Evening star., 1903-07-02

and 1t was thought tnat tnelr success Win
a mixed ticket meant the end of a strict
race line in politics. But no sooner were
| the legislative members-elect together In
caucus than the face of the home ruler ap-
| peared behind the mask of republicanism
worn by every native Hawaiian member OF
| the house. In caucus they herded together,
and through all the session half of the tre-
mendous majority of so-called republicans
have been practical home rulers. Party
| lines, as shown by the tickets, disappeared
at once. A home ruler was chosen speaker
and a home ruler clerk of the house, and
home rulers got most of the patronage Of
this republican" body.
Hawaiians Distrust the Whites.
After the experience of this session 1t can
no longer be denied that distrust. and even
dislike of the haole (white) is a command
ing influence among all Hawaiians. The
political affiiation is in name only, the
political friendship is a delusion. Through
all the session the deep race prejudice OF
the Hawaiian has shown itself in many
small ways, but 1T remained for a debate
near the end to disclose the full extent OF
the sentiment. 1t was over an apprOpria-
ton for the salary of an immigration COM
| missioner, who should assist in bringing
settlers into the country.
Speaker F. w. Beckley, undoubtedly the
most intelligent Hawaiian in the house,
and by far the most influential took the
floor against this appropriation and made
the extraordinary argument that the move
ment to secure American settlers in the
| islands scheme to get whites into the
country that they could outvote the
natives and take their power from them.
| 1t is quite likely that there is something
| in this from the native point of view, for
| probably there are many whites who, dis
gusted with the results Of what the pres
| ent electorate has done. long for the addi-
| ton of a more intelligent voting population
| to the mixture Hawaii has. But Beckley
objected to the immigration of Americans
| to Hawaii. He didn't want to encourage
| them to come at ALL He was followed by
Kaniho, home-rule representative, who
| was in the last house, as he is In this one,
| and throughout both the sessions has been
| one of the most rabid of the haters OF
whites. Their arguments carried, and with
| out any others having been made against
the commissioner than those OF the men
| who didn't want Americans to settle in
| the islands, the salary was voted out Of the
appropriation bill.
| Such a debate naturally attracted much
attention in Honolulu and was given much
| notice in the local press. The discussion
| 1t caused resulted in a chang, Of mind
among some Of those who had taken a lead
| ing part in voicing objections to American
| immigration. The result was movement
| to change front and vote the proposed COM
| missioner's salary. but it was too late to
| withdraw the words that had been said and
| published. The house did this as far as It
could, for 1t refused access to The steno
graphic notes of the remarkable debate on
the ground that their publication would
cause trouble.
Many Scandals.
The house has been the cause of a long
succession Of scandals. one Of them grow
ing out of a controversy with local news
paper. in which. the house finally took the
stand that the vouchers for it's session ex-
penses should be kept secret and destroyed.
The paper In question, the Hawaiian Star,
published a statement of several scandal
W ant linn
patronage and bribery. One was to the
| effect that a certain local business man
| had been approached by legislator who
| wanted coin in payment for votes for a GER
| tain license bill, and another dealt with
| reports Of percentages made by officers OF
| the house on printing, Interpreting. type
writing and proofreading contracts. The
! house appointed a committee Of investiga-
| ton which reported the statements to be
| without foundation and severely censured
| the Star. The paper then secured a COM
piete PIE oon nst or the warrants making up the
10000 which the house spen1 for its ses-
sion expenses, most of which went to home
| rulers, and then a representative of tho
| paper called on the clerk OF the house and
asked to see the vouchers. He was refused
A consultation was held Of officers and
number Of members of the house. and it
was actually decided that the vouchers
| should be burned.
The speaker gave as n reason for not AL
lowing the public to know what the $4,000
had been spent fos, that the exposure
would create so much feeling that 1t might
break up the session. One representative
| said that it would ''blacken the native
character The vouchers are still kept
secret
| The statement that the vouchers were to
| be burned created a lot more comment,
| and new announcement was made It
was to the effect that the receipted bills
would be kept and turned over to Secre-
| tary Carter, and would be made public
| when the senate's vouchers were. The
senate. taking heed of the ugly scandal
| in which the house had become involved
| tailed accounts of expenditures in its jour-
| nal. 1t is freely predicted that those of
| the House will never see the light of pub
| licity.
A Little Work Done.
| 1t is a fact that must be admitted by
| the severest critics of the legislature, how
| ever, that with all it's showing of race
feeling. which is, perhaps. worse than in
the last body. and with all the time
| wasted on matters with which it had
| nothing to do, as well as on idle and even
| silly debates, the present legislature of
| Hawaii has accomplished far more than
| the last 1t has enacted some very much
| needed laws and has provided for the in
auguraton of local self-government
| throughout the islands. But aside from
| these benefits 1t has done political harm.
| There can no longer be any hope of OBJ
literating the race line in politics. The
| fourth district, for example, which is the
| half of Honolulu that whites can carry.
| and natives will be chosen in the fifth.
where whites are minority. Last time
there were mixed tickets in both districts.
| with a majority of natives.
One of the most interesting features Of
| the situation is the attitude of ex-Queen
| Liliuokalant, who has apparently gone