Chapter 3

I will not do my own feelings the injustice of attempting to disguise the fact that, at the present moment this communication from the Head of your Government, according to my appreciation of it, loses entirely its formal character, and appears to express only the sentiments of a Friend, who has proved himself worthy of that high name. The Treaty recently negotiated between my Envoy at Washington and Mr. Marcy, on the part of the Government of the United States, is indeed but one link in the chain that binds the two countries in relations of the most happy kind. But it is a convention of the greatest importance not only to those who are numbered among my subjects, but to every American citizen who has any interests upon these islands. I do not doubt but that its effect will be to call hither more of your enterprising countrymen, and direct towards the now partially developed resources of this archipelago, the attention of your judicious, but ever ready capitalists. Under this treaty we may expect to see American citizens raising the produce which American ships will carry to an American market. But their prosperity will be ours. Indeed, the mutual interests of the two countries are so interwoven in this regard, that it would be a difficult task to define a line between them.

Whatever may be the future in store for these islands, it will be impossible for any Hawaiian while the nation exists to forget or undervalue the fostering care which your Great Country, as a Parent, has extended towards them; and among the names of individual Americans that will stand out prominently, I foresee a high place assigned to those of Mr. President Pierce, and the gentleman I have the pleasure to address.

DECEMBER 10, 1855.

PROCLAMATION BY THE KING.

We hereby proclaim Our pleasure that Tuesday, the first of January next, be kept as a day of solemn Thanksgiving to Almighty God for His numberless blessings to Our kingdom and people.

(Signed,) KAMEHAMEHA.

JANUARY 5, 1856.

_Notes of an Address by His Majesty, at the Formation of the Hawaiian Agricultural Society, reported to the =Polynesian=._

In due course of time His Majesty addressed the meeting. The difficulty of taking short-hand notes in English of what is being said in the native dialect, the construction of which is peculiar, a sentence often beginning at the end and ending in the middle, must be our apology for doing so little justice to the eloquent language and sound common-sense ideas expressed by the President.

After an opening sentence or two, the King spoke to the following effect:

Convinced of the importance of this undertaking, I consented to address you to-day. I should not however, have done so, had I not been fearful that a refusal on my part might have induced others of more information and better acquainted with the particular object we have united to foster, to decline in like manner. At the same time I cannot help thinking and hoping that my few remarks will be eclipsed by the weight and breadth of those of other speakers who are to stand before you on the closing day of this month and other specified days, according to a resolution passed at our last meeting.

We also caught the following sentence, which, although it may appear a little disjointed here, was neatly introduced, and bore upon the argument then being used:

One of the greatest prospective advantages that we see in the assiduous pursuit of agriculture, is the reformation it would work amongst the people. It is not in the ranks of modern farmers that you must look for the most ignorant or the most immoral men. We all know that when an individual enters upon an undertaking of the mode to accomplish which he is ignorant, he applies for information where it may be found, having learnt that a man unqualified for his task must fail in it. Having acquired this much experience, and being solicitous for the prosperity and happiness of his children, he will on no account omit sending them to school, so that they may not be trammelled in after years by ignorance as their father was. Thus the rising generation is prepared for its work. The children find themselves on starting in life possessed of the information necessary to success, whereas their father had to struggle on his way in the midst of darkness and misapprehension. Suppose a step similar to the one I have described were made by the young people from one end of the islands to the other. Would not ignorance give way to intelligence? Would not darkness become light? Would not inexpertness succumb to proficiency? The general result could only be a largely increased sum of individual and national prosperity.

The King, who has of late been residing a few miles from Honolulu superintending some agricultural operations of his own, we believe upon the very spot which his great predecessor, Kamehameha I., cultivated before him, spoke with animation of our natural advantages:

Who ever heard of winter upon our shores? When was it so cold that the laborer could not go to his field. Where amongst us shall we find the numberless drawbacks which in less favored countries the working classes have to contend with? They have no place in our beautiful group, which rests on the swelling bosom of the Pacific like a water-lily. With a tranquil heaven above our heads, and a sun that keeps his jealous eye upon us every day, whilst his rays are so tempered that they never wither prematurely what they have warmed into life, we ought to be agriculturists in heart as well as practice.

The following sentence contains a truth to which thousands can testify:

I wish to allude to a bad custom which prevails amongst us. I mean the foolish hospitality extended everywhere towards the lazy and good-for-nothing equally with those who are worthy of it. A young man, able bodied and fit for work, lies in the house upon which he confers the honor of a visit, whilst his friends go out to labor. When they come back they share with him their scanty meal, and he is not ashamed to eat of it. Is that as it should be? Is it not a thing which we ought to feel as a disgrace--a custom that reflects upon the heads of the old and the hearts of the young? I am well aware that the sharing of food with every stranger and visitor that comes along is dignified with the name of ancient Hawaiian hospitality. I now tell you it is not true hospitality. Can that hospitality be correct in theory or practice which sends old men and sick men to work under a hot sun, whilst lusty young people lie in the house playing at cards.

There is a very wholesome tone in this remark:

At present we are a poor people, for the surplus produced by the few who work is consumed by the many who claim at their hands the rights of your boasted hospitality. Never close your doors on those who are hungry through sickness, misfortune, or the wrongs they have received; but on the other hand never help those who are too lazy to help themselves.

Another nail is most decidedly hit on the head in the following:

I will allude to another bad feature in the native mind; I mean the idea in which too many of you indulge, that a fortune if not made in a day, ought to be acquired in a very short space of time. If a man does not get rich in the first few months of his endeavoring to do so, he suddenly relaxes in his exertions, subsides into his native indolence, and becomes a laughing stock to those whose ideas are in advance of his own. You say commonly, everything a foreigner touches he turns into money. But the fact is that if you worked and persevered as the foreigners do, then you would grow rich like them. There are three essentials to success in cultivating the soil. The first is a place to cultivate--the second, the hands to work with--and the third, perseverance. You have all your patches granted you by law; your hands are not tied either by natural or artificial bonds--but as cultivators you do not succeed, because you have no perseverance.

The concluding sentence was almost word for word as under:

The great sources of poverty amongst Hawaiians are laziness and the want of perseverance. I know that what I now say is a matter of which you and I also have cause to be ashamed. But placed in the position I occupy, and as a Father to my people, I cannot hide the fact.

The King's address was listened to with great earnestness, and every now and then we heard subdued expressions of _Oiaio no_ (True, true,) from different parts of the house. At present we see no cause to doubt that much good will result from the new society, and to those who interest themselves in it we hope to see the honor given which they undoubtedly deserve.

MARCH 3, 1856.

_His Majesty's Remarks to the Hon. W. L. Lee, on his being officially presented and resuming his Seat in the Privy Council, after his return from the Embassy to the United States._

I take great pleasure, Judge Lee, in your return to my islands, and I extend to you on behalf of myself and Chiefs a hearty welcome. Your valuable services in the United States have been such as to merit our warmest thanks and approval, and I trust the success of your mission may strengthen the friendly relations existing between the United States and my Kingdom. It is my desire that you should resume the duties of your department as head of the Judiciary, as soon as convenient, but that in so doing you should make your labors secondary to the improvement of your health.

APRIL 5, 1856.

_His Majesty's Speech on the Occasion of the Opening of the Session of the Hawaiian Legislature of 1856._

NOBLES AND REPRESENTATIVES:--I have convoked you to meet this day under the provision of our Constitution now in force, which provides for an Annual Session of the Legislative Body; and with humble thankfulness to the Ruler of Nations, I felicitate you upon the prosperity which has attended us, as a people, during the past year.

I am happy to inform you that since your last meeting I have received from the Heads of nearly all the first class Powers of the present century, assurances of friendship, accompanied, in some instances, with promises of assistance should occasion require it. Never did I consider our hope of stability as a nation so well founded as they are at this moment.

One of the most important features in my Foreign Relations during the past year, is that of the Mission upon which my Special Envoy, the Honorable William L. Lee, proceeded to Washington, where he was most cordially received, and whose exertions have been attended with the happiest results. They have opened, in the minds of our agriculturists and those who study the progress of our people as producers, hopes, which only need the confirmation of the Senate of the United States to become permanently realized, and greatly conducive to our prosperity.

Negotiations have, for some time past, been in progress between my Ministers of Foreign Relations and Finance, and the Commissioner of the Emperor of France, for a new Treaty between that Sovereign and myself. For farther particulars regarding my Relations abroad, I refer you to the Report of my Minister of that Department.

My Minister of War will furnish you a Report showing the appropriation, necessary to be made for the support of the Military during the ensuing year.

The administration of Justice, during the past year, especially in the higher Courts of Judicature, has been such as to give general satisfaction.

Respecting the business of the Judiciary Department, I would refer you to the Report of my Chancellor. The measures he proposes are worthy of being seriously deliberated upon, and I earnestly recommend to your early consideration that for the suppression of intoxication. It is painful to notice the increase of this evil in Honolulu, arising principally from the sale of cheap and noxious compounds. In connection with this subject, I would call your attention to the evil arising from the sale of opium to Chinese Coolies, which, unless speedily checked, I fear may spread among our own race.

In the Report of my Minister of the Interior you will not fail to observe a valuable suggestion proposing a fundamental change in the appointment of the officers intrusted with the making and preserving of our public roads. It is to the effect that persons chosen for their ability be appointed by the executive, in lieu of the Superintendents elected at present by the tax payers of each district, a system the experience of several years has proved to be accompanied with many abuses.

I recommend to your notice the several other points contained in that Report, especially that asking for an authorization to grant Title Deeds to persons who have proved their claims before the Land Commission, but received no Patents, in consequence of surveys not having been made of the Kuleanas to which they were entitled, and to Konohikis whose lands are described in the Book of Division, but who have not received their Awards. Also, the continuation of the Inter-island Mail Carrier service, and, above all, an appropriation for the purchase of a proper steamer, to assist intercourse between the Islands of this group, and encourage industry.

You will perceive by the detailed Report of my Minister of Finance that the liabilities of my Treasury have been promptly discharged and the public credit fully sustained, notwithstanding the large expenditure made for important public improvements. The law for the more just and equal collection of Taxes, passed at your last Session, has operated favorably on the national finances, although I am of opinion that some alterations in its provisions would still further improve it.

In addition to the ordinary expenses of the Government, you will see the necessity of appropriations sufficient to complete the public works already commenced, even though it should be necessary to resort to the loan authorized by the law of the last Session.

My Minister of Finance has also called your attention to the important subject of a Usury law, which I commend to your favorable consideration.

He has likewise alluded to a proposed mode of payment for the steamer before mentioned, which may, I trust, preclude all embarrassment to my Treasury.

You cannot, at present, regard the law imposing duties on imports passed at your last Session, as a basis for appropriations, because it is uncertain whether it will go into effect.

The state and progress of Education among my people during the past year, you will learn from the Report of the President of the Board of Education. The change in that Department, by an Act of the last Legislature, has proved, thus far, to be beneficial. It is particularly gratifying to know that instruction in the English language is prosecuted with so much success among my native subjects. I recommend you to make as liberal a provision for the support of this class of schools as the state of my Treasury will admit.

I feel so keenly the necessity of some new stimulus to agriculture, in all its branches, that I very seriously call your attention to that point, and shall be happy if in your wisdom you can devise any measures to promote so important an object. The Native Hawaiian Agricultural Society, lately instituted, needs your fostering care in the form in which you have manifested it towards the sister Association. The decrease of our population, and the means of staying it, occupy many of my thoughts; and a subject so important cannot fail to receive your serious consideration. Intimately connected with the subject last alluded to, is the still unaccomplished wish of all the true friends of the nation to see a Hospital established, and I sincerely hope that those who have foretold difficulties opposed to the success of such an institution, will at last allow the experiment to be made. Fearful, as we all must be, of the introduction of any new diseases to decimate us again, I beg of you to consider by what means, under Providence, such a calamity may be averted.

I sincerely trust that the Ruler of all will guide your deliberations to a result beneficial to the nation.

MAY 24, 1856.

_Reply by His Majesty to the Congratulations offered by the House of Representatives upon His approaching Marriage._

It is with much pleasure that I receive the congratulations of the Representatives of my People, upon the contemplated event of my marriage. Your voice is that of the Nation speaking through its Representatives, and it is a great satisfaction to me to have your approval of the important step I am about to take.

You express the hope that the union may be the means of perpetuating our Sovereignty and promoting the welfare of the nation, and I sincerely unite with you in that hope.

In conclusion, I thank you, Representatives, for the kind, prompt and unanimous manner in which you have responded to my Message.

JUNE 11, 1856.

_His Majesty's Speech upon Proroguing the Session of the Legislature of 1856._

NOBLES AND REPRESENTATIVES:--At the close of a Session which has been marked by so much unanimity as that about to terminate, and during which so much that displays the wisdom essential to success in legislation has been observable, I cannot but feel a gratification in meeting you.

The appropriations you have made for the expenses of my Government during the next two years, and the zeal you have displayed to render especially efficient the Bureau of Public Works, meet with my sincere approval.

In the matter of one appropriation only, do I entertain any doubts; but if by any possibility the military establishment can be maintained upon such a scale as to ensure a promise of security, no exertions will be wanting on the part of my Government to do so, without overstepping the amount by you provided.

To the members of the House of Representatives I would express my sincere acknowledgments for the readiness with which they have interpreted the public feeling, and provided for my establishment under the new relations which I am about to assume.

I have no expectations that any necessity will arise for calling you together before the stated session of 1858, and I trust that the interim will be full of prosperity to you and the nation, the blessing of God making fruitful those exertions from which I now release you by proroguing the session.

NOVEMBER 3, 1856.

THANKSGIVING.

PROCLAMATION BY THE KING.

We, Kamehameha, King of the Hawaiian Islands, hereby issue our Proclamation agreeably to former custom, that:

Whereas, during the year now drawing to a close, we have enjoyed, as a people, numerous and great blessings; peace and tranquility have prevailed throughout our islands; we have been not only free from dangers from abroad, but have continued to enjoy the most friendly assurances of protection in our independence from the most powerful governments in the world; although the times have been hard through the scarcity of money, and our people have suffered from a drought almost unparalleled, neither our agriculture nor commerce has entirely failed; both begin to revive; the crops in most places have been good; perhaps we have never enjoyed a year of more general health; our laws have been sustained; religion and education have been free and prosperous: For all of which numerous and invaluable blessings we owe, as a nation, a formal, general and heartfelt tribute of thanksgiving to the Almighty, on whose favor all prosperity, whether individual or national, depends.

We do, therefore, with the advice and consent of our Privy Council of State, designate and recommend Thursday, the 25th day of December next, as a day of general and public Thanksgiving to God, our Heavenly Father, throughout our islands; and we earnestly invite all good people to a sincere and prayerful observance of the same.

Done at our Palace this 3d day of November, A. D., 1856. KAMEHAMEHA.

DECEMBER 9, 1856.

_His Majesty's Address at the Stone Church, before the Meeting of the Native Agricultural Society, from the_ =Polynesian= _of Dec. 13._

Our reporter caught only some of the more prominent ideas embodied in the King's address, which was delivered in the pure idiom of the elder chiefs, by which device he connected, as it were, modern science with ancient feeling. His train of discourse was nearly as follows:

It were useless, his Majesty said, to make further suggestions, for to hear is not always to obey. If only a tenth part of all the practical hints that had been given from time to time, by persons standing where he then stood, had been systematically pursued, the usefulness of the Society would have been more apparent. Not but that the Society had done much good, and awakened an interest, in the minds of many besides its members, which might be considered as the dawn of a brighter day. His intention was briefly to examine the actual condition of agriculture science and practice; to show, not what we might be, but what we are.