The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1911-02-09

| native Hawaiian and the large per-
centage of Asiatics, who have an in
herent respect for authority. But this
does not altogether explain it, for
there are Asiatics in California, and
that great State has found them
source of much irritation 1t is I'M
doubtedly due in part to the isolation.
But that does not explain it either,
for Hayu and Santo Domingo are
equally isolated, and they have been
in constant turmoil.
think it is due in a large measure
to the high character, judicial temper
ament and thoughtful consideration of
her early judges. The spirit of justice,
tempered by federation, has pervaded
her courts from the days of the as
tendency of the earliest American set
lers, who recognized the temperament
of the native Hawaiian and sought to
bring out what was best in him. They
endeavored to preserve rather than
destroy the Hawaiian customs, and
adapted the law to enforce the local
traditions and to secure all property
rights as they then existed, whether
the right claimed consisted of the priv
ilege of taking a single species of fish
| from the ocean fronting a given
stretch of shore, or to cultivate taro,
the native staple vegetable, on small
plot lying within the domain of a large
proprietor.
All classes in Hawaii resort freely
to the courts, and they pay retaining
| fees IN advance. If a native Hawai-
ian, Chinaman or a European feels
that a wrong has been done him, he
goes at once to his lawyer, pays his
fee of $25, $50 or 500, according to
the nature of the case and the amount
involved, and instructs him to pro-
coed against the offender. And he
carries the fight, if necessary, through
all the courts. The matter is heard
patiently, and the law is declared
without fear or favor This has been
substantially true from the beginning,
and | believe it accounts in no small
measure for the traditions of law and
order that have always prevailed
there.
But Hawaii also illustrates very
emphatically the evils that flow from
a too paternal judiciary, ever intent
on protecting rights of property and
preserving the existing order of things.
The wealth of the country has become
concentrated into the hands Of a very
few, whose harmony of will domin-
ates everything. The great bulk of
the population consists of a series of
camps of Asiatic plantation laborers,
who flow hither and yon without any
tie or interest greater than the desire
to accumulate a few hundred dollars
as speedily as possible and return to
the homes from whence they came.
Petty vices, not harmful to the
whites, were winked at by the old
regime. Gambling among the natives
along the waterfront was universal.
1t also tlourished openly in the camps
of the Asiatic laborers. Garden fruits
and loose material suitable for fire.
wood were regarded as the legitimate
spoil of the noisy Portuguese, while
opium, the importation or possession
of which was forbidden by the old
Hawaiian law, was constantly Snug
gled in by sailors, only to be stolen
from them by the everwatchful ma
tives, who had a wonderfully keen pre-
sentiment as to which package con.
tanned it.
There is nothing more Characters
tic of Hawaii than the dealings of
the Chinese with the natives. A Chi.
naman sees a piece of ground that a
native woman is cultivating in loose
and unscientific way, possibly obtain
ing from it enough taro. the staple
vegetable, for herself and family In
some way he secures the right to use
a small piece of land adjoining hers,
and then he cultivates her Friendship
while he cultivates the soil. He will
make some acceptable presents, pei.
haps give her little money, and in
other inoffensive ways do what he
can to win her good will. Next, hay
ing found out who her native lawyer
is, he retains him, and asks him to
obtain a five, ten or twenty years
lease of the womans land. 1t does
not take the native lawyer long to
convince his client that it is manifest
ly to her interest to make that lease
If the Chinaman can not obtain a
long term he accepts a short one. He
takes possession, and, in a few
J months, what was a weedy pond with