Hawaii's Story by Hawaii's Queen (31 page)

[From
San Francisco Chronicle
, Monday, Sept. 5, 1887.]

T
HE
government of the Sandwich Islands appears to have passed from the hands of the king into the hands of a military oligarchy that is more domineering than Kalakaua ever was. Before the recent revolt of the Europeans in Honolulu the press of the city was very plain-spoken. It printed unadorned truths about the king, and the latter made no effort to suppress such unpleasant utterances. Now, under the new
régime
, the newspapers are kept in check with military thoroughness. It seems incredible, but it is an actual fact, that not one of the Honolulu journals dared to reprint the comments of the American press on the so-called revolution, although such comment would have been very interesting reading to all Hawaiians. Even the reports of court procedings are dry and matter-of-fact records, very different from the ordinary accounts. In a word, the freedom of the press of Honolulu is a myth under the reform party, and the man who looks for the facts in the Honolulu journals will not find them.

E
XTRACTS FROM
S
TATEMENT MADE BY THE
Q
UEEN TO
M
INISTER
B
LOUNT.

W
HILE
retaining the essential facts, parts of this statement have been omitted to avoid unnecessary repetition, as much of the matter therein contained will be found substantially the same incorporated in "Hawaii's Story."

H
IS
E
XCELLENCY
J
AMES
H.
B
LOUNT:

Sir,
— On the morning of the 26th of November, 1890, I went to Iolani Palace, where I met His Majesty Kalakaua's ministers, Messrs. J. A. Cummins, C. N. Spencer, G. Brown, and A. P. Peterson, awaiting the appearance of His Majesty.

We did not have to wait long, and were ushered into the library, the king seating me in his chair, and formally introducing his ministers to me. After exchanging assurances of fidelity to each other and faithfulness in the discharge of their official duties, the ministers left, and the king and I were left to talk over matters.

He told me of things that had transpired a few months back. That some of the ministers had thrown guns and ammunition into the sea from the steamer Waimanalo. It was done to prevent him from having them, and had evidently been directed by the reform party, with whom a portion of his ministers were in accord, instead of keeping them for his protection and safety. These ministers were working with a party of conspirators, who are the very same parties who have been the means of the overthrow of my government on the 17th of January, 1893. They are called the missionary or reform party. The king went on to say that his guards had been reduced to twenty men, and they were barely sufficient to protect me if there should be any disturbance. He had requested
Mr. Cummins, Minister of Foreign Affairs, to send back to the palace all the guns that were at the station-house, and that the carriages had been sent to the palace, but the guns themselves had been kept back. It was an insult by his cabinet; and he felt keenly his weakness, that he had no more power or influence since his cabinet was working against him. He explained all these things because he wanted me to study my situation so as to be able to cope with it.

The time of his departure on the United States ship Charleston drew near, and he bade the queen and myself farewell; and I felt in my own heart some misgivings that I should" never see him again. I spent a few nights in the palace, and realized the insecurity of the situation. Every two or three nights there was an alarm of some kind. There was a fear that something was going to happen; what that something was no one could tell. Mr. Cummins had heard of some conspiracy, but could not prove anything.

During the session of 1890 the Honolulu Rifles were disbanded, but the members of that company were still allowed to carry arms in the streets and to wear the uniforms. I asked my husband, the Hon. John O. Dominis, how all this could be allowed. He referred me to the Minister of Foreign Affairs. On inquiring of the minister, he said that they were part of the Knights of Pythias, and were permitted to carry arms. This was very unsatisfactory, and my husband and I concluded that there must be some underhanded dealings somewhere. After that I preferred to remain at Washington Place, only going to the palace during office hours.

A few weeks passed, and during that time grand preparations were made to receive the king on his return; but the morning of the 29th of January, 1891, the city was startled with the news that the United States ship Charleston was in sight with the Hawaiian flag flying at half-mast.

On the 15th of February, 1891, the funeral took place; and on Monday, the 16th, at 9
a.m.,
Mr. Cummins and I had a private conference. He evidently wanted to know what my decision would be. I told him I thought they ought to resign, and I would give him another position.

At ten I met the following gentlemen in the cabinet council :
Mr. J. A. Cummins, Mr. C. N. Spencer, Mr. G. Brown, Mr. A. P. Peterson. I told them I had studied over the situation, and concluded that they could not remain as my cabinet; that they ought to resign. They said they had also considered the question, and concluded that I ought to give them new commissions, and asked me to give them more time to consider, and it was granted them. Two weeks elapsed, when the cabinet consulted the supreme bench, and were told that they could not hold their seats or positions without I gave them new commissions; so they resigned.

The reading of the king's will took place, and Admiral Brown was invited by the queen dowager to be present. I appointed my new cabinet. They were Mr. S. Parker, Minister of Foreign Affairs; Mr. C. N. Spencer, Minister of Interior; Mr. H. A. Widemann, Minister of Finance; Mr. W. A. Whiting, Attorney-General. I also appointed Mr. C. B. Wilson marshal. Before I appointed my ministers, Messrs. Bush and Wilcox called and offered their services; but as Mr. Bush had shown his ingratitude to the late king, and Mr. Wilcox a disposition of disobedience on the occasion of his revolution of 1889, I felt I could not have such men for ministers, and appointed others, which made them very angry.

In the month of August (1891) the reform party began their policy of dismissing the ministry. They made promises to Mr. Cummins of the national reform, and Bush, Wilcox, and Ashford of the liberal party, and P. P. Kanoa, of seats in the cabinet if they joined their party; and they did so, besides taking Ka-mauoha, Iosepa, and another member with them, which made the reform party very strong. On the 31st of August, for no good cause, the Parker ministry was voted out in accordance with a clause in the constitution of 1887, that any minister could be voted out by a majority of the members of the House for "want of confidence." It had been decided by myself and cabinet that our policy should be one of economy and retrenchment. This had been our course from the commencement of my reign.

The Parker ministry had no sooner gone out than twenty-five Hawaiians, members of the House, petitioned me to appoint Mr. Parker
again.
Next day Mr. Baldwin asked for audience, and came with a request that I would receive the Hons. Kanoa and Kauhane, and ask them to form a cabinet for me. I received those gentlemen; but they brought with them a petition with a list of names, principally of the reform party, that I would nominate from those names my cabinet. They called this
(sic)
"a constitutional principle." I knew if I yielded to their request, I should be yielding my own right under the constitution, which gave me the right to appoint, and the House to dismiss.

Two weeks passed, and I appointed Ministers Parker, Gulick, Macfarlane, and Neumann. The policy of this ministry was retrenchment in all directions; and Mr. Macfarlane, as Minister of Finance, immediately set to work with that purpose in view, and laid many satisfactory plans for them to pursue. In order to carry out the rigid economies prepared by Mr. Macfarlane, I consented to a reduction of $10,000 in the appropriation for my privy purse, and further reductions in "household expenses, state entertainments, and the military." They had, however, been in office only a few days when the American minister, J. L. Stevens, made a request through Minister Parker that he would like to call on me the next day, the 16th of October, and that he would bring his secretary with him.

The hour was set for eleven, and a cabinet council was called to sit at ten. When the hour arrived, the cabinet rose to depart. I asked them to remain; but Mr. Macfarlane begged to be excused, as he had once, while a noble in the House, brought in a resolution against Mr. J. L. Stevens on account of a speech he made on the 30th of May reflecting on the administration in Hawaii. Mr. Gulick and himself were excused, and Mr. Parker and Mr. Neumann remained. Mr. Parker went to the door and received Mr. Stevens, and at the same time asked what was the purpose of his visit, that he might apprise me. Mr. Stevens said he would mention it to me in person. They entered, followed by
Mr. H. W. Severance. He seated himself in a manner which no
gentleman would assume in the presence of a lady, and drew from under his arm a document which he read, stating that my government had grossly insulted him, the Ambassador of the United States and Minister Plenipotentiary for that nation, and holding them responsible for an article which appeared in the
Bulletin
reflecting upon his indifference in sending relief to the captain and crew of a shipwrecked American vessel.

He then read a clause in international laws relating to a minister's position in foreign lands. While he was reading he seemed to be laboring under great excitement and anger; and when he finished reading, I rose, and said my cabinet would give the matter their best consideration, whereupon Mr. Stevens and Mr. Severance took their leave. Was he seeking to make trouble? I remarked to Mr. Parker and Mr. Neumann that it appeared that way. Next day a lunch was given by the ladies of the Central Union Church; the occasion was to help pay for the new church on Beretania Street. Mr. Henry Severance took the occasion to say to me that he was entirely ignorant as to the intention of Minister Stevens before they arrived at the palace, as he had not told him of the object of the visit, and was surprised at Mr. Stevens's conduct. I did not answer. Some correspondence passed between Mr. Stevens and my ministers, which resulted in the cabinet entering a suit for libel against the
Bulletin
, which was afterwards withdrawn by Mr. Stevens.

It was during this month that a meeting was held at the residence of Mr. Alexander Young, and a discussion arose as to my obstinacy in not appointing one of their number. They called this "constitutional principle." At this meeting it was proposed to dethrone me. The question was asked how it was to be accomplished, when it was stated that Captain Wiltse of the Boston would assist.

Changes of ministry followed rapidly. The Cornwell cabinet lasted only one hour. Its members were W. H. Cornwell, J. Nawahi, C. T. Gulick, and C. Creighton. Without giving this cabinet any trial, they were immediately voted out.

Here I must mention that when the Macfarlane ministry was voted out, I wished to send them back to the House again; but Mr. Macfarlane and Mr. Neumann advised to the contrary. I felt loath to give up a cabinet composed of men in whom I had reason to know the community had confidence that their transactions would be straightforward and honest.

The Wilcox (reform) cabinet came next. They were appointed by stratagem, as I found out afterwards. The policy of this cabinet was retrenchment, no changes in the monetary system of the country, and to make a commercial treaty which would bring us in closer relationship with the United States.

Their first policy they failed to carry out, as they went into all sorts of extravagant measures, such as $5,000 for sending a commission to Washington — and that commission was to consist of Thurston, Wilcox, and others — with the purpose of annexing these Islands; $12,000 to send the band to Chicago, and $50,000 for the Volcano road. All these measures were for Mr. Thurston's private benefit, but were passed in the House. It had always been customary for the ministry to consult the king or sovereign in cabinet council on any measure of importance; but in this instance, and on all occasions, the cabinet had already decided on those measures, and simply presented them to me for my signature. I had no resource but to acquiesce.

Whenever I expostulated their answer was generally, "We have consulted the chief justice, and are of one opinion." I found that I was simply a nonentity, a figurehead, but was content to wait patiently until the next session, when probably they would be voted out.