Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1917-12-13
ANENr THE PRICE OF FISH.

Honolulu. Dec. 9, 1911.
Editor Honolulu Star-Bulletin.
Sir: When in the course Of bel
ligerent events, it becomes necessary
for one clique of men to decide the
destinies OF the general public. and
to declare unto oppressed mankind its
obligations and feholdens unto them
Of the inner bandit behooves hum
BILE mortals to inquire into the res'
sons thereof and the logic therein that
being enlightened in the flame Of pu-
rification. We may come to understand
the sacred mysteries. For the way
to Nirvana lies in the regeneration
OF man and in the pronouncing Of the
secret words. Let him who would
read of the sacred Vedas first utter
the mystic ON, lest in confusion his
thought be lost, and learning slip
away into oblivion.
A mystic name and mystic tie. the
territorial food ommission-inured in
the powers Of government, product Of
the brain of Brahma. Long may it
endure and its usefulness be prolong-
ed. Let not the murky waters engulf
our sovereign sires.
Nor, please Allah, may it come into
conflict with that glorious trio res.
plendent in it's disregard Of public
veal or Of public woe. Far be ii from
the laity to dim the luminosity Of the
sacred symbol. or to intrdude into the
inner recesses of Chillingworth, Win
ston and Cooke.
And it shall not be for the public
to demand but for It to humbIy &C
cept. 1t shall not dictate. for it Is sub.
servient; and the public mind Is
public void.
Let him who gainsaith the opera.
tions Of price-exploiters, or the ma.
chinations of fish:boosters. be an
athena. Be ever accursed that sod
den train commonly known as the
people. The senate halls of Iolani
shall not be garnished in onions but
in fish; smart society is immersed In
the rarest Of piscatorial aremas, not
infrequently located near the corner
of River and Hotel streets; nor i'm.
perceptible in the near vicinity OF
beautiful Palolo
This Is a realization Of how hum
Bile and insignificant Is the general
public, and of how large and all i'm.
portant are those intricate interests
entering into the fishing industry. For
be 1t remembered that, withal, the
public pocketbook and the public bal.
lot are the only assets of the com.
And it is really surprising how pre-.
We are to question the
right of our masters TO charge US
whatever prices they may deem fit, or
to offer loaded figures to our suseep-i
tible food commission. or to present
claims 20 narrowing as to cause even
the denizens Of the deep to weep scald-
ing tears Of sympathy.
Albeit, the publis has the option Of
eating or not eating fish, and the Lord
knows how scarce piscis has become
in the seven seas, and how utterly
necessary it Is for Honolulu to revert
to feudal times in the conduct Of its
fishing rights. And it Is unlawful for
US to dip beneath the waves that
roll on private strand or, for that mat
ter, gaze upward into its overcoming
canopy of heaven. For having read
Lord Byron's apostrophe to the ocean,
in which he extols the freedom of the
briny deep in that immortal passage
in Childe Harold:
Man marks the earth with ruin-his
control
Stops with the shore
am reminded that, after all, Ha
vail has sadly upset poetic fantasy in
her far-reaching endeavor to control
not only land. but sea and sky. 4
Now 1t is not astonishing that prices
should aviate like the soaring Of that
glorious bird the eagle into its hidden
aeries, but the manner Of passage is
deep down into the hallowed folds Of
our humble pocketbooks, whose
strings are not fastened into Gordian
knots. And It Is not to be remarked
Of how apparently obscure is the
vision Of proportion, entertained by
these lovely isles of the mid-Pacific,
In their endeavor to associate auto
cratic prices with democratic means,
nor even the Judgment of our learned
food administrator in the advancing
Of theories 50 automatically perfect,
as to preclude all practical ideas or
results.
Hence it is that all things being
we must take a fraternal
view Of the universe that Is in Ha-
vail. Behold the little red foxes that
run about seeking prey and the en-
sharing Of a busy world. Here Is a
bundle Of sticks, in each separate rod
a weakness, in the union, strength;
there, a bow and arrows. the symbols
Of invincibility. True friendship hath