Evening bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1895-1912, 1901-07-12
Annexation HISTORY
AND "bUNC0 POLITICS.

Editor Evening Bulletin:-Will you
kindly allow a citizen who has been
given a political pain to ease himself?
This particular pain was an exception
to the usual feeling Of WEAKNESS which
follows the reading of letter on poll
tics in the Advertiser; 1t resulted from
the perusal of that unique fifty or
sixty lines on "Bunco Politics." what
ever that crude expression may mean.
published on July 10th.
Is 1t not just possible, Mr.. Editor,
that the prejudice well known to exist
here among Federal officers against
"Mr. Dole and his friends may have
had its origin in the political and So
cial actions Of the present Governor
and his faction? Was 1t not from o
similar source came the very general
prejudice in the rank and file of the old
annexation party against "Mr. Dole
and his friends? Have they not well
earned their reputation for insincerity
in every cause they have espoused
within the last twenty years, and from
their clannish and INSCRIPTIONS poll.
teal methods at all times?
| remember very well how that por-
ton of "Mr. Dole and his friends"
who were running the Star, in its early
days, turned down the author of
"Bunco Politics" and turned him down
hard, because, as the president Of
the Star Company expressed it at the
TINA Smith To n onnl nrifar hpt
he has no judgment; he insists on a
radical policy for annexation when we
do not yet know whether the people
here want annexation or not" THE
people" In this instance meant "Mr.
Dole and his friends" and it is a fact
worthy of notice that 1.-The people" did
not make up their minds as to the de-
STABILITY Of annexation until the mo-.
ment arrived which taught them ii
would be more dangerous to reject an.
nexation than to accept it.
Does the author Of "Bunco Politics"
remember? Yea verify! for then and
there, he learned his first lesson in Ha-
waiian politics from "Mr. Dole and his
friends" at considerable journalistic
inconvenience and some pecuniary
loss; he has since, forsooth, elected to
finger his weekly stipend with more
humility and to air not his unplucked
Americanism too rudely in the COM
munity which contains Mr.. Dole and
his friends" 10 1t not unkind and
somewhat illbred, however, for the
author of "Bunco Politics" to insist on
teaching the Federal officers stationed
here the humiliating lesson he was
forced to learn before he could &C.
ceptably serve his present patrons?
am reminded by statement in
"Bunco Politics" that 1t was not O
pitiful handful Of the boys with red
white and blue buttons who were
sleeping on their arms at night les,
the Royalists should raise the banner
Of revolt The fact is that the
strength OF the citizens guard, except
for few hours at the very start of the
trouble, never fell below 800, averaged
1000 and at times reached as many Of
1900 names enlisted or ON the roster;
and each man-jack of these bona fidt
anneXationists provided with gun and
forty rounds, ready at hand. | an
further reminded that it was stand
ing remark, which finally became {
sort OF standing quip as the history O
the annexation movement developed
that "Mr. Dole and his friends" hat
bitten off more annexation than they
could chew, or ever intended to chew
The matter, however, proved a Yer!
serious thing to "Mr. Dole and hi
friends" but in the end they chewet
that which they had bitten off in thc!l
political extremity and swallowed al
well the bitter morsel-because the!
had no choice.
1t was at this point and not before