The Story of Hawaii (Illustrated Edition). Fowke Gerard

it to be ranked in the company of civilised nations.

      It was during this reign that a great impetus was given to the development of property by the enactment of laws concerning private ownership of land, which laws finally did away with the ancient theory that the title of all lands rested in the chief. A land commission decided that one third of all the land was the property of the King, one-third the property of the chiefs, and the final third of the common people. The King, a few days after this decision, turned over half of his share to be forever used as Government land, his own portion being called the Crown land. As many of the chiefs followed his generous example, the Government came into possession of nearly a third of the land of the Islands. The land commission also undertook the arduous task of proving claims and issuing titles. It being now possible to hold real property in fee simple, to buy it and to sell it, men who were at last owners instead of merely tenants were willing to make extensive improvements. Foreigners also were able to acquire land and were no longer considered as sojourners at the will of the King.

      Another important achievement was the success of the King's commissioners in obtaining definite recognition of Hawaiian independence by England, France, and the United States, Daniel Webster stating on behalf of the United States that " the government of the Sandwich Islands ought to be respected; that no power ought to take possession of the Islands, either as a conquest or for the purpose of colonisation; and that no power ought to seek for any undue control over the existing government, or any exclusive privileges or preferences in matters of commerce." News of this foreign recognition was not received, however, before Lord George Faulet, commanding H. M. S. Carysfort, had provisionally annexed the Islands to Great Britain. He acted arbitrarily on the instigation of the deputy of that indefatigable troublemaker, the British consul, who, after this episode, was finally removed. The alleged reason for the annexation given by Lord Paulet was the unwillingness of the Hawaiian Government to settle certain disputes in favour of British subjects. The King, refusing to accede to any further demands, said, "I will not die piecemeal; they may cut off my head at once." The lowering of the Hawaiian flag and the hoisting of the British flag in its place occurred on February 18th, 1844, and for five months the Islands were governed by a British commission. In July Admiral Thomas, in command of Her Majesty's forces in the Pacific, arrived in Honolulu, and with all possible ceremony promptly restored the Hawaiian flag. The open space east of the town, where the restoration was made, was set aside as a public park and is called Thomas Square. It is interesting to note also that in a speech at a great meeting of thanksgiving and rejoicing in the afternoon the King used the words which were afterwards adopted as the national motto: "Ua mau ke ea o ka aina i ka pono," meaning " The strength of the land is perpetuated by righteousness." Except for an absurd and meaningless occupation by France for a few days in 1849, the autonomy of the Islands was never again questioned.

      At this time the different departments of government, executive, legislative, and judicial, were created in substantially the form that they held until the end of the monarchy. Trade increased rapidly, and the sudden growth of California gave a new and more easily accessible market. The tragedy of this reign was the continued rapid decrease in the population, measles and smallpox carrying off thousands of the natives.

      During the reign of Kamehameha IV the Queen's Hospital was established in Honolulu. At the request of the King an English bishop was sent to Honolulu as the royal chaplain, this being the beginning of the Anglican mission. The Prayer Book was admirably translated into Hawaiian by the King himself. Many public improvements were carried out, such as the deepening and enlarging of the harbour of Honolulu and the introduction of rice as an agricultural crop. The reign began with every promise of good, but the King, broken in health with sorrow over the death of his only son, became more and more feeble and died when only twenty-nine years old.

      During the reign of his older brother who succeeded him as Kamehameha V, a board of education and a bureau of immigration were inaugurated, and the introduction of foreign labourers through the agency of the latter was a great stimulus to agriculture. The production of sugar and rice made great strides. The leper settlement was started at Molokai, to check if possible the dreadful disease, which had been brought in, probably from the Orient, about 1850, and was spreading among Hawaiians in an alarming manner. The Islands were made more accessible by the starting of a line of steamers between San Francisco and Australia which made Honolulu a port of call.

      With the death of Kamehameha V, after a short reign, the old royal line came to an end. The King had not exercised his right of appointing a successor and, therefore, a general election was held, in which Prince William C. Lunalilo, who was considered the chief of highest rank in the Islands, was elected as sovereign. He died a year later, not-neglecting to appoint his successor, but declaring that the King ought to be elected by the people.

      In 1874, therefore, David Kalakaua, also a high chief, was elected to succeed him. The triumph of his reign was the securing of a treaty of commercial reciprocity by which Hawaiian sugar and a few other products were admitted free of duty into the United States. In return Hawaii, besides making a general remission of duties, gave to the United States the use of Pearl Harbour, as a coaling or naval station. This treaty assured the prosperity of the Islands and marked the definite establishment of the great industries. Labourers were imported from China, Japan, the Azores, and Madeira." From these Atlantic islands over ten thousand Portuguese migrated to Hawaii, where climatic conditions were similar to what they were accustomed to and where opportunities for remunerative industry were greater. King Kalakaua was, however, unable to read the signs of the times in the rapid decrease of the native population and in the even more rapid increase of the foreign population, and was determined to restore to his government much of the autocratic royal authority that had been voluntarily ceded in the constitution given by Kamehameha III. So strained did popular feeling run that in 1887 there was a bloodless revolution, in consequence of which the King was forced to sign an even more liberal constitution, that made the cabinet responsible only to the legislature, and that prevented the legislators from holding any other office. This reform, which was bitterly opposed by the personal adherents of the King, led two years later to an insurrection, in which the King himself, however, took no direct part, and which was promptly quelled, with the loss of seven men among the rebels. Kalakaua was a picturesque figure, personally affable and intelligent. On a trip around the world, ostensibly to look into the question of the importation of labourers, he was everywhere treated with royal honour, was universally liked, and was given the most friendly aid in collecting information for the good of his own kingdom. In a book entitled "Around the World with a King," this tour has been most amusingly treated, although, it must be admitted, with ungenerous sarcasm, by Mr. W. N. Armstrong, who accompanied him as Commissioner of Immigration.

      Kalakaua died in San Francisco in January, 1891, and his body was brought to Honolulu in the U. S. S. Charleston. His sister, Liliuokalani, whom he had nominated as his successor, was immediately proclaimed Queen. Even more than her brother had been was she, unfortunately, eager to remove the constitutional restrictions on the power of the Crown, and her wishes were fervently seconded, if not actually induced, by unscrupulous advisers, who saw in any political upheaval opportunities for their own aggrandisement. Political intrigue became the business of certain ambitious foreigners and Hawaiians of mixed blood, whose purely selfish purposes were evident from the fact that when the Queen was not with them they intrigued with unabated ardour against her. It was significant that the best of the Hawaiians, as well as the better element of the white population, stood aloof from the struggles. During the last week of the long legislative sessions of 1892 two obnoxious bills were passed, one licensing the sale of opium, one granting a franchise to establish a lottery. Public feeling was intense, and when it became known that a new constitution, doing away with all restrictions on the royal authority, limiting the franchise to Hawaiians, and destroying the guarantees of the judiciary, had been drawn up and was about to be promulgated, the leading citizens saw that decisive action had become necessary. On January 16, 1893, a Committee of Safety was appointed and on the next day a Provisional Government, having general legislative authority, was established. Unfortunately, troops were landed from the U. S. S. Boston to protect the lives and property of American citizens, an act that later gave to the royalists the claim which so appealed to President Cleveland, that the royal government had submitted only to the forces of the United States. In view of this landing of troops, the Queen surrendered her authority under protest, pending