A CHAPTER ON HAWAIIAN AFFAIRS, 



A few facts concerning the Hawaiian islands may serve to 

 supplement the deficiencies of the previous letters. The group 

 is an hereditary and constitutional monarchy. There is a 

 House of Nobles, numbering twenty members, appointed by 

 the Crown. The House of Representatives consists of not 

 less than twenty-four, or more than forty members elected 

 biennially. The Legislature fixes the number, and apportions 

 the same. The Houses sit together, and constitute the Legis- 

 lative Assembly. The property qualification for a representa- 

 tive is, real estate worth $500, or an annual income of $250 

 from property, and that for an elector is an annual income of 

 $75. The Legislators are paid, and the expense of a session 

 is about $15,000. There are three cabinet ministers appointed 

 by the_ Crown, of the Interior, Finance, and Foreign Affairs 

 respectively, and an Attorney-General, who may be regarded 

 as a minister of justice. There is a Supreme Court with a 

 Chief Justice and two associate justices, and there are circuit 

 and district judges on all the larger islands, as well as sheriffs, 

 prisons, and police. There is a standing army of sixty men, 

 mainly for the purposes of guard duty, and rendering assistance 

 to the police. 



The question of "how to make ends meet" sorely exercises 

 the little kingdom. All sorts of improvements involving a 

 largely increased outlay are continually urged, while at the 

 same time the burden of taxation presses increasingly heavily, 

 and there is a constant clamour for the removal of some of the 

 most lucrative imposts. Indeed, the Hawaiian dog, with his 

 tax and his " tag," is seldom out of the Legislative Assembly. 



What may be termed the per capita taxes are, an annual poll 

 tax of one dollar levied on each male inhabitant between the 



