HAWAII. 



349 



after investigation, recommending that the 

 Government establish two great manufactories 

 or foundries for casting guns for all calibers 

 needed for service at the forts, in the navy, or 

 in the field. It was said that the best locations 

 for the gun-factories were the Washington 

 Navy-yard and the Watervliet Arsenal. It was 

 understood that this bill, as well as Senator 

 Cameron's bill, was recommended by the spe- 

 cial Joint Committee of the Army and Navy, 

 who inquired into the manufacture of ord- 

 nance abroad. Neither of these bills became 

 law. A small appropriation, however, sus- 

 tained by the committee detailed by the ord- 

 nance department, made it possible for an ex- 

 periment to be made at Watervliet. The work 

 of preparation was begun in the summer of 

 1887. An old store- house, 400 feet in length 

 and 60 feet in width, was changed from a two- 

 story building to a one-story building. Foun- 

 dations of the most solid masonry were laid, 

 upon which were placed the planing, boring, 

 and shrinking machines, the lathes, etc., which 

 had been brought from the arsenals and foun- 

 dries at West Point, South Boston, Watertown, 

 Frankford, and Fort Monroe. The capacity of 

 the new machinery is only two ten-inch guns, 



and perhaps eight six-inch guns a year. A 

 more conservative estimate is that it will take 

 over a year to complete one ten-inch gun, the 

 tube being 30 feet long. The carriages for 

 these guns are to be of the best steel instead of 

 wood as formerly. A bill has been introduced 

 in the present Congress which gives a larger 

 appropriation for the work, and provides for 

 new buildings. A rivalry between the Water- 

 vliet Arsenal and the arsenal at Frankford has 

 hindered more prompt action in favor of the 

 former. Skilled workmen have been imported 

 from other workshops of the Government. It 

 is thought that the casting of large guns by the 

 Government is impracticable, in view of the 

 improvements that are constantly being made 

 by competitors in the steel trade. The ques- 

 tion of casting ingot-steel into the form of guns 

 has been decided by the Government officials 

 in favor of having those who furnish the steel 

 cast it roughly in the shape of guns. It is not 

 likely that cupolas and foundry apparatus will 

 be placed in the Watervliet Arsenal. The 

 buildings will be devoted strictly to assembling 

 and finishing the guns, jackets, rings, and other 

 parts of the guns proper that will be furnished 

 from the outside. 



H 



HAWAII, a constitutional monarchy, occupy- 

 ing the Hawaiian or Sandwich Islands, in the 

 Pacific Ocean. In former times the various 

 islands were ruled by independent mois or 

 kings, who were absolute in authority, pos- 

 sessing the power of life and death. The chiefs 

 h;id certain privileges accorded to them for 

 military service, but the mass of the people 

 were in a state of degraded servitude, the taboo 

 system being devised to secure the authority 

 of the chiefs, and keep the common people in 

 subjection. The islands were united into one 

 kingdom under Kamehameha I in 1795. His 

 son and successor, Kamehameha II, on ascend- 

 ing the throne in 1819, abolished the sacred 

 taboo, and thenceforth women occupied a posi- 

 tion of social equality with men. The chiefs 

 who clung to the old faith revolted, but were 

 suppressed, and a year later Christianity was 

 first introduced by American missionaries. 

 Roman Catholic missionaries came soon after- 

 ward, but they were expelled, and for a time 

 forbidden the kingdom. The King and his 

 Queen died while visiting England in 1823. 

 During the regency that followed, and in the 

 early part of the reign of Kamehameha III, 

 foreign intervention was frequent. The expul- 

 sion of Catholic priests and cruelties practiced 

 upon them led to the interference of the French, 

 who threatened to occupy the islands, but were 

 forestalled by the English. The country was 

 taken possession of under an enforced act of 

 cession to Great Britain by Lord George Paulet 

 in February, 1843, but was restored to the King, 

 and independence was officially recognized by 



England and France on Nov. 28, 1843. Shortly 

 afterward the United States sent a resident com- 

 missioner. The absolute power of the sovereign 

 was curtailed by the Constitution granted by 

 Kamehameha III in 1840, which introduced 

 the methods of civilized nations as to courts of 

 justice, juries, tenure of lands, and the defini- 

 tion and punishment of crimes and misdemean- 

 ors. The land of the kingdom, which previously 

 had been treated as the absolute property of 

 the King, was divided into three parts, one part 

 being retained as crown lands, one part reserved 

 as a source of revenue for the Government, and 

 the rest apportioned out among the people. 

 Most of the freeholds, by mortgage or purchase, 

 have since passed into the possession of the 

 whites. The Constitution of 1840 was super- 

 seded by that of 1 852. On the death of Kame- 

 hameha III in 1854 he was succeeded by his 

 nephew Alexander Liholiho, who assumed the 

 style of Kamehameha IV. He died in 18G3, 

 leaving a widow, the philanthropic Queen 

 Emma, and was succeeded by his brother un- 

 der the name of Kamehameha V, who in 1864 

 proclaimed a new Constitution. The legislative 

 power of the three estates was vested in the 

 King and Legislative Assembly. The assembly 

 has power to judge of the qualifications of its 

 members, to punish them for disorderly con- 

 duct, and to compel their attendance under 

 penalties. It has the right to make laws with 

 the assent of the King, provided they are not 

 repugnant to the Constitution. The principle 

 of ministerial responsibility has usually been 

 acted upon, though it was not embodied in the 



