The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1904-10-24

be that judge; and if We will place tn
| executive power in the same hands
we may readily simplify government
| We may easily bring it to the simples
| of all possible forms, a pure despotism
But a separation of departments, SO ia
as practicable. and the preservation o
clear lines of division between them, Ii
| the fundamental idea in the creation O
/ all our constitutions; and doubtless tn,
continuance of regulated liberty de-
| ponds on maintaining these bound
/ aries.''
1t is charged that if Democrats ars
returned to the Legislature this cleo
ton on platform protesting against
executive encroachment, it will lead
merely to pickering, fault-fndine
and unbusinesslike session of the Leg
islature wherein the practical wants
and needs of the people will be disre-
| garded, and the time given OVER to
| factional and useless quarrels with the
| Executive.
Webster has something to say on this
point in the same speech, pointing out
that the highest and most useful func-
ton of a representative of the peop.e
is to resist executive encroachment and
lIOIii the very start ~ 1OICSGS anu Ct
| once to call a halt upon any subversion
of established land marks. This is
what he says:
1--WE have been taught To regard a
representative of the people as a sem
tinel on the watch-tower of liberty. Is
he to be blind, though visible danger
approaches? Is ne to be deaf. though
sounds of peril fill the air2 Is he not,
rather, to catch the lowest whisper
; which breathes intention or purpose of
encroachment on the public liberties,
and to give his voice breath and ut
, terance at the first appearance of dang
er? Is not his eye to traverse the whole
, horizon detecting, through all dis
guises, every enemy advancing, in any
form, towards the citadel which he
guards? Sir, this duty of foreseeing
danger and proclaiming it; this defer
ence of established landmarks; this fear
less resistance of whatever would trans
, cend or remove them,-all belong to
the representative character, are in
terwoven with it's very nature. If de-
prived of them, an active, intelligent,
faithful agent OF the people will be con-
verted into an unresisting and passive
instrument of power. A representative
body, which gives up these rights and
and duties. gives itself up. 1t is a
representative body no longer. It has
broken the tie between itself and it's
constituents, and henceforth is fit only
to be regarded as an inert, self-sacri-
feed mass, from which all appropriate
principle of vitality has departed for
ever"
SYMPTOMS OF DISORDER.
While no
than a year of one man power. there
are not lacking in this Territory Sc
rious symptoms of disorder, and man.
fest evidence of lack of balance of
power in the body polite. Something
is out of balance when the Attorney
General can openly go into a nominat-
ing convention of the people backed by
a large body of office holders absolute-
ly under his control, and defeat the
nomination of a candidate for the Leg
islature on the sole ground that he is
persona non grata to the executive.
Something is out of balance when
without protest or check the Governor
has obtained direct control of the ma
gistrates of the Territory, SO that they
can be removed by him at will when
the Legislature provided that they
should only be removed for cause by
the Supreme Court of the Territory. and
something is extremely out of balance
in the territorial government when the
Governor in addition to destroying the
independence of the heads of depart
ments and taking direct control OF a
large part of the judiciary feels the
need Of still more power and is allowed
to exact pledges from candidates for
the Legislature before their nominal
ton whereby his Attorney General can
publicly announce that Every Repub-
hcan nominee stands pledged to sup
port the bills which will be introduced
by his (the Governor's) administra-
ton" Something is certainly out Of
balance when the Attorney General of
the Territory, with his undated resigna-
ton in the Governors hands, therefore
acting as his spokesman, announces
that as every Republican nominee Is
pledged to support the bills which the
Governor will introduce in the Legis-
lature, therefore it doesn't matter how
incompetent man may be his vote is
as good as any other If he has agreed
to vote right. Something Is wrong
with the community, and something is
I out of joint If the very mouthpiece OF
I the Governor can make such declara-
lions without protest from the electors.
Something IS out of joint when the
Governor without protest can claim
that he is not amenabie to the cleo
torate of this Territory and therefore
protests by the electors against far
reaching aggressions in his part are
out of place, factious and useless.