334 



HAWAII. 



Supreme Court, who now hold office for life, 

 were to be appointed by the Queen for the terra 

 of six years and made subject to her dismis- 

 sal. The draft Constitution was presented to 

 the Queen by the native group called Hui Ka- 

 laiaina, with a petition that it be promulgated 

 to the people as the fundamental law of the 

 land, who went to the palace immediately after 

 the prorogation. The Queen summoned the 

 ministers and demanded that they should sign 

 the proposed Constitution, declaring her firm 

 intention of promulgating it at once. The At- 

 torney-General and the Minister of the Inte- 

 rior refused unequivocally, and their colleagues, 

 with some hesitation, joined in the refusal. 

 When the Queen then threatened to go out and 

 tell the excited people that she wished to give 

 them a new Constitution, but was hindered by 

 the ministers, they fled for their lives. They 

 immediately sent word to find how far the citi- 

 zens would sustain them in the position they had 

 taken, and, on receiving unanimous promises of 

 support from leading men of all shades of poli- 

 tics, they returned to the palace to urge the 

 Queen to go no further in her revolutionary 

 course. While the troops were drawn up wait- 

 ing her word of command, she hesitated, and 

 finally consented with bitter reluctance to a tem- 

 porary postponement of the project, addressing 

 the assembled native members of Parliament 

 and officers of the Government in the following 

 language : 



Princes, Nobles, and Kepresentatives : I have lis- 

 tened to thousands of the voices of my people that 

 have come to me, and I am prepared to grant their re- 

 quest. The present Constitution is full of defects, as 

 the Chief Justice here will testify, as questions re- 

 garding it have so often come before him for settle- 

 ment. It is so faulty that I think a new one should 

 be granted. I have prepared one in which the rights 

 of all have been regarded a Constitution suited to 

 the wishes of the people. I was ready and expected 

 to proclaim the new Constitution to-day as a suitable 

 occasion for it, and thus satisfy the wishes of my dear 

 people. But with regret I say I have met with ob- 

 stacles that prevent it. Keturn to your homes peace- 

 ably and quietly and continue to look toward me, and 

 I will look toward you. Keep me ever in your love. 

 I am obliged to postpone the granting of the Consti- 

 tution for a few days. I must confer with my Cabi- 

 net, and when, after you return home, you may see it, 

 receive it graciously. You have my love, and with 

 sorrow I now dismiss you. 



The native leaders, William White and Kam- 

 namano, addressed the crowd outside with in- 

 cendiary language, one saying that he thirsted 

 for the blood of the ministers, and the other 

 that the people should kill and bury the Queen, 

 who had betrayed them. She was probably 

 withheld from the purpose that she had an- 

 nounced less by the expostulations of the minis- 

 ters than by the arrival of the United States war 

 vessel " Boston," whose presence strengthened 

 the resolution of the respectable citizens to re- 

 sist the threatened state stroke. About 4,000 

 natives gathered in an excited mass meeting to 

 denounce the ministers for refusing to carry out 

 the Queen's wishes. 



On the afternoon of the 15th the Reform lead- 

 ers formed a committee of safety of 13 mem- 

 bers, who called a mass meeting. This was at- 

 tended by 1,200, or 1,500 persons, who passed 

 resolutions condemning the action of the Queen, 



and authorizing the committee to take such meas- 

 ures as were necessary for the public safety. On 

 Jan. 16 a Provisional Government was formed, 

 composed of the following men : S. B. Dole, 

 President of the Executive Council in charge of 

 the Department of Foreign Affairs ; J. A. King, 

 administering the Department of the Interior ; P. 

 C. Jones, administering the Department of Fi- 

 nance ; and W. 0. Smith, Attorney-General. 

 An advisory council was constituted, consisting 

 of S. M. Damon, L. A. Thurston, J. Emmeluth, 

 J. A. McCandless, F. M. McChesney, W. R. Cas- 

 tle, W. C. Wilder, A. Brown, J. F. Morgan, H. 

 Waterhouse, E. D. Tenney, F. Wilhelm, W. C. 

 Ashley, and C. Bolte. 



On Jan. 17 the Provisional Government issued 

 a manifesto proclaiming the deposition of the 

 Queen in the following terms : 



Upon the accession of Her Majesty Liliuokalani, for 

 a brief period the hope prevailed that a new policy 

 would DC adopted. This hope was soon blasted by 

 her immediately entering into a conflict with the ex- 

 isting Cabinet, who held office with approval of a 

 large majority of the Legislature, resulting in the tri- 

 umph of the Queen and the removal of the Cabinet. 

 Appointment of a new Cabinet subservient to her 

 wishes and its continuance in office until a recent 

 date gave no opportunity for further indication of the 

 policy which would be pursued by Her Majesty until 

 the opening of the Legislature in May, 1892. The 

 recent history of that session has shown stubborn 

 determination on the part of Her Majesty to follow 

 the tactics of her late brother, and in all possible ways 

 to secure the extension of the royal prerogatives and 

 the abridgment of popular rights. Five uprisings of 

 conspiracies against the Government have occurred 

 within five years and seven months. We firmly be- 

 lieve that the revolutionary attempt of last Saturday 

 will, unless radical measures are taken, wreck our al- 

 ready damaged credit abroad and precipitate to final 

 ruin our already overstrained financial condition, and 

 guarantees of protection to life, liberty, and property 

 will steadily decrease. The political situation is 

 rapidly growing worse. In this belief, and also in 

 the belief that the action hereby taken is and will be 

 for the best personal, political, and property interests 

 of every citizen of the land, we, citizens and resi- 

 dents of the Hawaiian Islands, organized and acting 

 for public safety and common good, hereby proclaim 

 as follows : 



The Hawaiian monarchical system of government is 

 hereby abrogated. Provisional government for the 

 control and management of public affairs and the 

 protection of public peace is hereby established, to 

 exist until terms of union with the United States of 

 America have been negotiated and agreed upon. 



The new Government then called for volun- 

 teers, who assembled, armed, to the number of 

 500. The old Government surrendered without 

 striking a blow, although it had about 400 men 

 under arms and a battery of Gatling guns. The 

 old ministers were summoned by the new Execu- 

 tive, and, after parley and consultation with 

 Liliuokalani, they turned over the public build- 

 ings with her consent, on the plea that resistance 

 was not feasible. The Provisional Government 

 notified the representatives of foreign govern- 

 ments of the change, and asked recognition. 

 This was at once granted by all the powers ex- 

 cept England. The Provisional Government 

 promised peace, and requested all parties to con- 

 tinue in the Government service except the fol- 

 lowing : Queen Liliuokalani ; Charles B. Wilson, 

 Marshal; Samuel Parker, Minister of Foreign 

 Affairs; W. H. Cornwall, Minister of Finance; 



