was
In the account Of the House proceed
ines wherein he had been compared 10
"niok neadeye" 81 the opera PnafoFs,