The statistics of the Judiciary Department for the last two years
present a few features of interest. There were 4,000 convictions
out of 5,764 cases brought before the courts, equal to a fourteenth
part of the population. The total number of offences in the
category is 125. Of these some are decidedly local. Thus, for
"furnishing intoxicating liquors to Hawaiians" 92 persons were
punished; for "exhibition of Hula," 10; for "selling awa without
licence," 12; for "selling opium without licence," 24. It is not
surprising to those who know the habits of the people, that the
convictions for violations of the marriage tie, though greatly
diminished, should reach the number of 384, while under the head
"Deserting Husbands and Wives," 67 convictions are recorded. For
"practising medicine without a licence," 56 persons were punished;
for "furious riding," 197; for "cruelty to animals," 37; for
"gaming," 121; for "gross cheating," 32; for "violating the
Sabbath," 61. We must remember that the returns include foreigners
and Chinamen, or else the reputation for "harmlessness" which
Hawaiians possess would suffer seriously when we read that within
the last two years there were 178 convictions for "assault," 248 for
"assault and battery," 12 for "assaults with dangerous weapons," 49
for "affray," 674 for "drunkenness," 87 for "disturbing quiet of the
night," and 13 for "murder.
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