346 



HAWAII. 



restore the old Government. When the Pro- 

 visional Government began to take steps to con- 

 vert itself into a permanent Government signs 

 of restlessness appeared. The Royalists had 

 been compelled to give up all the arms that they 

 had in their houses, under an edict of the Pro- 

 visional Government, which had enlisted and 

 trained a large force of military and police among 

 the Americans and other foreigners who came to 

 Hawaii. On March 23, 1894. Rear-Admiral John 

 C. Walker was ordered to proceed from Mare 

 island to Honolulu on the " Philadelphia " to re- 

 lieve Rear- Admiral Irwin ascommander-in-chief 

 of the Pacific station. He was instructed to con- 

 sult with the American minister and give weight 

 to his knowledge and opinion upon the actual 

 employment of the military forces in any event 

 for the protection of the lives and property of 

 American citizens, and not to give aid or sup- 

 port, moral or physical, to any of the parties in 

 case of civil war growing out of an attempt to 

 restore the Queen or to establish a permanent 

 Government, but only to protect all citizens of 

 the United States who do not by participation in 

 such civil commotions subject themselves to 

 local laws and thus forfeit their right to the pro- 

 tection of the American flag, which none can 

 claim " who during a revolution or insurrection 

 in a foreign country participates in an attempt by 

 force of arms or violence to maintain or overthrow 

 the existing Government, or who aids in setting on 

 foot a revolution or insurrection in such coun- 

 try." Admiral Walker was instructed also to 

 report to the department if he observed any ef- 

 fort or attempt on the part of any foreign power 

 to interfere in the political affairs of the Hawaiian 

 . Islands or any circumstances pointing to such in- 

 terference. Admiral Walker in his reports on 

 the political situation spoke of the disaffection 

 of the 20.000 Japanese as a possible source of 

 danger, as they were solidly united under able 

 leaders in their demand for political and eco- 

 nomical equality with other foreigners. He com- 

 mented on the general abstention of the natives 

 from political affairs, which he attributed not 

 so much to a sentiment of loyalty to the mon- 

 archy or the Queen, as to fear of being punished 

 in the event of restoration if they participated 

 in the formation of a new government. He 

 thought that "a clearly formulated assurance 

 from the United States of noninterference with 

 the political affairs of Hawaii and of disapproval 

 of interference upon the part of any other nation 

 would rest the situation clearly upon its local 

 merits in the estimation of all classes, without 

 hope or fear of outside pressure, and would tend 

 to a speedy settlement of all troubles." 



The announcement of policy by the United 

 States Senate and the establishment of the per- 

 manent Government removed the chief causes 

 of uncertainty, and he considered that there was 

 no probability of a counterrevolution to restore 

 Liliuokalani, nor any necessity longer for the 

 presence of a flag officer in Hawaii, but that a 

 ship should be kept there. On Aug. 2 he re- 

 ceived orders to return to the United States. 

 He made preparations to sail on Aug. 8, but on 

 learning that the British war ship " Champion," 

 which was to set out on a cruise, would be re- 

 tained at Honolulu, he suspected some political 

 motive of the change of plan on the part of 



Major Wodehouse, the British minister, who had 

 been " a pronounced and partisan royalist," and 

 who might on some pretext call upon the Brit ish 

 naval officer to land troops, the effect of which 

 would be to encourage the royalists and prolong 

 the difficulty, if it did not result in the. restora- 

 tion of Queen Liliuokalani and her subservience 

 to English influences. When Capt, A. G. S. 

 Dawes arrived from Tahiti to relieve Minister 

 Wodehouse, with the title of British commission- 

 er and consul-general, Admiral Walker, thinking 

 that the advent of a new man who had no other 

 policy than the policy of his Government dimin- 

 ished the risk considerably, sailed on Aug. 12. 

 As the " Hyacinth " was coming to relieve the 

 " Champion," Admiral Walker was of the opinion 

 that an American ship should also be kept con- 

 tinually at Honolulu. 



Later in the year the English and the Japa- 

 nese withdrew their ships. There came to Hawaii 

 during the year several men who had seen mili- 

 tary service in Canada, and the Hawaiian Gov- 

 ernment heard through agents abroad of con- 

 signments of arms. The royalist newspapers 

 became bolder in their attacks upon the Govern- 

 ment. One or two were suppressed and their 

 editors imprisoned under the new law of sedition. 

 In the house of one of the native newspaper 

 men several rifles were found. The Hawaiian 

 natives suffered for want of food, and grew more 

 restless and discontented. In the elections for 

 Senators and Representatives the American Union 

 party won every seat in the island of Oahu, where 

 only one Opposition candidate presented him- 

 self, and in the other islands nearly all the can- 

 didates elected were active supporters of the re- 

 public. The United States Government recog- 

 nized the republic as soon as it was organized, 

 and other powers gave it formal recognition in 

 the course of the year. 



In the winter a vessel landed surreptitiously 

 about 400 rifles near Honolulu, and bands of 

 revolutionists led by two half whites, Robert W. 

 Wilcox, who had been connected with the at- 

 tempted revolution of 1889, and Capt. Sam Now- 

 lein, who commanded the palace guard at the 

 time of the revolution of 1893, collected with the 

 intention of surprising Honolulu and capturing 

 the palace. Through secret agents the Govern- 

 ment learned where the insurgents were en- 

 camped, and that the arms were being landed at 

 a place on the beach belonging to George Ber- 

 telmann, a half-white carpenter. A squad of 

 mounted police was sent to seize the arms, and 

 Charles Lamb Carter, collector-general and for- 

 mer annexation commissioner, and other promi- 

 nent citizens living in the neighborhood joined 

 the party. While in the act of arresting Bertel- 

 mann the party was fired at from a canoe shed on 

 the beach. Carter led a charge upon the shed 

 and was fatally shot. The police retreated 1o 

 the town and the volunteers and citizens' guard 

 were called out to guard the city, while Lieut. 

 King with 30 regular soldiers went out to meet 

 the insurgents. Other detachments went out 

 with cannon, which were planted during the 

 night at points commanding the ledge to which 

 the insurgents retreated, numbering about 100. 

 They were shelled out of their position and fled 

 back into the mountains. Natives who fired 

 from the bush and a house near the shore, but 



