Year: 1870




hundred ships anchored in our harbor


should leave quietly and peaceably, no


ones life would be put in peril, there


would be no such emergency as is here


spoken of the worst that could happen


would be the loss of property, precisely


and only what may happen when the la


borer, servant, or employee disregards his


contract and leaves without reason, and


there is no redress.


We observe in the discussion ofthis sub


ject in the Legislature, that the strongest


ground taken by those who favor the re-


peal of the law is that no man has right


to subject himself to the will of another


it is conveying an inalienable right, and


any such contract is unconditional and


void. We reply that man has an in


aEenable right to bind himself to do the


will or wishes of another IN all things that


are Laoctia and right to be done He has


no right to do unlawful things whether he


wills it or another He has right to


promise to do the will of another, with this


limitation, in the field, the sugar house,


the counting room, the store the mechan-


les shop, on the vessel at sea or in the


harbor, if he thinks his interests require


it, any law interfering with this right,


would be despotic in the extreme. 1t


would be an abridgement of his liberty to
pursue happiness, and promote his own
interests in his own way. Every laborer,
in every department of life, whether upon
the farm, in the mechanics shop, the store,
the counting room, the bank, the lawyers
Office or the ship, both captain, officer
and foremast hand, all do the will of
their superiors, and it is right that they
should do so, an all things proper to be
done. A law based upon the principle that
one man has no right to subject himself to
the will of another, if carried out to its le
gitimate results, would produce insubordi-
nation and anarchy.


Not long since, the Adoertiser said
that at the Kaumakapili meeting, the high
est if not the only ground taken in favor
of the law was its necessity. This was
mistake, for one speaker declared most
emphatically, that it was founded upon
the broad principles Of Justice and the
fitness of things - that wrong doing
ought to be redressed, that he would as
soon have his children taught that they
could steal with impunity, as that they
could without reason, violate their good
faith with impunity, and such has been
the doctrine advocated by the correspon-
dents for this journal Whilst its neces-
sity has been put forward, its justice has
been put first and foremost What peril
to life can there be for sentry to sleep
at his post in time of profound peace? or
what for him to desert at such time
why should he suffer pains and penalties
therefor? Why should the deserter
from his ship in this harbor, haoi'eg no
cause to justify it, suffer therefor? The
life or health of no one has been imperiled
1t seems to be, because it is thought that
other interests besides those of life are
worthy of protection, if they be in the
army or on the sea, that the peculiarities
of the case here justifies the violation of
the inalienable" right, which is too
sacred to be touched to guard any other
interests than those of life, upon the
land. Now we believe "that nothing
but evil can arise from inequitable regu-
lations," and "that no good can come of
violating mems rights" but we believe
that the maritime laws are Just, and that
the principles of justice upon which they
are based are applicable to all men and
for the proper protection of life and pro-
perty upon the land as well as in the
harbor, that they are of universal appli-
cation, and that to except their applica-
cation upon the land is both inequitable
and unjust, to both employer and en-
ployed, as it tends to prevent both from
making such contracts to do lawful |
and proper things, as their respective
interests require. The province of the
law is not directly or indirectly to pre-
vent people seeking their own inter-
ests in their own way in all lawful things, |
but to protect and do justice to all, be-
tween man and man, whether their re-
lations under their own chosen and vol
untary arrangements be that of master
and servant, or some other.


That a man should know everything
he may be called to do, when he contracts
to render service does not seem to US
to have any particular relevancy to the
question of justice, for if he chooses to
hire out to do any thing which may be
required, to be man of all work, he has
an unquestionable and inalienable right
to do so; but Mr. Alexander was undoubt-
edly right in saying that the work of the
plantation was as specific as that of the
ship. The farmers hired man in the
United States works upon the road, or
at other work as his employer wills. He
does not consider it a hardship. He +
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