The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1907-05-18

brought about. At the close at. the
Civil War the great Secretary Seward
| sent a secret agent here to make in
| quiries as to the purchase of the is
lands by the United States. This
i gentleman told me that so secret was
| the matter that in sending letters he
directed them to his father, who for
| warded them to Washington. He said
| that he believed that the purchase
could have been accomplished at this
| time. but that Seward had been so crit
icized for the acquisition of Alaska that
he decided that the American people
We're not prepared for another addition
of territory at that period, and so the
matter dropped. Seward had vision
of the development of the Pacific, but
he was ahead of his time. But at last
the inevitable happened and Hawaii
was annexed and became Territory of
the United States.
Now let us glance at the results of
this Americanizing which has been go
ing on so long. Until annexation, to
be entitled to VOTE a citizen must be
able to read and write English or Ha-
waiian and have paid his taxes. There
WdS d property Qud11n1dlion ITOlI Ioof
to 1874. 1t has been said that the suf-.
frage here should have been restricted
by the Organic Act. and that it was a
mistake not to have done so. In my
opinion, it is no more Of a mistake
than elsewhere in the United States. /
believe that the Hawaiians exercise
their suffrage as intelligently and with
a greater desire to do the right thing
than is shown by the exercise of suf-
frage by mobs of newly-naturalized
citizens in the United States. It is true
that race prejudice plays a large part,
but so it does in other parts of the
United States.
The Hawaiians have become thor
oughly American in their practise of
politics, and the idea seems often to be
that one chief function of government
is to provide offices for as many as
possible and provide work at good pay |
on roads and public works for voters. |
But, then, have seen that idea prev |
alent on the mainland, and perhaps it |
is part of the Americanism they have !
adopted.
1t is true that many Hawaiian Of
ficials have proved defaulters; 1t has
been in part the result of loose meth
DDS of the past, but even this feature /
with accompanying graft they may
have learned from reading that such
things exist or have existed in various
parts of the United States. Speaking
one day of the men who had brought
Hawaii through troub1ous times, men
who had the genius of government
and the ability to organize, men who
were associated with Sanford B. Dole,
who however much the objects OF
party dislike, yet were known to be
upright, strong and capable, the gen.
tleman to whom I was speaking said:
'"They have no idea of Americanism.
This country viii be good for nothing
until it is Americanized. I said: "In
what way do you want it American
ICED? If you mean by Americanizing
that we should be better by getting
under the control of corrupt political
bosses, instead of under the influence
Of men who We're born here and have
built up the country; if you mean the
of graft and the control
oy corrupting methods of great corpor-
atoms; if you mean the importation
here of methods which have prevailed
n San Francisco ever since I have
known it. then I would rather go on as
We are, with men in politics who are .
lot after place or graft
No one can study the question with !.
nut coming to the conclusion that the /,
Americanism of the men who made :
hese islands has been the American :
SIN OF Washington, rather than that :
f Boss Buckley or the Philadelphia :
Ring.
The fact is. these islands have too y
much government. The last census I
rave for the whole group 1874 900 pop t
llation. OF these 9013 were white peo- G
lie other than Portuguese, of whom r
here were 1865 There are Federal t
fficials; then there is a full Territorial | t
government with its House of Repre- 4
entatives and Senate. Until two years {
go the schools, public works health, b
to-, were conducted by appointed a
cards. But it was considered Amer g
can to divide the islands into four z
wanted five at first. This s
made many new elective offices. and il
he places are nearly all filed with iC
Iawaiians. O.
Mark Twain said of the Hawaiian I
that it reminded him of the +