The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1913-05-23

enAet pue hdA ouPROuoa tN3b hO61 y
X lect to do SO, in order to give ones \
X successor fuller barrel Of pork n
!: to distribute among the hungry n
= faithful, was not the only way Of X
4 fulfilling ones public duty. y
4 GOVERNOR FREAR. y
\ X
x X 4: X X X X X X X X X X X X X \
81, of course, have not seen Sena-
tor Coke's letter, but assuming that
he wrote substantially as represented
in the newspaper, he seems rather loose
in his logic as well as pork-barrelish in
his IDEALS" said Governor Frear last
night, in comment on the stand taken
by Senator Coke in connection with
the recent appointments made by the
Governor. As reported in The Adver-
tiser on Tuesday, Secretary of the In.
terror Lane cabled to Senator Coke
asking if it were true that the Gov
ernor was making four-year appoint
ments and Coke cabled reply that
such is the case. Supplementing his
cable with a letter, Senator Coke is
declared by those on the inside in Dem
ocratic circles to have told the secre
tary that the Governor, although q hold
over, is prostituting his office" by
rushing through all the appointments
of his personal friends and supporters
possible, even going to the extent Of
naming the members of the public uti-
lities commission, which does not come
into legal existence until July l.
The Governor takes the natural stand
that as he is Governor and that the
duties of his office consist in part in
filing the offices of the government with
efficient men, no reasonable exception
can be taken to either the appointments
he has made nor to the fact that he
has made them.
Hardly Consistent.
"I don t know" said the Governor
yesterday, whether Senator Coke's cri.
ticism is directed at appointments in
general or only or mainly to those Of
the public utility commissioners. If
it is directed to appointments in gen.
eral, it is hardly consistent with his
own written recommendations to me to
appoint various persons to various Of
fees, as, for instance, one to the i'm
portant Office of superintendent of pub
lie works.
"He should also bear in mind that
the government must go on. 1t cannot
stop until the Democrats finish their
squabbles as to how the pie shall be
divided. l have urged the President
to feel free to appoint my successor
at any time. Until he intimates that
he wants me to stop it is to be assum-
ed that he wants me TO go on, and
there have been published intimations
from Washington to that effect.
High Precedents.
"President Taft made many nomi-
nations shortly before he retired, and
President-elect Wilson was reported to
have approved his action. Would SEN
ator Coke, for instance, have me omit
to appoint any commissioners of PUBLIC
instruction and therefore have no meet
ings of the commissioners to provide
teachers for the next school yearf
Would he have the appointments of the
banana claims commissioners held up
perhaps until eptember-awaiting a
Democratic Governorf There will be
plenty of appointments for my success
sor to make and he can continue to
make them until his tenure of office
ends.
eff the criticism is directed wholly
or mainly at the appointments of the
public utility commissioners-well, fear
has sometimes been expressed by sena-
tors that the Governor might not make
appointments until after the session
and thereby deprive the senate of its
say in the matter Of appointments.
Hears No Criticism.
cit is true, those commissioners are
not to take office until July !, but
it looked as if l might have to make
the appointments anyway and if SO,
/ felt that / ought to give the senate
chance to pass on them. / have heard
no criticism of the makeup of the
commission. One of them is Demo-
crat whom selected with the express
approval of at least one Democratic
senator.
"No suggestion was made to me to
postpone the appointments. / don't
know how the vote stood in the SEN
ate on confirmation, but 1 have the
impression that the Democrats were
not unit in voting against confrma-
tion. According to the newspaper re-
port, Senator Coke says that two DEM
Ocrats protested. 1t must be remem-
bered also that, while the mainland
went Democratic, Hawaii did not, and,
yet, L have appointed a number Of
Demoerats to office when I might have
appointed only Republicans.
"While, also, the public utility COM
mission is not to take office until July
/, there is a great deal of preparatory
work that can be done before then
and that is being done now by the
chairman of that commission. / am
not aware that there was any jam
ming through of combinations by the
Republican majority of the senate.
"perhaps carrying out the laws en-
acted by the legislature and in a way
that accords with the sentiment of the
majority may be prostitution of
one s Office, as Senator Coke is report
ed to have said, but / had supposed
that neglect to do so in order to give
ones successor a fuller barrel of pork
to distribute among the hungry faith
ful was not the only way of fulfilling
ones public duty"
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