Evening bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1895-1912, 1905-07-12
SUGGESTION TO SUPERVISORS.

There were two incidents at tha
County Supervisors meeting last night
which attracted only passing attentlo"
at the time but caused more or less
second thought.
The marked Difference shown toward |
the complaint of a section of the Jap
anese press, and the regulation that all
meetings of committees shall be public
unless otherwise designated" aroused |
more discussion among the people who
elected the Supervisors than the reso-
luton by Moore or the pound keepers
problem or the County seal.
a local japanese paper has remarked
that the notices of the Board of Super
vlsors should be published in the Jap |
auese papers and in the japanese lam
guage, the presumption being of course |
that this refers to the pay notices OF /
the County. This request. utterly pre-
posterOus in the first place. was digni- |
fed and semi-oflicialized by being read |
before the Board of Supervisors. There
Is no more reason for the official pub
liCation of County notices in the Jap-l
anese language as contemplated by this
demand than there is for the use OF
the japanese language in the public
schools in consequence of an attend
ance OF japanese children.
There is less good reason for semi
official recognition by the Supervisors
of the request that they went out of
their way to discover. The request
was not formally presented to the
Board. In any event II is to be pre-
sumed that II the Board of Supervisors
ia to take up its time reading editorials
from the newspapers, the Japanese
press is not to be given first place. Not
unless the Supervisors feel that this
Territory is soon to become in fact a
Japanese owned as well as q Japanese
populated Territory
The language of this country Is the
English language and the Japanese
newspapermen of average wit not only
know this but they know that the meet
ings Of the Board of Supervisors arc
open to the public or at least are sup
posed to be by the citizens Of the coun-
try. They also know that neither the
Territory nor the County is in the
/ business OF checking the liberties
within the bounds OF common decency
of the foreign residents of the 10
lands
Until the japanese formally take pos
/ session Of the Territory and the Coun-
ty. the citizens will undoubtedly sup
mort tho idon that tho gunoryicpre ,op
fine themselves to the plants of citi-
zens, or II cosmopolitan plan is do
sired, set aside a quiet hour of the
Board session to reading the requests
of whatever alien newspapers there
may be in the Territory. whether tho
utterances OF these alien papers arc
/ written at so much per by American
writer's or not.
After the kowtow to the Japanese
gentlemen, the Board acted on regula.
tons that are to control the commit.
tees. In these regulations is found the
interesting item that the meetings are
| to be public unless otherwise desig-
mated" Here we have the old star
chamber proposition the first-rattle out
OF the Supervisorial box.
We would respectfully suggest ia
these gentlemen that the County pro.
gram was fought through on the basis
! OF liberalizing conditions. They may
not realize II. but It is so, and the
people expect and intend to secure lib
eralization. not barking back to the
old methods that have been ripped out
Of Territorial life after much straight
talk from the public.
Why all the jobs to which the lower
life IL heir can be put through under
the peaceful phrase "unless otherwise
designated" Present company is OF
course excepted, but the present Board
OF Supervisors is establishing prece-
dents for future years. They know
and every one else knows that publicity
at all times and in all public mat
tiers which may come before the Super
visors OF this and other Counties is the
only safeguard against creating the OPP
portunity to carry through corrupt pro-
grams. Any other contention or at
tempt at explanation is folly.
1t is well that these incidents have
arisen early in the Oahu Coun-
ty career In order that the Supervisors
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