Editorials
Tuesday, September 22, 1998

Japan must lead way
to economic recovery

TWO wounded leaders, President Clinton and Japanese Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi, met today to deal with the global economic crisis and other pressing problems. Neither has the political strength to do much about them.

Everyone knows about Clinton's ordeal. Obuchi is being battered in the opinion polls and the deal he reached last week with opposition parties to fix the Japanese economy seems to be coming apart.

For very different reasons, the leaders of the world's two largest and richest economies are floundering. That bodes ill for people in many countries.

The scandal-plagued Clinton is having trouble getting Congress to approve funding for the International Monetary Fund, the chief agency devoted to helping ailing national economies. Obuchi, a traditional consensus-style politician, has been struggling to put a rescue plan for the stricken Japanese banks in place. He needs opposition approval because the ruling Liberal-Democratic Party lacks a majority in the upper house of parliament.

After Obuchi left for the United States, disputes arose over what had been agreed in the proposed economic package. The prime minister stated that the Long-Term Credit Bank, one of Japan's biggest, would not be allowed to fail. The opposition had claimed that the bank would be declared insolvent. Naoto Kan, leader of the Democratic Party, warned that the entire agreement was in danger of falling apart.

Obuchi badly wanted Clinton's support for his efforts. The Japanese have bristled over Washington's persistent prodding to take strong measures to reform the banking system and stimulate their economy.

The Japanese style of decision-making has been notoriously resistant to change. But with the economies of neighboring Asian countries in shambles, the world has been waiting for Japan to lead the way to recovery for the whole region. The pressure is bound to get stronger if this reform package fails.

The problem, of course, has a major impact on Hawaii, which depends heavily on tourism and investments from Japan. Hawaii must hope that Obuchi's meetings with Clinton and other leaders will impress him with the need to act decisively.

Baseball records

EACH time Mark McGwire dons his St. Louis Cardinals uniform this month, baseball fans wonder if they are about to see a new record being set. When Cal Ripken put on his Baltimore Orioles suit, there was no excitement; fans knew a new record would be set. At least they thought they did, until Ripken threw them a curve ball and, for the first time in 16 years, decided to remain in the dugout. Finally, Ripken's record is final -- 2,632 consecutive games played.

Ripken broke Lou Gehrig's record of 2,130 straight games on Sept. 6, 1995, and was greeted with a lengthy, game-stopping ceremony at Baltimore's Camden Yards. He downplayed his feat, emphasizing the difference between endurance and prowess. His humility did not deter fans from celebrating Ripken's accomplishment along with his decency and good nature.

The popular 38-year-old third baseman chose the Orioles' last home game of the season to warm the bench. His team was out of contention for the American League playoffs and he wanted the record to have been set before the home town fans, although those who saw him set it were oblivious to the fact. The standing ovation by a sell-out crowd came not at the record-setting game but at the following game, when it became evident he would not be playing.

"The emphasis should be on the team," he explained. "There have been times during the streak when the emphasis was on the streak. I was never comfortable with that."

While the emphasis ideally should be on the team, individual achievement has been and always will be a huge attraction for baseball. Like Ripken, McGwire and Chicago Cubs outfielder Sammy Sosa are team players whose home run derby has drawn more interest than final game scores. That is part of baseball's appeal.

New voting system

THE new voting system introduced in Saturday's primary election wasn't a rousing success. There was a sharp increase in the number of spoiled ballots compared with the 1996 primary, when the old card-punch system was used.

The problem is that in the new system all of the parties are listed on one page, rather than on separate cards as was previously the case. Hawaii law forbids voting for candidates of more than one party in the primary. It was much harder to make such a mistake under the old system.

This year 2,330 absentee ballots were invalidated for multiparty voting, compared with 976 in the 1996 primary. In addition, 5,691 ballots cast on election day were invalidated although the ballots were fed through a scanner to detect errors.

In addition, at least four candidates who lost close elections are considering going to court to get the ballots recounted. However, the law does not allow candidates to request a recount directly. The only recourse is filing a complaint with the Hawaii Supreme Court, something no candidate has ever done.

The ban on crossing party lines won't apply to the general election, of course, so the system won't have that problem to contend with in the Nov. 3 balloting. But officials have to ensure that the right type of pen is used in the balloting. Last Saturday the counters rejected ballots marked with ballpoint pens.

The way Hawaii used to vote, punching holes in cards, is an obsolete system dating virtually to the dawn of the computer age. The new system is supposed to save money and provide faster returns. But it needs some work.

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Published by Liberty Newspapers Limited Partnership

Rupert E. Phillips, CEO

John M. Flanagan, Editor & Publisher

David Shapiro, Managing Editor

Diane Yukihiro Chang, Senior Editor & Editorial Page Editor

Frank Bridgewater & Michael Rovner, Assistant Managing Editors

A.A. Smyser, Contributing Editor