The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1903-12-01
THE MARCH OF AMERlCANlSM.

Inc mAkSU UT RmEkiSNINiSm'
As open-hearted men are magnetic
to their neighbors, so open-hearted
communities are magnetic to the world.
When n hundred miles was barrier,
seldom passed, between villages and
towns. a stranger had to undergo the
scrutiny of all the inhabitants. He was
stared at as an object of curiosity.
His face, his port, his clothes, were
infinitely examined, even by little chill
dhen, and his habits were investigated
through a system of espionage. Those
were the days Of the narrowest proyin-
cialism, gone never to return, when
neither the love of God nor the love of
humanity exempted the individual
man, who wandered from his home,
from infamous presumptions. Now-a-
days, especially in large cities, but also
In all places which the telegraph, the
steamship and the railroad have pene-
trated, the opposite extreme has been
reached, and a man may live and die
without attracting the attention of his
next door neighbor.
But there is a survival of provincial
ism. 1t is not quite dead. There are
a few men left, in most aggregations
of population, whose attitude towards
a stranger resembles that of cat
watching a piece of meat, and who
snarl and spit whenever they are APP
preached. Occasionally there Is cit
izen, who turns yellow with jealousy
when an unknown person evinces APP
probation of his belongings, of which
he feels entitled to monopoly. Rare
ly, but sometimes, there Is woman,
who, in the presence, more frequently
in the absence, of a new face cannot
restrain forked tongue, charged with
the poison Of the adder.
Honolulu, for many years, has been
famous for it's hospitality, the concep-
ton of which by former Attorney
General, was to invite a friend and his
family to his home for six months. or
to take half a dozen men with him to
dinner The old charm, if somewhat
modified, still exists. Here, as else
where, there are men who have created
or produced scenes of beauty or of
utility, whose highest enjoyment is to
witness the pleasure of others when
brought into contact with them. Here,
as elsewhere, there are business and
professional men. who are incapable of
selfish exclusiveness, and whose clasp
of the hand represents genuine well
come. If there are exceptions, they
serve to underscore the rule.
There is a conservatism in every
community, not absolutely raw, that is
necessary and just and that has no
connection with social intercourse. Ev-
cry man who migrates from one place
to another, in his new residence must
expect to undergo a certain ordeal be-
fore he is established. Business of ev-
cry kind runs in grooves and accepts
fresh blood only after it has been test
ed. This is right, and does not conflict
with a policy or principle that encour-
ages migration and settlement. The
additional element is that opportunity
should not be choked and that mere
selfishness or greed should not be an
inspiring motive to scrutiny.
The government of the United States.
among other great features, Is based
and has been administered in the spirit
of genuine hospitality. All aliens who
are fit or can be made fit for assimila-
ton and citizenship can step into
Americanism through an open door.
The policy Of exclusion, as applied to
drones, paupers and criminals, not al
ways successfully, and to the full re-
ception of races incapable of compre-
hending our institutions, Is simply the
exercise of a right, under the pres
sure of necessity or eXpediency, that
every individual and every nation in
herently possesses. Those who have
passed through the door, and are not
under special disabilities, are on an
equality before the law with citizens
Ito the manner born" and, freed from
artificial and burthensome restraints,
are permitted to aspire to and reach
any position within sight of their
brains, their education, their industry
and their character. 1t is this basic
principle, observed with more fidelity
than superficial thinkers suppose, that
has built up the American Union, and
particularly the Western States and
Territories, 1t is this same principle,
applied to its situation and to its nat
ural advantages, that should convert
this comparatively small territory into
n rich State, shining with it's own and
with reflected light in the tiara of the
American Republic. The exclusionists
of Hawaii are too few in number and
too insignificant in influence to cast
even the shadow of their narrowness
and greed upon the brow of Manifest
Destiny, on its resistless course over
the pillows of the Pacific.