Evening star., 1932-05-01
ISLAND FRIENDSHIP
SPLIT BY VERDICT
Bulk of Honolulu Population
Angered by Finding of
MaSsie Jury.
by RUSSELL OWEN.

| HONOLULU, April 80 (N-A.N.AD.-
| The verdict in the Fortescue-Mass1e
trial has aroused great bitterness here
| MANY business men express themselves
heatedly, and women, whose sympathy
! all along has been with Lieut.. Thomas
H. Massie, Mrs. Granville Fortescue
and the two Navy enlisted men, E. =.
Lord and "A. o. Jones, fairly seethe with
| Indignation.
This is not true Of all of Honolulu,
| for some think the verdict was the
only possible solution Of dangerous
and difficult situation, but it is pre-
dicted that friendships will be split
over the unsupported outcome,
Ofsetting this resentment, however,
is the fact that today the deputy at
torney general, Harold Kay, announced
a conference would be called In his
office Monday to make plans for pro-
| ceeding at once with the Ala Moana
assault case. from which grew the
MaSsie murder trial.
A vigorous and intelligent presenta-
| ton of that case at this time undoubt-
edly would, it is felt, have good reac-
| ton in the United States, for one reit-
| Grated question today Is, What Will the
people on the mainland think?
How the Ala Moana case Is handled
probably will mold future developments
here.
Results Far Reaching.
The city is going quietly about its
business. AS matter of fact, had the
decision been the other way, there would
be a group that would be angry. This
| case has torn the whole social and
political fabric of the territory and Is
! still brewing trouble. There probably
never has been case which affected so
many lives or produced such far-reach-
ing results.
One thing that Is likely to be for
gotten Is that after the shooting OF
| Joseph Kahahawai the whole admin
istration of law enforcement here was
remodeled to prove to the world that
| Hawaii was competent to handle her
| own affairs. The appointment OF the
new public prosecutor, with the back
ing Of the territorial officials, brought
more able men to the task of stopping
| crime, and the ForteScue- -Massie case
! happened to be the first one TO Whlcn
they bent their energies.
| The situation was not at all the same
which surrounded the Ala Moana case,
which was bungled from the start. And
| If that case on retrial brings about a
| disagreement, which would acquit the
| defendants under the present law, or an
| acuuittal it will be difficult to predict
| what might happen in and to Honolulu.
There has been SO much sympathy
! for Mrs. Fortescue, Lieut. Massie and
the two enlisted men expressed here
that even those engaged in the prosecu-
! ton and those who defended in the Ala
Moana case have only regret at their
| plight. On many lips which might be
| thought antagonistic to the young naval
| officer and Mrs. ForteScue are heard
the words, Those poor defendants"
Even Hawaiians Sympathize.
Even the Hawaiians, who are kindly,
| sympathetic people. dislike to see them
shut up in Jail with the riff-raf of the
| islands Many hope it will be possible
for them to be pardoned Immediately.
An indication of the feelings of the
Navy group is shown by the remark
made by an officer, that hereafter he'll
feel he is on foreign soil His family
was so aroused that his wife said she
wouldn't eat another pineapple as long
| as she lived. And another Navy woman,
who was present when the verdict was
rendered, said, trembling with rage,
I'D like to spit in Kelley's face"
Public Prosecutor John c. Kehey's
| slurs at the United States Navy and the
admirals are resented here by nearly
every one and it is felt that whatever
good might be done by showing that
Hawaii can enforce the law is COM
pletely nullified by his display of tenn
per. The local morning paper pub
lished an editorial today excoriating
him, saying:
i The public prosecutor could not con-
clude that Lieut.. MaSsie was non COM
pos mentis when he killed Kahahawai,
but it will be a charitable Judgment by
the community if it can say Mr.. Kelley
lost his own head when he let loose
such TRADE
1T must be remembered that in a
time of national emergency, the Army
and Navy have authority vested in them
by Congress and the President to take
over all the functions Of government
here or In any Of the States. To at
tempt to drag in either Of these services
as means, perhaps, of sWaying the
jury. is utter folly.
Neither Needs Hawaii.
Neither the Army nor the Navy
needs Hawaii's approval for their ex-
istence AS a matter of fact, they want
it, since it is easier to get along with
friends, but in pinch they could man
age to do very well without Hawaii. On
WIZ OIAACl AApAANg AAoNoAA NNAASA 4iOt w
very well without them
Ever since the unfortunate incident
that brought about the killing of Kaha-
hawai- there have been persistent efforts
made to try everything rather than the
case at hand. Even the victim of that
foul assault on Ala Moana has been
practically tried. The motives Of one
Of the Nays most trusted officers, a
man whose rank plainly bespeaks the
trust imposed in him by his country.
has been questioned.
In short, everything from home rule
to prohibition has been tried except
the four defendants in the present case
The Navy and its personnel have been
particularly under fire, without reason
and certainly Without a display of the
common sense that this community
should display.
by its intolerant, uniformed disre-
gard for essentials in the case, "a con-
| siderable element in Honolulu has
sought to prove every statement made
by Admiral Stirling in his report to the
Navy Department"
| Copyright, 1882, by the North American
Newspaper Alliance. 1hc.t