THE DYIXG OUT OF THE POLYXESIAX RACES. 



253 



calculated to improve their appearance. A good 

 many white men have married Maori wives, and 

 are known as " Pakeha-Maoiis ; " the half-breeds 

 appear to be a fine, vigorous race. 



There is an analogy between our present po- 

 sition in the North Island and that of the French 

 in Algeria : the law is obeyed by all, roads and 

 bridges are constructed, and an unarmed traveler 

 can pass safely through the interior. The na- 

 tives are treated with respect and consideration, 

 which they have earned by their courage and 

 good faith. No one affects to despise the Maoris 

 any more than the Kabyles, and they enjoy, when- 

 ever tbey choose to claim it, complete social 

 equality in hotels, public conveyances, and places 

 of resort. At the same time there is, in certain 

 districts of the island, a feeling of insecurity 

 among the colonists similar to that which per- 

 vades Algeria, where religious fanaticism and 

 love of independence may slumber, indeed, but 

 are by no means dead in the hearts of the " in- 

 di genes." 



The social position accorded to the Maoris by 

 the whites is altogether different from that of any 

 other dark-skinned race throughout the British 

 dominions, but is completely justified by the 

 readiness and ease with which they adapt them- 

 selves to the manners of good society. " Is that 

 person a gentleman ? Has he never dined with 

 the governor before ? " was the inquiry of a chief 

 who was for the first time a guest at Government 

 House, and observed that one of his Pakeha 

 companions, unlike himself, was ill at ease and 

 puzzled how to behave. A Maori member of the 

 Legislative Council, being asked whether he had 

 had a ple;isant dinner-party, is said to have re- 

 plied : " Oh, yes, very much so. We were all 

 gentlemen ; no Lower House members present." 

 This story, however, has somewhat the appear- 

 ance of having been made up at the expense of 

 the popular branch of the Legislature. 



At the opening of the Hawaiian Parliament 

 in 1850, the king, in his address to the "nobles 

 and representatives" of the people, assured them 

 that the policy of the Government was " essen- 

 tially protective to the Hawaiian or native race, 

 to the intent that the question of their capability 

 of civilization may be fully solved." For a quar- 

 ter of a century the attempt to carry out such a 

 policy has been honestly made, under singularly 

 favorable conditions and with very encouraging 

 results, were it not for the well-grounded appre- 

 hension that the Hawaiian race, as it becomes 

 emlized, is doomed to become extinct. No one 



who has passed any time among these happy 

 lotos-eaters can contemplate without sincere re- 

 gret this consummation of so promising a politi- 

 cal experiment. The statistics are, however, only 

 too conclusive ; and, as in the case of the Maoris, 

 the diminution in numbers is so steady that a 

 limit at no remote date may be calculated beyond 

 which the Hawaiian race will not survive. With- 

 out taking into account the large estimate of the 

 population given by Captain Cook, we find that 

 the Sandwich Islands, in 1823, contained 142,000 

 inhabitants, and in 1832 only 130,000; four years 

 later they were reduced to 108,500, and in 1849 to 

 80,600 — their annual death-rate being then about 

 eight per cent. In 1S66 the native population 

 was 58,765, and in 18*72 (the date of the last cen- 

 sus) 51,531, including half-castes. The excess 

 of males over females was then no less than 

 3,216, and the annual decrease was estimated to 

 be from 1,200 to 2,000. There was at the same 

 time a small annual increase in the number of 

 half-castes, as well as in that of the whites and 

 Chinese. 



The cause of this depopulation is certainly 

 not political misgovcrnment. The independence 

 of Hawaii has been recognized by all the great 

 maritime nations, and the form of government 

 is a constitutional monarchy. The Legisla- 

 ture is composed of twenty chiefs or nobles 

 nominated by the crown, and a number (not ex- 

 ceeding forty) of representatives elected bien- 

 nially. There is a considerable property qualifi- 

 cation for representatives, and a smaller one for 

 electors. The legislators are paid, and all sit 

 and vote in one assembly. The king himself is 

 of the ancient royal race, but his cabinet (com- 

 posed of three ministers besides the attorney- 

 general) contains no Hawaiian except the minis- 

 ter of the interior. The leading foreign mer- 

 chants—one of whom has married the king's sister 

 — are members of the Privy Council, and a prepon- 

 derating influence is exercised by the enlightened 

 white community of Honolulu. The theoretical 

 excellence of this Constitution has not been be- 

 lied by its practical working. Government 

 schools have been everywhere established, 87 

 per cent, of the children of school age are act- 

 ually receiving instruction, and a Hawaiian un- 

 able to read and write is rarely to be found. 

 The sale of intoxicating liquors to natives is for- 

 bidden by law, and the legal penalties are strictly 

 enforced. Indeed, so energetic and efficient are 

 the magistrates, both native and foreign, that 

 the number of criminal convictions assumes an 

 alarming magnitude for a small community ; but 



