Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1914-05-09

of paganism. lost together with a
great deal that was bad: but there
was absolutely nothing that has not
been duplicated in the primitive be-
ginnings OF every race on this earth.
As q matter OF fact. the ancient Ha.
waiian social structure and customs
hare their equivalent in the histories
OF different races within almost his.
toric times,
What q false impression our fellow
Americans will haFe Of ms, after read.
ing this, and similar trash by 9th.
ers! And none TO speak for Us ap-
parently, from indifference or inabil.
ity. / know not which. Perhaps these
various nlisstatements about Hawaii
and the Hawaiians. OF which / have
given some representative samples,
are not worth reply. think tlIey
are, however They are published IN
newspapers. and read BY a great manY
Americans throughout the Unite
States. These readers, rarely possess.
ed Of any other source Of Informs
ton. base their ideas Of Hawaii and
the HaWaiians on Just such efrone0us
articles. IN so far e. they have any
conceptions or us ct all We are now
irreEocably part Of the American
commonwealth. Therefore Il behooves
as to see that our felloW-citizens Of
the mainland are properlY and accu.
rateiy informed as 90 who and what
we are, in order that We may take
our rightfal place IN the nation We
must aght for our own fair name and
fame and that of our ancestors, and
when our critics misinform the Amer.
lean public let US correct them.
To be sure, with Characteristic toll
cranes most 5of rs laugh when read
us, and say, What does It matter7
Our friends are our friends These
afner people mean well, but they
know no better Perhaps 50. But
the worst Of 1t is that IN Hawaii e.
self, .amang the kamaafna, there are
man6 hasty critics, who are called
knockers when their criticisms are|
about commercial or industrial sub
jects. No one Of sense fears criticism
That Is the result OF ripe Judgment
and is based on facts In Hawaii
there are q few who think before theyI
speak, and they are always listened
10 with the respect that they deserve. 4
But when prominent physicianI
hlanles the Hawaiians for delaying
legislation in regard to health mat
ters and IS Immediately taken TO task
by member OF the legislature not a
Hawaiian. who proves that such was
not the case, it would appear that
criticism was fl-founded and hasty
1t comes to my mind. toO. that It has
been an uphill fight all over the
United States, to get proper health
measures through the Legislature.
Some few years ago q gentleman
active in religious and sociological
work in Hawaii rayed over the corrup-
ton and depravity Of the Hawaiian
electorate, because OF the large snfhs
OF money spent inot by HaWaiians
ineidentallNl ]. during an election; and
said some unkind things Not long
later the people Of an entire county
Of Ohio, the electorate mostly straight
Anglo-Saxon and as numerous as the
Hawaiian franchise holders, were in
dicted By grand jury for having sold
their votes for actual cash during ssv-,
etal consecutive elections. In Ha-
Waii, the candidate who spent the
most money was not elected and the
cases Of actual bribery were probably
very rare. Il is to taught The above
are samples of our homegrown crit
les. think that the Hawaiian pub
lie will agree with me that the ham
mer recently buried in Hawaii should
be Joined by another, the racial
knocking hammer.
The trouble with our critics, both
kamaaina and malihini, is that they
have lost their perspective. The ma
lihinis rush into print with little
garhled and distorted history, and a
few hasty and sweeping statements;
and the folks at home,,read it all
without discrimination, taking 1t for
granted that what they read is the re-
suit OF study and first hand knowl-
edge. The kamaainas are equally
prone to rush into print with ILL
founded statements. or to give cred
ence by constant repetition to explod-
ed assertions of q previous genera |
ton anent the Hawaiians Because wei
are of different race we are looked
at through microscope Each mans /
idea of what we should do is the basis |
of his Judgment of us. Our critics
feel free to pass on our history, our
future. our character, the entire Ha-
Waiian cosmos, with what little they
know of a few individuals or circum-
stances. The same course taken with
any other race will produce equally
unreliable and wrong Judgments; as
indeed many books on strange coun-
tries by superficial writer's show.
Some time ago Golfers had short
editorial paragraph mentioning the J
old missionary way of describing saw.
age communities, wherein such com.
mnnities are always pictured at their j
worst and compared to Christian com
munities at their best !; to the great
advantage OF Christian civilization =
whereas If. the best points of savage
society lad been compared with tho
worst phases of Christian society the
disparity between the two states
would have been nil. The mission. |
aries perspective was out of focus; |
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