The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1906-11-06

ter give attention TO the personnel OF
the Territorial Central Committee. II
there IL where questions are settled that
IN the piuce around which the battle
should be waged.
One should remember, too. that this
attitude reaches beyond the liquor aues-
tion. The platform OF a political party
Is supposed to treat of all the leading
questions on which legislation Ii ex-
pected. Therefore, scarcely anything OF
Importance. can come UP about which
the Territorial Central Committee may
not claim the right to dictate the leg
islation. They constitute the real leg
islature. The men elected are only
nominally such.
who is the party that expects con-
oerted action? Is II the people who
elect the men? No. Did the people
draw UP those party rules? No. The
party here means the Territorial Cen
trail Committee, the Republican ma
chine.
The people at the polls elect men
whom they trust to exercise their own
best judgments and consciences in de-
vislng such legislation as shall meet
the needs of the Territory. They elect
q goodly number of them, too, and from
all over the Territory, believing that
in this way they obtain wisdom. But,
10 and behold! Here are very few
people constituting the Territorial Cen
trail Committee, who claim to be the
real wisdom and conscience of the Ter
ritory. They regard the men elected as
simply their tools. Strange to say, too,
some OF these self-respecting candidates
who hope to become more than candi-
dates are willing to play the parrot
part. Let us trust that there will be
too many men of independence elected
to permit the machines Interpretation
of its Importance and prerogatives to
prevail in the next Legislature. But
one is glad to note that II the machine
does turn out to be supreme 1t makes
it's parrots say: II may say that some
of the points contained in the Anti
reasonable and practicable"
1t is perfectly legitimate that the
Territorial Central Committee should
use its influence, individually and COL
lectively, with the Legislature just as
1t is legitimate for the Anti-Saloon
League to do the same. However, eth
er of them have rights only as far as
they can bring truth to bear on the
judgments and consciences of the legis-
lators so as to win their support to any
given measures. When either of them
arrogates the right to dictate legsla-
ton, and to be both thought and con-
science for the law-making body, 1t is
time to call halt. And. when the
law-making body will yield to that de-
mand a situation is presented where
traffic in legislation, and all sorts of
rascality are not only possible but
probable.
2. Finally, the Civic Federation, the
Hawaiian Evangelical Association and
the Anti-Saloon League were all before
the public long before the nominating
conventions We're held. They asked the
political parties not only to recognize
the liquor evil in their platforms, but
to endorse Senator Dickey's Local OPP
tion bill, and the first seven sections
of the Anti-Saloon League platform.
CAT later time the A. S. L. added three
more sections.)
But read the paragraph quoted from
the Republican platform in the letter
above. You will see that the conven-
ton ignored the plea of these three
bodies. In the closing clause of the
paragraph the language land such 9TH
err provisions as will properly safeguard
the traffic." seems to deny any inclina-
ton to favor such restrictions as might
be obtained by local option. The desire
is for nothing like prohibition in any
quarter, but simply wish that the
traffic may be properly safeguarded."
This paragraph does not seem to be
affected in any way by the wishes of
the three bodies who attempt to stand
for all that is best in the morals of the
community. Rather. it is such as would
be dictated naturally by the more re-
spectacle class of saloonkeepers, and
the upper crust of those engaged in
the liquor traffic.
But on this point it must be regret
fully acknowledged that the liquor
paragraph in the Democratic platform
is very little better. However, the
Democrats have advantage over the
Republicans in this, that during the
campaign they have kept comparatively
free from such use of liquor as tends
VIGOROUSLY to degrade the electorate.
AGITATION COMMITTEE ANTI-SA-
LOON LEAGUE.
G.. ID. EDWARDS, Chairman.