Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1916-05-20
Norman Watkins Delivers In
teresting Address on Local
Government Affairs

TAT the meeting Of the Rotary Club
held this week the place OF the bust
nessnan in politics and in affairs po'
IiticaI was the subject OF discussion.
In this connection, taking for his text
.The Businessman and His vote,
Norman Watkins delivered the ad'
dress below:
II was said at meeting in Honour
In a few weeks ago that any ten men
working towards the accomplishment
of a certain purpose In government
affairs could in the end accomplish
their purpose.
believe that this may be quite true
in a city made up largely OF Anglo
Saxon citizenship, but 1t Will not Apply
in Honolulu, where our citizenship is
largely one of mixed races.
Conditions Unique Here.
We face 4 condition in Hawaii that
Is not found in the average mainland
city and that condition is the fact that
the predominant race In Hawaii is not
the predominant race In business OF
In our civic organizations.
Look II YOU please at the member
IBID ilStS III lbe NhainVc' /. !
lssSeree. the Research Club, the CIVIC
Federation, the Commercial Club. the
Rotary Club and the Ad Club and see
how very small the representation OF
the predominant race really Is.
doubt IL even 2 per cent OF the MEM
hershiu of the above mentioned organ
izations is made up OF the race that
controls the political destiny OF the
territory. To my mind It is depior-
ahle state Of affairs, but 1t Is con-
dition that we have grown into and as
time goes on this condition will De
emphasized. As
aPubIie Opinion" Absent.
The fact Is that the businessmen Oh
Hawaii made UP largely OF the Anglo.
Saxon race are getting further and
further away from the race that con-
trolls the vote. On the mainland II we
sscratch beneath the surface at any
point in our government we come
upon. public opinion The Acts OF
Congress. the orders issued by the
President, the decisions OF the courts
are only the results OF public opinion:
How does public opinion arise ana
how Is il expressed?
Public opinion- "a. the.a mainland rs
aroused and expressed chiefly by the
lf,f1Ss and next TO the press, me chief
means az organizing public sentiment
is some association or society.
While public opinion prevails on the
mainland to a large degree, the right
sort of public opinion does not prevail
in Hawaii for the simple reason that
the leaders Of the press do not get
their views before the predominant
See, neither do The commercial and
enc bodies which might be expected
to lead public opinion cut any appre-
cable figure in Influencing public
sentiment simply because they can
not get next to the predominant race
s.nce few II any of their leaders hold
membership IN our various CONNER
cial and civic organizations.
Better Conditions Sought.
Business and civic bodies and even
grand juries have been striving for a
number of years here in Honolulu to
better our governmental conditions,
but so far as can see we are going
backward rather than forward and 1t
Is all because public opinion cannot
be formed to move In the right direc-
ton.
The organizations while perhaps not
active In politics have In measure
tried to get the right sort of timber
"a. serve the city al supervisors, but
ID Is impossible to get men of broad
enough gauge to prevent them becom-
ing stranded on political rocks. Men
may go into office with the best of
Intentions. but they soon seem to con-
tract the political disease that infests
city hall. We all know that there is
some sort Of disease In the city hall
end the only cure Cor II is. to arouse
public sentiment AGAINST II, but the
organizations that should lead public
opinion against Il cannot and do not
reach the people that control the vote.
sDeslre New Charter.
The civic and business organiZa-
tons of Honolulu recently took an
active and an earnest part towards
the framing OF a new city charter for
Honolulu with the view Of lettering
conditions at city hall. The question
was gone into most thoroughly by the
best students OF municipal government
in the city and a proposed charter was
framed along the most progressive
governmental lines with the result
that when il came before the charter
convention II didn't even get look
in"
It so happened that the convention
set aside one meeting night for the
purpose of hearing the views of the
civic and business organizations on
this vital subject and when the night
Of the hearing arrived the conyen-
ton could not muster a quorum and
the meeting adjourned without Civ
ing such men as Gov. Frear, Judge
Whitney and Judge Ashford, who
were prepared to take the floor, a
chance to say. word. The predomin.
ant race in the convention was the
same race that controls the vote and
they were not ready to give the city a
progressive charter because public
sentiment has not been aroused in
favor OF new charter.
This club might have most en-