

HAWAII. 



who could not handle their rifles, were shelled 

 by a gunboat and retreated, many being killed. 

 A store of arms was found in the wrecked house. 

 A large number of natives, retreat being cut off, 

 gave themselves up, and others came in within a 

 day or two, as they were hemmed in between the 

 mountain ridge and the troops and had no food. 

 The Government had about 1,200 men under 

 arms. Martial law was proclaimed, and the prin- 

 cipal citizens who were known to have been par- 

 tisans of the Queen were imprisoned, about GO 

 in Honolulu. 



Necker Island. Hawaii has always claimed 

 sovereignty over a range of rocky islets, waterless 

 and barren, lying north and west of the Hawaiian 

 group, of which they are the continuation, ex- 

 tending as far west as the Midway Islands. The 

 largest of these, Necker island, is 400 miles dis- 

 tant from Honolulu. The project of a British 

 commercial and military cable to connect British 

 Columbia with New Zealand, Australia, and Asia 

 contemplated having no landing except on Brit- 

 ish soil ; but for the maintenance of the cable, as 

 well as for telegraph communication with Hawaii 

 by means of a branch cable, it was considered 

 desirable to have a station on one of these islands. 

 When the Hawaiian Government learned that 

 Necker island was under consideration a steamer 

 was sent out to hoist the Hawaiian flag, and 

 when the British Government found that Hawaii 

 laid claim to these islands, it did not dispute the 

 claim, but expressed a desire to lease that or 

 whichever of the islands was most suitable. The 

 Government of New Zealand, however, incited 

 the other colonies of Australasia to join in mak- 

 ing a protest against the unwarranted annexa- 

 tion. Sandford Fleming and a representative of 

 the British Foreign Office discussed with the 

 Hawaiian ministers the question of having a 

 landing station on Necker island, Bird island, 

 or French Frigate Shoal, or obtaining a conces- 

 sion on the shore near Honolulu. They said that 

 if one of the islands was' granted it would not be 

 fortified or made a naval station, that Hawaii 

 would be expected to subsidize the cable with 

 .$35,000 a year, and that the ordinary rate would 

 "be Is. a word, on Government dispatches 9d., 

 and on press dispatches (yd. The Government 

 promised to ask the consent of the United States, 

 and if that was granted to present the matter to 

 the Legislature. By the treaty with the United 

 States the Hawaiian Government has bound itself 

 not to lease, or otherwise dispose of, or create any 

 lien upon any port, harbor, or other territory in 

 the Hawaiian dominion, or grant any special 

 privilege or right of use therein to any other 

 power, state, or government. President Cleve- 

 land laid the matter before Congress, with a rec- 

 ommendation that consent be promptly accorded 

 in view of the advantages to be gained by isolated 

 Hawaii through telegraphic communication with 

 the rest of the world and of the incidental im- 

 provement of communication between the United 

 States and Hawaii without apparent detriment 

 to any legitimate American interest. The Ha- 

 waiian Government asked the British imperial 

 commissioners if Great Britain would accept the 

 sovereignty of Necker Island or some other un- 

 inhabited island in lieu of an annual subsidy, 

 but they had no instructions to ask for the sov- 

 ereignty of any island, but only for a lease, sim- 



HAYTI. 



347 



ply for the purpose of a -cable. M. Verlaye. the 

 French Commissioner to Hawaii, on Oct." 15 re- 

 quested Mr. Willis to call Secretary Gresham's 

 attention' to the fact that his countrymen had 

 completed a cable to New Caledonia, and would 

 probably desire to extend it to Tahiti, the Ha- 

 waiian Islands, and the United States. 



Pearl Harbor. Soon after the arrival of 

 Rear-Admiral Walker in Honolulu he caused a 

 survey to be made of Pearl Harbor, which, he 

 considers, is strategically and otherwise the finest 

 site for a naval and coaling station to be found 

 in the whole Pacific. The channel requires to 

 be dredged, but is not obstructed by coral or 

 rock. The depth of water inside the bar is ample 

 for any vessel. Protected by a small fort at the 

 entrance and batteries placed at suitable spots 

 on the bluffs, and by a network of torpedoes, a 

 fleet sheltered behind Rabbit island, where the 

 water is deep close inshore, would be safe from 

 the attack of any vessels outside. 



HAYTI, a republic in the West Indies, once a 

 colony of France. The present Constitution was 

 proclaimed on June 14, 1867, and revised on Oct. 

 9, 1889. The House of Commons consists of 50 

 Deputies, elected for three years by the direct 

 suffrage of all male citizens over twenty-one 

 years of age. The Senate has 39 members, partly 

 elected by the House of Commons and partly 

 nominated by the President, one third every two 

 years, for the term of six years. The National 

 Assembly, consisting of the two chambers sitting 

 together, elects the President for seven years. 

 The President for the term ending May 15,*1897, 

 is Gen. L. M. F. Hippolyte. 



Area and Population. The area is about 

 10,204 square miles. The population is esti- 

 mated at 960,000, of whom 90 per cent, are of 

 pure African descent and the rest are mulattoes. 

 Port-au-Prince, the capital and chief commercial 

 port, has nearly 50,000 inhabitants. The lan- 

 guage of the country is French, and the state 

 religion is Roman Catholicism, but all religions 

 are tolerated. 



Finances. The budget for the year begin- 

 ning Oct. 1, 1892, made the total receipts $7,691,- 

 530 in currency, of which $3,164,911 were derived 

 from export duties and $4,526,619 from duties 

 on imports. The estimated expenditures were 

 $8,498,524, of which $2,227,920 were for the 

 service of the debt, $1,247,636 for the military, 

 $1,177,329 for the interior and police, $975,374 

 for public instruction, $706,714 for finance and 

 commerce, $527.241 for public works, $483,418 

 for justice, $406,780 for the marine. $311,574 for 

 agriculture, $174,850 for the national bank, 

 $170,530 for foreign relations, and $89,158 for 

 public worship. 



The public debt on Dec. 31. 1892. amounted 

 to $16,993,347, made up as follows: Foreign 

 debt contracted in 1875, $4.471,312; internal 

 funded debt, $4,406,083; floating debt. $989,- 

 674; short loans. $3,085,483; paper money in 

 circulation, $4,040,795. 



Commerce. The total estimated value of the 

 imports in 1892 was $12,446,000, and of the ex- 

 ports, $12.656,000. The quantity of coffee ex- 

 ported was about 70,000,000 pounds: logwood. 

 115,000,000 pounds: cacao, 4,100.000 pounds; 

 cotton, 1,400,000 pounds ; mahogany, 26,000 feet. 



The shipping entered and cleared at Port-au- 



