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Title: Speeches of His Majesty Kamehameha IV. To the Hawaiian Legislature
Author: Kamehameha IV, King of the Hawaiian Islands, 1834-1863
Language: English
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Transcriber's note
Minor punctuation errors have been corrected without notice. Several
words were spelled in two different ways and not corrected; they
are listed at the end of this book. A few obvious typographical errors
have been corrected, and they are also listed at the end.
SPEECHES
OF HIS
MAJESTY KAMEHAMEHA IV.
TO THE
HAWAIIAN LEGISLATURE,
WITH HIS MAJESTY'S
REPLIES TO THE REPRESENTATIVES OF FOREIGN NATIONS AND TO
PUBLIC BODIES; ALSO WITH SUNDRY PROCLAMATIONS AND
OTHER DOCUMENTS RELATING TO HIS ADVENT TO
THE THRONE, ETC., WITH THE LAST PROCLAMATION
AND AN OBITUARY OF HIS
LATE MAJESTY
KING KAMEHAMEHA III.
PRINTED BY ORDER OF THE MINISTER OF FOREIGN
AFFAIRS.
HONOLULU:
PRINTED AT THE GOVERNMENT PRESS.
1861.
SPEECHES
OF HIS
MAJESTY KAMEHAMEHA IV.,
AND OTHER DOCUMENTS.
DECEMBER 8, 1854.
_The last Public Proclamation made by His late Majesty King Kamehameha
III._
PROCLAMATION.
Whereas, It has come to my knowledge from the highest official
sources, that my Government has been recently threatened with
overthrow by lawless violence; and whereas the representatives
at my Court, of the United States, Great Britain and France,
being cognizant of these threats, have offered me the prompt
assistance of the Naval forces of their respective countries,
I hereby publicly proclaim my acceptance of the aid thus
proffered in support of my Sovereignty. My independence is
more firmly established than ever before.
KAMEHAMEHA.
KEONI ANA.
PALACE, 8th December, 1854.
By the King and Kuhina Nui.
R. C. WYLLIE.
DECEMBER 15TH, 1854.
_Public Proclamation of the Succession To the Throne of His Majesty
Kamehameha IV._
PROCLAMATION.
Whereas, It has pleased Almighty God to remove from this world
our beloved Sovereign, His late Majesty, Kamehameha III.; and
whereas, by the will of His late Majesty, and by the
appointment and Proclamation of His Majesty and of the House
of Nobles, His Royal Highness, Prince Liholiho, was declared
to be His Majesty's Successor. Therefore, Public Proclamation
is hereby made, that Prince Alexander Liholiho is KING of the
Hawaiian Islands, under the style of KAMEHAMEHA IV. God
preserve the King.
KEONI ANA,
Kuhina Nui.
DECEMBER 15TH, 1854.
DECEMBER 16TH, 1854.
_His Majesty's Address to His Privy Council of State in reply to their
Condolences over the Death of His late Majesty Kamehameha III._
CHIEFS:--I have become by the Will of God, your Father, as I
have been your Child. You must help me, for I stand in need of
help.
To you Ministers, and other high officers of State of Our late
King, I return my sincere thanks for the expressions of
condolence with which you have this morning comforted me. I
request of you to continue your labors, in the several
positions you have hitherto held, until when my grief shall
have allowed me time for reflection, I make such new
arrangements as shall seem proper.
I thank the Members of this Council, in general for their
condolence, who will, also, I hope, assist me with their
advice, as though they had been appointed by myself.
JANUARY 11, 1855.
_His Majesty's Address on the occasion of taking the Oath prescribed by
the Constitution. Extr. from =Polynesian=, Jan. 13, 1855._
I solemnly swear, in the presence of Almighty God, to maintain
the Constitution of the Kingdom whole and inviolate, and to
govern in conformity with that and the laws.
Immediately afterwards, His Highness the Kuhina Nui repeated the words
"God preserve the King," which were re-echoed everywhere throughout the
Church with loud cheers; His Majesty's Royal Standard and the National
Ensign were hoisted and a royal salute fired from the fort.
Afterwards it pleased the King to make a solemn and eloquent address, in
native, to His subjects, which was received by them with great
enthusiasm, a translation of which is as follows:
_Give ear Hawaii o Keawe! Maui o Kama! Oahu o Kuihewa! Kauai o
Mano!_
In the providence of God, and by the will of his late Majesty
Kamehameha III., this day read in your hearing, I have been
called to the high and responsible position of the Chief Ruler
of this nation. I am deeply sensible of the importance and
sacredness of the great trust committed to my hands, and in
the discharge of this trust, I shall abide by the Constitution
and laws which I have just sworn to maintain and support. It
is not my wish to entertain you on the present occasion with
pleasant promises for the future; but I trust that the close
of my career will show that I have not been raised to the head
of this nation to oppress and curse it, but on the contrary to
cheer and bless it, and that when I come to my end, I may,
like the beloved Chief whose funeral we yesterday celebrated,
pass from earth amid the bitter lamentation of my people.
The good, the generous, the kind hearted Kamehameha is now no
more. Our great Chief has fallen! But though dead he still
lives. He lives in the hearts of his people! He lives in the
liberal, the just, and the beneficent measures which it was
always his pleasure to adopt. His monuments rise to greet us
on every side. They may be seen in the church, in the school
house, and the hall of justice; in the security of our persons
and property; in the peace, the law, the order and general
prosperity that prevail throughout the islands. He was the
friend of the Makaainana, the father of his people, and so
long as a Hawaiian lives his memory will be cherished!
By the death of Kamehameha III., the chain that carried us
back to the ancient days of Kamehameha I. has been broken. He
was the last child of that great Chieftain, but how unlike the
father from whom he sprung. Kamehameha I. was born for the age
in which he lived, the age of war and of conquest. Nobly did
he fulfill the destiny for which he was created, that of
reducing the islands from a state of anarchy and constant
warfare to one of peace and unity under the rule of one king.
With the accession of Kamehameha II. to the throne the tabus
were broken, the wild orgies of heathenism abolished, the
idols thrown drown, and in their place was set up the worship
of the only living and true God. His was the era of the
introduction of Christianity and all its peaceful influences.
He was born to commence the great moral revolution which began
with his reign, and he performed his cycle. The age of
Kamehameha III. was that of progress and of liberty--of
schools and of civilization. He gave us a Constitution and
fixed laws; he secured the people in the title to their lands,
and removed the last chain of oppression. He gave them a voice
in his councils and in the making of the laws by which they
are governed. He was a great national benefactor, and has left
the impress of his mild and amiable disposition on the age for
which he was born.
To-day we begin a new era. Let it be one of increased
civilization--one of decided progress, industry, temperance,
morality, and all those virtues which mark a nation's advance.
This is beyond doubt a critical period in the history of our
country, but I see no reason to despair. We have seen the tomb
close over our Sovereign, but it does not bury our hopes. If
we are united as _one individual_ in seeking the peace, the
prosperity and independence of our country, we shall not be
overthrown. The importance of this unity is what I most wish
to impress upon your minds. Let us be one and we shall not
fall!
On _my_ part I shall endeavor to give you a mild, and liberal
government, but at the same time one sufficiently vigorous to
maintain the laws, secure you in all your rights of persons
and property, and not too feeble to withstand the assaults of
faction. On _your_ part I shall expect you to contribute your
best endeavors to aid me in maintaining the Constitution,
supporting the laws, and upholding our Independence.
It further pleased His Majesty, in accordance with a suggestion made to
him, to make the following _impromptu_ remarks, in English, to
foreigners owing allegiance to him, and others residing in his
dominions:
A few remarks addressed on this occasion, to you, the foreign
portion of the assembly present, may not be inappropriate.
You have all been witnesses this day to the solemn oath I have
taken in the presence of Almighty God and this assembly, to
preserve inviolate the Constitution. This is no idle ceremony.
The Constitution which I have sworn to maintain has its
foundation laid in the deep and immutable principles of
Liberty, Justice and Equality, and by these, and none other, I
hope to be guided in the administration of my Government. As
the ruler of this people, I shall endeavor, with the blessing
of God, to seek the welfare of my subjects, and at the same
time to consult their wishes. In these endeavors I shall
expect the hearty co-operation of all classes--foreigners as
well as natives.
His Majesty Kamehameha III., now no more, was preeminently the
friend of the foreigner; and I am happy in knowing he enjoyed
your confidence and affection. He opened his heart and hand
with a royal liberality, and gave till he had little to bestow
and you but little to ask. In this respect I cannot hope to
equal him, but though I may fall far behind I shall follow in
his footsteps.
To be kind and generous to the foreigner, to trust and confide
in him, is no new thing in the history of our race. It is an
inheritance transmitted to us by our forefathers. The founder
of our dynasty was ever glad to receive assistance and advice
from foreigners. His successor, not deviating from the policy
of his father, listened not only to the voice of a missionary,
and turned with his people to the light of Christianity, but
against the wishes of the nation left his native land to seek
for advice and permanent protection at a foreign Court.
Although he never returned alive, his visit shows plainly what
were his feelings towards the people of foreign countries. I
cannot fail to heed the example of my ancestors. I therefore
say to the foreigner that he is welcome. He is welcome to our
shores--welcome so long as he comes with the laudable motive
of promoting his own interests and at the same time respecting
those of his neighbor. But if he comes here with no more
exalted motive than that of building up his own interests at
the expense of the native--to seek our confidence only to
betray it--with no higher ambition than that of overthrowing
our Government, and introducing anarchy, confusion and
bloodshed--then is he most unwelcome!
The duties we owe to each other are reciprocal. For my part I
shall use my best endeavors, in humble reliance on the Great
Ruler of all, to give you a just, liberal and satisfactory
Government. At the same time I shall expect you in return to
assist me in sustaining the Peace, the Law, the Order and the
Independence of my Kingdom.
The preceding is the address, as it was taken down at the time, by a
practised stenographer.
His Majesty afterwards, from the portico of the church, addressed, in
native, a crowd of several thousand, who had not been able to find room
in the church, and who had congregated in front thereof, outside the
military. The crowd listened in breathless silence, and when the King
concluded, cheered His Majesty most rapturously.
The whole solemn proceedings were conducted with admirable order, and
His Majesty throughout appeared calm, collected and dignified.
JANUARY 6TH, 1855.
_Extract from the =Polynesian= of January 6, 1855._
OBITUARY.
[UNDER SPECIAL AUTHORITY.]
His late Majesty, Kauikeouli Kaleiopapa Kuakamanolani, Mahinalani,
Kalaninuiwaiakua, Keaweawealaokalani, whose royal style was Kamehameha
III., was born on the 17th March, 1813, in Keauhou, District of Kona,
Hawaii. His father was the renowned king and conqueror, Kamehameha I.
His mother was Keopuolani, daughter of Kiwaloa, son of Kalaiopuu, of
Kau, Hawaii. On the day before her death, while conversing with the
celebrated chief Kalaimoku, respecting her children, she said, "I wish
that my two children Kauikeouli, and Nahienaena (her daughter), should
know God and serve him, and be instructed in Christianity. I wish you to
take care of these my two children,--see that they walk in the right
way, counsel them, let them not associate with bad companions." But
after her death, the chief who had the immediate charge of the young
Prince's person was Kaikeoewa. When he retired to Lanai, Kaahumanu
placed the Prince under the immediate charge of Boki. The earliest
education which the infant Prince received, was at Kailua, from the Rev.
A. Thurston, and Thomas Hopu, a native who had been educated in the
United States. In Honolulu the Prince became the pupil of the Rev. Hiram
Bingham.
The young Prince had the misfortune to lose his father Kamehameha, on
the 8th of May, 1819, and his mother Keopuolani, on the 16th of
September, 1823. Towards the end of that year King Kamehameha II.
(Liholiho), embarked for England, where he died in 1824. The royal
remains were conveyed back to the islands in the British frigate
"Blonde," commanded by Lord Byron, in 1825. Soon afterwards, say in May,
1825, the reign of Kamehameha III. commenced, but under the political
guidance of a supreme ruler, or "Kuhina Nui," till March, 1833, when he
declared to the chiefs his wish to take into his own hands the lands for
which his father had toiled, the powers of life and death, and the
undivided sovereignty,--and confirmed Kinau (Kaahumanu II.) as his
"Kuhina Nui." He then took into his own hands the reins of sovereign
power, in the twentieth year of his age. How he has exercised that
power, during the twenty-one years that intervened between its
assumption and the 15th December last, when Death released him of all
royal and other earthly cares, it will be the duty of his future
biographer to show. His memory is, and must ever be, dear to his
subjects, for the free constitutions which he voluntarily granted to
them in 1840 and in 1852; for his support of religion and patronage of
education; for his conferring upon them, and upon foreigners, the right
to hold lands in fee simple, and for his willing abandonment of all the
arbitrary powers and right of universal seignorial land-lordship, which
he had inherited. There is scarcely in history, ancient or modern, any
king to whom so many public reforms and benefits can be ascribed, as the
achievements of only twenty-one years of his reign. Yet what king has
had to contend with so many difficulties, arising from ignorance,
prejudice, scanty revenue, inexperience and ineptitude, as his late
Majesty King Kamehameha III.? It was only in 1844 that His Majesty had
the assistance of a responsible legal counsellor, and of a Secretary of
State; only in 1845 that a proper separation of the departments of
government was attempted, and a cabinet formed. The political principles
then established by His Majesty were the following, viz:
"That monarchy in the Sandwich Islands is indispensable to the
preservation of the King, the chiefs and the natives. That it
is the duty of the Ministers, in all their measures, to have a
single eye to the preservation of the King, the chiefs and the
natives.
"That the existence of the King, chiefs and the natives, can
only be preserved by having a government efficient for the
administration of enlightened justice, both to natives and the
subjects of foreign powers residing in the islands, and that
chiefly through missionary efforts the natives have made such
progress in education and knowledge, as to justify the belief
that by further training, they may be rendered capable of
conducting efficiently the affairs of government; but that
they are not at present so far advanced.
"That the best means of bringing them to that desired state,
are the careful study of proper books, and the practical
knowledge of business, to be acquired by ascending through the
different gradations of office, under foreign ministers.
"That such foreign ministers hold their commissions only by
the grace of the King, and agree to surrender them at the will
of His Majesty in favor of native subjects, whenever they
become properly qualified.
"That the King being recognized as Sovereign by Great Britain,
France, the United States and Belgium, has to maintain his
position and rank as such, and that all his ministers and
officers are to assist him in doing so, by deporting
themselves towards him with that respect and consideration to
which all sovereigns are entitled; and to discharge their
duties so as to do honor to his appointment and credit to
themselves.
"That it is the duty of the ministry to discourage all
republican tendencies and specious attempts to degrade the
King to the rank of a mere superior chief, as calculated to
undermine his influence and authority, and place the islands
in subjection to white men.
"That the subjection of the islands to white men, would lead
to the extinction of the native race.
"That the ministers ought to promote the numerical increase of
the natives, and their happiness, and wealth, by encouraging
religion, education, the arts and sciences.
"That the co-operation of Christian missionaries should be
admitted towards these objects, but that they shall not
interfere in the purely political concerns of the King's
Government.
"That equal rights and privileges should be allowed to all
foreign nations.
"That the revenue necessary to support the King's Government,
religion, schools, and to reward public services, should be
raised without such oppressive taxes as would oppress the
natives, and shackle their industry.
"That the faith of all treaties, conventions, contracts,
engagements, and even promises, should be religiously
observed.
"That a constitution and code of laws be provided, adapted to
the genius of the nation, to the climate and soil, and to the
wealth, the manners, and the customs, and the numbers of the
people."
These principles, so far as they could be applied to the good of his
people, were faithfully adhered to by the late King, as will be seen by
his recommendations to the Legislature, embodied in his speeches for the
last nine years, which have been published together. The annual reports
of his Ministers, and of his Chancellor and Chief Justice, best show
whether those principles have been _mere profession_, or have had an
_operative effect_, in promoting that progress which, for the last
_decade_ of his late Majesty's reign, has unquestionably surpassed that
of any other nation during the same period of time. All the reforms
effected have been achieved without the creation of a national debt, and
without one violent convulsion. The inference is irresistible, that
monarchs may spring from the Hawaiian race, capable of well performing
all the duties of constitutional sovereignty, and of fulfilling all the
requirements of the government of an enlightened, independent nation,
both in its internal and foreign relations.
Revolutionary violence, therefore, has no excuse except in the selfish
rapacity which prompts it. It cannot plead the example of any country
bordering on the Pacific, where life and property are more secure than
they have been here, under the reign of the late King; where foreigners
enjoy greater privileges, and where, like this Kingdom, foreign commerce
(excepting spirituous liquors) pays a contribution to the State of _only
5 per cent. ad valorem_.
In private life, the late King was mild, kind, affable, generous and
forgiving. He was never more happy than when free from the cares and
trappings of state. He could enjoy himself sociably with his friends,
who were much attached to him. Having associated much, while a boy, with
foreigners, he continued to the last to be fond of their company.
Without his personal influence, the law to allow them to hold lands in
fee simple could never have been enacted; neither could conflicting
claims to land have been settled and registered by that most useful
institution, the Board of Land Commissioners. It is hardly possible to
conceive any King more generally beloved than was his late Majesty; more
universally obeyed, or more completely sovereign in the essential
respect of independent sovereignty, that of governing his subjects free
from any influence or control coming from beyond the limits of his own
jurisdiction.
The sister of the late King, the Princess Nahienaena, died on the 30th
December, 1836.
On the 4th of February, 1837, the late King was married to Kalama,
daughter of Naihekukui, who has survived his Majesty, and is now the
Queen Dowager. The King had by her two children, Keaweaweula and
Keaweaweula 2d, who died in their infancy.
Being childless, the late King adopted as his son and heir ALEXANDER
LIHOLIHO, who was born on the 9th of February, 1834, and who now happily
reigns as KING KAMEHAMEHA IV.
JANUARY 16, 1855.
_Replies made by His Majesty to the Congratulations of the
Representatives and Consuls of Foreign Nations and the Commanders of
Foreign Ships of War in port._
It pleased His Majesty to make the following replies:
To the Diplomatic Corps:
GENTLEMEN:--You cannot desire your remarks to be more
gratifying than I feel them to be. In reply, I thank you, and
hope that the amicable feelings which have hitherto existed
between the several countries you represent and my own, may
never be impaired. For my part I shall lose no opportunity to
improve and strengthen them. Gentlemen, I thank you.
To the Consular Corps:
GENTLEMEN:--Your remarks are also very gratifying to me. The
geographical position of my islands is indeed such as to point
out plainly enough our policy--to make our ports what
Providence destined them to be; places of safety, refuge and
refreshment for the ships and merchants of all countries.
Nothing more bespeaks the prosperity of a people than the
extent of its intercourse with foreign countries. My utmost
exertions shall be given to foster that intercourse between
the countries, whose commercial interests here are placed in
your hands, and my islands. This I shall do the more heartily
from a pleasant remembrance of the harmony of our relations
heretofore.
To the officers of men-of-war:
GENTLEMEN:--The feelings expressed by you on this occasion
afford me sincere pleasure. The ports of my islands will
always be open to receive the vessels and ships of war of the
three nations which you represent--the three greatest maritime
powers of the earth--the three greatest supporters of the
independence of my kingdom.
JANUARY 16TH, 1855.
_Address made by His Majesty to His Ministers and High Officers of State
on receiving their Portfolios._
GENTLEMEN:--On calling you to the high posts you respectively
fill, I propose to make a few remarks, with the request that
you will bear them constantly in mind. First, let me impress
upon you the importance of unity of purpose and action, for I
consider it impossible for the business of government to be
effectively carried out, unless there exist a great unanimity
of feeling among its officers. I have chosen you, because, I
thought that being actuated by one common policy, your
deliberations would be free from suspicious reserve, and your
actions all tend to one end. In a Cabinet divided into
factions, differing on fundamental points of policy, I could
place no confidence; and should I find mine thus divided, I
should feel it my duty to reorganize it. I am determined that
my Government, if any power vested in me can attain that
object, shall be respected for its honesty and efficiency.
Unsupported by these two pillars, no kingdom is safe. I desire
every part of the machinery of government to move in unison;
to subserve the great purposes for which it was intended; and
to be conducted with the strictest economy. Though young, with
the help of God, I shall endeavor to be firm and faithful in
the execution of the high trust devolved upon me, and never
let my feelings, as a man, overcome my duties as a King. From
all my counsellors I desire frank and faithful advice, and
those who advise me honestly, have nothing to fear; while
those who may abuse my confidence and advise me more from
personal interests than regard for the public good, have
nothing to hope.
One word in regard to the nominations for office which
according to law it becomes your duty to make, and I have
done. Let your subordinates be recommended by at least these
qualifications--honesty, temperance, industry and adaptation
to the places they are to fill; and let them be men in whom
you see good grounds for placing confidence.
May success crown your efforts and after years approve my
judgment in calling you to office.
APRIL 7, 1855.
_His Majesty's Speech in English and Hawaiian at the Opening of the
Legislature, April 7, 1855._
NOBLES AND REPRESENTATIVES:--It has pleased the Almighty to
gather to his forefathers my beloved Predecessor. This
bereavement has been to me the source of the deepest sorrow;
but my grief has been assuaged by the sympathy of this whole
nation, in whom I see innumerable and ever-gathering proofs of
the love and gratitude they bore their departed Chief.
You meet this day in conformity with the Constitution he gave
you. Had his suggestions, on the many occasions he addressed
you from the place I now occupy, been matured by your
deliberations, and carried into effect, there would, perhaps,
be little for me to recommend, or for you to perform. The
measures he initiated reflect lustre upon his name, and if by
any endeavor of mine those measures shall be perfected, I
shall consider it indeed an honor.
In the exercise of my prerogative, I have availed myself of an
Act passed during your last session, and since approved by me,
by virtue of which I have separated the offices of Kuhina Nui
and Minister of the Interior. To the former post I have called
her Royal Highness, Princess Victoria Kamamalu. The Ministry
of the Interior remains in the same hands as heretofore, as do
the other portfolios of my Government; for, young and newly
come to this responsible position, I have gladly availed
myself of the wisdom and experience of the counsellors of our
deceased King.
I have instructed the high officers of my government to lay
before you reports of their several departments.
For a history of the Judiciary Department during the last
year, and for certain changes proposed in our laws, I would
refer you to the report of my Chancellor. His recommendations,
especially those suggesting remedies for the great evils which
are so speedily destroying our race, meet my most hearty
approval, and are worthy of your serious consideration.
I trust you will be able to devise such wise and salutary
measures as shall effectually check licentiousness and
intemperance.
The doors of Justice are open to all, and so far as I am
informed, its administration in the higher courts has been
prompt, efficient and satisfactory. Of the inferior
magistrates, there has been some complaint, no doubt in many
instances with reason; but the character of district justices
has greatly improved within the past few years, and it is to
be hoped it will continue to improve. Weak as we are, and
imperfect as our Government may be, it will not be doubted, I
think, that there is no country in which there is more entire
security for life, liberty, person and property.
His Royal Highness, Prince Kamehameha, on whom has devolved
the chief military command, will exhibit to you in his report,
which is embodied in that of the Secretary at War, the plans
he has in contemplation to render efficient the important
service intrusted to his care. I have to request that you will
give this subject the grave attention it deserves. His late
Majesty urged the matter upon you frequently, but the
appropriations have hitherto been insufficient for any
permanent or efficient organization of that important
department. I indulge a strong hope that you will remedy this
deficiency, and place the Department of War upon a firm and
better footing.
Deeply imbued with a sense of the responsibility that rests
upon my Government, not only to foster, but to lead the way in
all that tends to the general good, I would invite your
earnest attention to the recommendations that will be laid
before you by my Minister of the Interior, and particularly to
that portion of his report relating to the proposed
improvements in the harbor of Honolulu. The facilities that
would be afforded in the loading and unloading of vessels,
native as well as foreign; the extra inducements that these
new accommodations would hold out to those parties who
contemplate making this port a place where ocean steamers may
seek refreshments, and take in coal and water; the general
impetus that would be given to trade by providing, at the
water's edge, a site for the erection of warehouses; and the
hundred other conveniences proper to a maritime city;--all
these considerations prove to my mind the propriety of
proceeding energetically with a work so national in its
character that no part of the islands can fail to share in
many of its advantages. To your wisdom it belongs to consider
in what way the funds necessary to effect this great
improvement may be best procured.
It is gratifying to me, on commencing my reign, to be able to
inform you, that my relations with all the great Powers,
between whom and myself exist treaties of amity, are of the
most satisfactory nature. I have received from all of them,
assurances that leave no room to doubt that my rights and
sovereignty will be respected. My policy, as regards all
foreign nations, being that of peace, impartiality and
neutrality, in the spirit of the Proclamation by the late
King, of the 16th May last, and of the Resolutions of the
Privy Council of the 15th June and 17th July, I have given to
the President of the United States, at his request, my solemn
adhesion to the rule, and to the principles establishing the
rights of neutrals during war, contained in the Convention
between his Majesty the Emperor of all the Russias, and the
United States, concluded in Washington on the 22d July last.
I have exchanged my ratification for that, by my great and
good friend, His Majesty Oscar, King of Sweden and Norway, of
the treaty concluded at my Court on the 1st day of July, 1852.
I have ordered my Minister of Foreign Relations to inform you
of all treaties with foreign nations negotiated under the late
reign, of the progressive steps by which the sovereignty and
independence of this Kingdom have become so generally
acknowledged, and of the transactions generally of the
Department under his charge.
I have committed an important mission to the Honorable William
L. Lee, Chancellor of the Kingdom and Chief Justice of the
Supreme Court, and have accredited him as my Envoy
Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, from which mission
I anticipate important results for the benefit of you all,
which will be made known to you hereafter. In the meanwhile, I
recommend you to vote such a sum as, in your wisdom, you may
deem adequate for the expenses of that mission.
My Minister of Finance will submit, for your considerations,
certain important measures relating to the National finances;
and you cannot fail to be impressed with the necessity of
devising some means of enlarging them. Without more extended
means we must remain in the position of having the will,
without the power, to stimulate agriculture and commerce, and
to provide generally for the physical, mental and moral
improvement of the nation. As a preparatory step towards
increasing the sources of revenue, we must increase the
revenue to be drawn from such sources as already exist. But,
restricted as we are, by treaty, from exercising a right
common to all free communities, we are unable to impose
discriminating duties on foreign imports, which, whilst
supplying the Treasury with additional means, would enhance
the price of articles of luxury only. To regain the right of
which we have, for the present, divested ourselves, it may be
necessary that you reconsider the act by which the duty on
spirituous liquors is now regulated. The Minister of Finance
laid this subject before you last year in a clear and able
manner, and his views have been confirmed by the experience of
another year. Whether it would be wise to assist the revenue
by a tax on property, is for you to determine.
To foster education and widen every channel that leads to
knowledge, is one of our most imperative duties. It will be
for you to determine what obstacles, if any, exist, to the
general enlightenment of my people. On this subject there will
be submitted for your consideration, certain proposed changes
in the Department of Public Instruction. It is of the highest
importance, in my opinion, that education in the English
language should become more general, for it is my firm
conviction that unless my subjects become educated in this
tongue, their hope of intellectual progress, and of meeting
the foreigners on terms of equality, is a vain one.
It is a melancholy fact that agriculture, as now practiced, is
not a business of so prosperous and lucrative a nature as to
induce men of means to engage in it; and capital is absolutely
necessary to the successful production of our great staples,
sugar, coffee and tobacco. I beg you, therefore, to consider
whether there exist any restrictions, the removal of which
would give new life to this important source of national
prosperity, and tend to create a juster balance between our
imports and exports. I need hardly mention the obligation that
weighs upon you, to open wide our ports to commerce. Without
commerce our agricultural produce might moulder in our
warehouses; roads, and interisland communication almost cease
to exist; the making of wharves become a work of
supererogation, and the opening and closing of stores an idle
ceremony. As the legislators of a young commercial nation, we
should be liberal in our measures, and far-sighted in our
views.
A subject of deeper importance, in my opinion, than any I have
hitherto mentioned, is that of the decrease of our population.
It is a subject, in comparison with which all others sink into
insignificance; for, our first and great duty is that of
self-preservation. Our acts are in vain unless we can stay the
wasting hand that is destroying our people. I feel a heavy,
and special responsibility resting upon me in this matter; but
it is one in which you all must share; nor shall we be
acquitted by man, or our Maker, of a neglect of duty, if we
fail to act speedily and effectually in the cause of those who
are every day dying before our eyes.
I think this decrease in our numbers may be stayed; and happy
should I be if, during the first year of my reign, such laws
should be passed as to effect this result. I would commend to
your special consideration the subject of establishing public
Hospitals; and it might, at first, perhaps, be wise to confine
these hospitals to diseases of one class; and that the most
fatal with which our population is afflicted.
Intimately connected with this subject is that of preventing
the introduction of fatal diseases and epidemics from abroad.
Visited as we are by vessels from all parts of the world, this
is no easy matter; but I trust your wisdom will devise some
simple and practical remedy.
It affords me unfeigned pleasure to be able to state that,
according to the returns from most of the districts, the
births during the past year have exceeded the deaths.
It is to be regretted that the Chinese coolie emigrants, to
whom has been given a trial of sufficient length for testing
their fitness to supply our want of labor and population, have
not realized the hopes of those who incurred the expense of
their introduction. They are not so kind and tractable as it
was anticipated they would be; and they seem to have no
affinities, attractions or tendencies to blend with this, or
any other race. In view of this failure it becomes a question
of some moment whether a class of persons more nearly
assimilated with the Hawaiian race, could not be induced to
settle on our shores. It does not seem improbable that a
portion of the inhabitants of other Polynesian groups might be
disposed to come here, were suitable efforts made to lead them
to such a step. In a few days they would speak our language
with ease; they would be acclimated almost before they left
the ships that conveyed them hither; and they might bring with
them their wives, whose fecundity is said to be much greater
than that of Hawaiian females. Such immigrants, besides
supplying the present demand for labor, would pave the way for
a future population of native born Hawaiians, between whom,
and those of aboriginal parents, no distinguishable difference
would exist.
May the issue of your deliberations be crowned with those
successful results which the will of the Almighty only can
bestow.
JUNE 16, 1855.
_His Majesty's Speech and Proclamation on the occasion of Dissolving the
Legislature._
NOBLES AND REPRESENTATIVES:--The Legislative Session of 1855
is now about to close.
For some of your acts I thank you in common with the meanest
of my subjects, for they embrace the interests of all.
Newly admitted elements of action have operated upon you, and
given to certain of your measures a vitality that authorizes
me to hope much for the future.
For the relief you have given to the estate of my Predecessor,
for the feeling of respect and love evinced by you in assuming
with alacrity, the expenses of his obsequies; and for the
loyalty you have shown towards me, and my family, I thank you.
Mixed with many circumstances that will always make the
session of 1855 pleasant to reflect upon, there is one that
must overshadow it forever in the minds of us all. The death
of His Excellency, A. Paki, has stamped this year, and,
indeed, removed a pillar of the State. From your own feelings
on the loss of that High Chief and staunch Hawaiian, you may
judge of mine. May the Almighty have us in his keeping, and
bless, and perpetuate the Hawaiian Nation.
Nobles and Representatives, I regret that you have not been
able to agree upon the details of the Appropriation Bill.
Therefore, in the exercise of my constitutional prerogative in
such a case, I feel it my duty to dissolve you, and you are
hereby dissolved.
PROCLAMATION.
TO ALL OUR LOYAL SUBJECTS, _Greeting_:
We hereby Proclaim that We have this day dissolved the
Legislature of Our Kingdom, by virtue of the power vested in
Us by the Constitution. The exigency contemplated by that
sacred instrument has arisen, by the disagreement of the two
Houses on the Bill of Supplies, which are necessary to carry
on Our Government; and furthermore, the House of
Representatives framed an Appropriation Bill exceeding Our
Revenues, as estimated by Our Minister of Finance, to the
extent of about $200,000, which Bill We could not sanction.
There seemed no prospect of agreement, inasmuch as the House
of Nobles had made repeated efforts at conciliation with the
House of Representatives, without success, and finally, the
House of Representatives refused to confer with the House of
Nobles respecting the said Appropriation Bill in its last
stages, and We deemed it Our duty to exercise Our
constitutional prerogative of dissolving the Legislature, and
therefore there are no Representatives of the people in the
Kingdom.
Therefore, We further proclaim Our Will and Pleasure, that Our
Loyal subjects, in all Our Islands, proceed immediately to
elect new Representatives, according to law, on the 10th day
of July next. And We convoke the Representatives who may be so
elected, to meet in Parliament in Our City of Honolulu, on
Monday, the 30th day of July, of this year, for the special
and only purpose of voting the Supplies necessary to the
administration of Our Government, without oppressing Our
faithful Subjects with unreasonable taxes.
Done in Our Palace of Honolulu, this sixteenth day of June,
1855, and the first year of Our reign.
KAMEHAMEHA.
VICTORIA K. KAMAMALU.
JULY 30, 1855.
_His Majesty's Speech at the Opening of the Extraordinary Session of the
Legislature._
NOBLES AND REPRESENTATIVES:--By virtue of the power which the
Constitution declares to be vested in me, I have convoked you
to this Extraordinary Session of the Legislature. Neither the
late dissolution, nor, of course, this Session, would have
occurred under any but extraordinary circumstances. The only
public business of emergency left unfinished at the close of
the late Session, was the passage of the Appropriation
Bill--the most important measure of every Session. It is
solely to pass the Bill I mention that you are now brought
together. I trust that whilst your memories are so freshly
charged with the circumstances that prevented unanimity
between your two Houses in regard to the Bill of Supplies,
upon which you were deliberating when lately I dissolved you,
there will be a desire on the part of all to restrict the
amount appropriated for the current year within the probable
limits of the year's receipts. It is useless to make
appropriations for appearance sake, knowing that they will
not, because they cannot, be acted on. My desire therefore is,
that you will reject at once, in your deliberations, every
item that is not of immediate necessity, since the means at
your disposal will barely suffice for those outlays that are
indispensable. By acting on this suggestion you will save time
and render less likely the recurrence of differences on
questions not of public interest.
Nobles and Representatives, I hope the Session now opened will
be a very short one, and that you will all cordially unite in
appropriating our small means to the best advantage for the
general good.
AUGUST 13, 1855.
_Messages from His Majesty to the House of Nobles and House of
Representatives, Proroguing the Extraordinary Session._
NOBLES:--The Extraordinary Session to which I convoked you
having terminated with the completion of the special business
which I recommended to my Parliament, I now thank you for
concurring with the Honorable Representatives of My People, in
voting the supplies indispensable to the administration of My
Government.
I now free you from further attendance, and prorogue you till
the Session of next year.
KAMEHAMEHA.
HONORABLE REPRESENTATIVES OF MY PEOPLE:--Having concluded the
special business for which I convoked you to an Extraordinary
Session, it only remains for me to thank you for the regard
you have shown to the safety and welfare of my Kingdom in
voting the supplies necessary to carry on the business of My
Government, and to free you from further attendance in
Parliament.
I therefore prorogue you.
KAMEHAMEHA.
FEBRUARY 15, 1855.
_His Majesty's Letter to Her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Ireland._[A]
GREAT AND GOOD FRIEND:--Believing that Your Majesty takes a
sincere interest in every thing which concerns the Hawaiian
nation, I doubt not but that You will partake in my sorrow for
the loss of my Predecessor, Kamehameha III., who died on the
15th of December last.
In accordance with the will of the late King, and the
Constitution of my Realm, I have succeeded to the throne of my
forefathers. My anxious endeavor will be to rule for the good
of my subjects, and of all foreigners residing within my
jurisdiction; and, in so doing, I shall rely, under God, upon
the sympathy and good will of Your Majesty, and of the British
nation.
Your Good Friend,
(Signed,) KAMEHAMEHA.
By the King.
(Signed,) R. C. WYLLIE.
[Footnote A: The same letter, _mutatis mutandis_, was sent to their
Majesties the Emperor of the French, the Emperor of Russia, Kings of
Denmark, Prussia, Sweden and Norway, Presidents of the United States, of
Hamburg, Bremen, Chile, and Peru.]
SEPTEMBER 18, 1855.
_Reply by His Majesty to the Address of Hon. D. L. Gregg, Commissioner
of the United States, on Presentation of the Letter of the President of
the United States, condoling with His Majesty on the Death of His
Predecessor, and congratulating Him on His Accession to the Throne._
I trust it is almost unnecessary for me to assure you, Mr.
Gregg, that the letter you have just delivered to me from the
President of the Great American Republic could not have
reached me through a more agreeable channel than the hands of
the United States' Commissioner.
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.
His Majesty spoke of the short-comings of the people as an
agricultural population, and though he set down naught in
malice it is equally certain that he extenuated nothing. This
plain speaking tells with the Hawaiians, especially when it
falls from the lips of their hereditary rulers. In the first
place allusion was made to the almost universal want of
perseverance which marks the character of the laboring classes
more than that of any other. The King showed in few words how
necessary it is to make agriculture an absorbing pursuit, the
only pursuit in fact of the man who engages in it, proving
that the intermission of a day may often render nugatory the
labor of a month. No man in fact having put his hand to the
plough ought to look back, till the last process of all
dependent upon ploughing has been brought to the best possible
issue. In the next place, the want of capital was touched on,
and spoken of as a very serious draw-back, though not an
insurmountable objection to the pursuit of agriculture. In
a country like this where the necessaries of life are so
easily supplied, one man's steady labor will always produce
very much more than one man's sustenance, and the overplus
with ordinary thrift--or what would be considered such in
other lands--becomes so much capital with which to increase
the scope of an individual's exertions, and provide those
means and appliances which by reducing labor add to profit. A
carelessness to observe and communicate the results of
observation as to seasons and localities, was another
peculiarity common amongst the Hawaiians. The natives are too
much inclined to make an attempt without first gaining all the
information procurable in regard to the particular plant or
vegetable they intend to cultivate. Slight variations in the
altitude of different fields above the level of the sea, and
differences in the quality of the soil, produce oftentimes no
less results than failure on the one hand and success on the
other. But the Hawaiians are too apt to make an essay without
previous enquiry, and afterwards to keep to themselves the
result of the experiment. This should not be in a country
which is visited weekly in its whole length and breadth by a
newspaper intended, more than for any other purpose, to spread
a knowledge of practical agriculture and afford a medium for
intercommunication upon points interesting to persons engaged
in the original pursuit of our race. The King enforced this
idea with great earnestness, begging his hearers to look upon
themselves as links in the chain of improvement, dependent
upon the past, as future laborers would depend upon them for
such experience as to seasons, methods and localities as might
be worthy of record and transmission to another generation.
The absence of methodical habits in the tillers of the soil
was adverted to. Whilst on this subject, the King spoke of the
utter disregard showed for any regularity in the hours of
commencing and leaving off work. This desultory system is
greatly aided by the want of stated hours for taking food and
retiring to rest. If there were a common hour for breakfast
and dinner, the hours for labor would be regulated and
understood. The want of economy, not of time only, but of
material, too, and labor, was then touched on. His Majesty
seemed to be hinting at the old saying that "a stitch in time
saves nine," a fact usually disregarded by the natives of this
country. One gap in a fence is generally a prelude to its
total destruction, whereas half a day's work might save it for
years to come, and prevent the outlay at some future day of
the labor and material necessary to build a new one. But we
cannot follow the line of illustration used to enforce this
point; suffice it to say that the matter was made intelligible
and the value of economy fully vindicated. After some remarks
on roads and means of communication by water, in which steam
was spoken of as one of the agents to which our agriculturists
must look for a helping hand up the hill that leads to
competency and opulence, the King strongly recommended the
planting of fruit trees, and went into some practical details
of the method now pursued by the natives of Kona, Hawaii, who
as a class bid fair not long hence to be, perhaps, more
comfortably off than the people of any other district. Coffee,
oranges, lemons and grape-vines were more particularly
recommended to the fostering care of the audience. Allusion
was also made to Dr. Hillebrand's very able remarks on the
advantages of shade trees. His Majesty then brought his
address to a close with a few general remarks that told home,
breathing as they did the spirit of his often repeated
exhortation to his people to remember that none will help
those who will not help themselves--that responsible men must
not, like children at their games, sit down to "open their
mouths and shut their eyes," and "see what God will send
them."
MAY 26, 1857.
_His Majesty's Reply to the Address of S. N. Castle, Esq., on Presenting
a Bible on behalf of the "American Bible Society."_
The volume you present me in behalf of the American Bible
Society, and the letter with which it is accompanied, I
receive with a mingled feeling of pleasure and reverence. When
I remember the moral illumination and the sense of social
propriety which have spread throughout these islands, in
proportion as the Holy Scriptures have been circulated, I
cannot but admire and respect the human agency through which
Providence has effected its benign purpose. But of all the
members of the institution, there is none with whom I could
more gladly find myself in communication than the Secretary,
whose labors have won for him a name among Christian
philanthropists which might excite a world to emulation.
I will not attempt to echo the tone of fervent admiration and
gratitude with which you allude to the happy changes effected
by the dissemination of God's Holy Word. But from the position
I occupy, the facts meet me whichever way I turn my eyes. I
see them every day and every hour. I see principles taking
root among my people that were unknown and unintelligible to
them at that dark period of our religious history to which you
have referred. They have now a standard by which to judge of
themselves and of each other as members of society. Without
that standard no law but the law of autocratic power could
have ruled them. Its absence would have rendered the gift of
free institutions, such as they now enjoy, a worse than
useless act of magnanimity on the part of my predecessors. The
commerce and intercourse with other countries to which we owe
our present prosperity would have been checked by numberless
difficulties. In one word, we see through all our relations
the effect of those aspirations and principles inculcated by
this sacred volume.
I should be wanting to myself did I not express the
gratification I feel at seeing here present some of those who
were the first to labor in the vineyard. Although they look
for their reward elsewhere, they will not reject my passing
tribute of respect. Their labor has been long and their
anxiety great, but their constancy and patience have equaled
the emergency. The result of their life's work may even
disappoint them if they judge it by the anticipation of their
more sanguine years. Yet, in their decline of life, they see
some of the fruits they prayed for, and they will not complain
when they remember that the measure of their success is from
above.
Allow me to thank you for your personal share in the
presentation, and through you to express my kindest
acknowledgments to the American Bible Society.
DECEMBER 10, 1857.
BY ORDER OF THE KING.
It is hereby proclaimed that Thursday, the 31st of December
ensuing, be kept as a day of solemn fasting and humiliation
for sin, and of thanksgiving to Almighty God for numberless
unmerited mercies and blessings received during the year that
expires on that day.
L. KAMEHAMEHA.
JANUARY 21, 1858.
_His Majesty's Reply to the Address of Capt. Davis, of the U. S. Sloop_
=St. Marys=, _upon the eve of her Departure for San Francisco._
I can heartily assure you, Captain Davis, that it would have
been a source of unfeigned regret to me, had circumstances
prevented my having this last interview with you before your
departure from these waters. When I say last, I mean the last
during the visit of the _St. Marys_, for I sincerely hope to
see you here again, and when you do return, I hope you will
bring with you the same officers whose sojourn here with you
has contributed so much to the social enjoyment of the last
few months.
Your desire to increase the good understanding existing
between my Government and your own has been so conspicuous
that I cannot but congratulate the latter upon the happy
circumstances that in sending a ship here, for the
preservation of safety and order, the command of that vessel
devolved upon no other than you. That you have been successful
in your object, must be a matter of pride to you, and I do not
think you will hear with indifference from my lips the simple
announcement, that I and every member of my Government have
appreciated those exertions, but no one more so than I, whose
opportunities of judging of your intentions have, I am happy
to say, been more numerous than those of some others.
MAY 21, 1858.
_Replies by His Majesty to the Congratulatory Addresses on the Birth of
a Son and Heir to His Throne, by A. P. Everett, Esq., for himself and
other Foreign Consuls; by H. R. H. Prince General Kamehameha; by the
Rev. Mr. Damon and other Clergymen; and by the U. S. Consul, A. Pratt,
Esq., for Foreign Residents generally._
His Majesty replied as follows:
GENTLEMEN:--I very kindly thank you for the congratulations
you have just offered to the Queen and myself, and for the
kind wishes you have expressed for the prosperity and
happiness of the infant Prince. I also thank you for the many
expressions of sympathy and good will which you have employed
towards my people and Government, and for the prosperity of
both. I assure you that the prosperity and happiness of my
country, and of all who live within my rule, are subjects dear
to my heart. And there is no greater encouragement afforded me
that the hopes so often expressed by the friends of the
Hawaiian people will be fulfilled, than the knowledge that I
have the support and sympathy of the great and powerful
nations whose officers I rejoice to see before me on this, to
me, particularly happy day.
PRINCE AND SOLDIERS:--The expressions of loyalty you have just
uttered are very welcome to me. There is no tie between the
head of a government and his troops like that of mutual good
wishes and a common object. Such exists between us, and may it
never cease to exist. So long as it does we have nothing to
fear of one another, but every thing to hope. In the Queen's
name and that of our infant son I thank you kindly for your
generous wishes.
Turning to Mr. Damon and the other reverend gentlemen present His
Majesty observed:
GENTLEMEN:--For your valuable present allow me to thank you in
the name of my son, whose advent into this life has been
greeted so kindly, so heartily, by the community at large, but
by none more sincerely, or with more ardent wishes for his
real happiness than by yourselves--of that I am sure. The
birth of the young Prince has placed me in a relationship to
which I have hitherto been a stranger, and it has imposed upon
me new responsibilities. I trust that in my conduct towards
him throughout my life, I may remember the particular offering
which your affection deemed most proper, and that as this
Bible is one of my boy's first possessions, so its contents
may be the longest remembered. In the Queen's name and my own
I thank you, and it shall be the task of both of us to teach
our first-born child to kindly regard you.
Then addressing himself more particularly to Mr. Consul Pratt, and from
him to the assembly in general, His Majesty added:
GENTLEMEN AND FRIENDS:--I receive your congratulations on this
occasion with mixed feelings of pleasure and pride. I take
pleasure in knowing that the event which has given so much
happiness in my own domestic circle, has caused a pleasure in
this whole community and brought to my house these unmistakable
marks of sympathy and good will; and I cannot but feel pride,
at such a time as this, in knowing that my first-born child,
the destined heir to the position I now occupy, enters the
world amidst your hearty acclamations. I thank you for those
expressions towards the Queen and myself, which are
reiterations of feelings often expressed, and more often
manifested than expressed, but which come doubly welcome at a
time when every parent's heart has a yearning for sympathy.
Gentlemen, you see me a proud father, and by these
manifestations of your love for me and mine you make me a
proud King. Such occasions as these make a throne worthy of
any man's envy, whilst the feelings uppermost in my heart will
establish and seal from this time forth a new tie between me
and every man who, like myself, can say he has a child.
MAY 22, 1858.
_Reply by His Majesty to the Address presented to Him by the Lodge of
Free Masons and the Royal Arch Chapter of Honolulu._
MOST EXCELLENT HIGH PRIEST, COMPANIONS AND BRETHREN:
Bound together as we are in a holy league of brotherhood, I
should not be doing justice to the feelings which actuate me
in my relationship with yourselves, and operate amongst us
all, did I deny that I almost expected you would seek a
special occasion to felicitate me in the character in which we
now appear. For all your kind wishes I thank you from the
bottom of my heart, and among the many blessings for which I
have, at this time, especial reason to be thankful to our
Supreme Grand Master, I do not reckon this the least, that I
enjoy the sympathy of a Fraternity whose objects are so pure,
and whose friendships so true as those of our Order. I will
not multiply words, but believe me, that when I look upon my
infant son, whose birth has been the cause of so much joy to
me, and of so much interest to yourselves, the thought already
crosses my mind that perhaps one day he may wear these dearly
prized badges, and that his intercourse with his fellow men,
like his father's, may be rendered more pleasant, and,
perhaps, more profitable, by his espousing those solemn tenets
which make the name of a Freemason honorable throughout the
world.
MAY 25, 1858.
_Replies by His Majesty to the Hon. D. L. Gregg, Commissioner of the
United States, and to the Hon. James W. Borden, his Successor, upon his
Presentation as the new Commissioner._
His Majesty, turning to Mr. Gregg, replied:
From the renewed assurances of sympathy and good will towards
this Kingdom which, on the part of the President of the United
States of America, you have just expressed, I cannot but
derive the liveliest gratification, reminding me as they do of
the long course of years during which the successive Heads of
your Government have offered, through their Representatives
here, similar professions of amity, without one interruption
having occurred to mar the retrospect. I should be sorry were
the President, or you, to suppose for one instant that I
regard these professions merely as a civil form of words
called for by the occasion.
The Government of the United States has never flattered me or
my Predecessors with expectations of more than it intended to
perform; the action has always followed true to the word, and
we know by experience the value of such assurances as those to
which I have just listened with so much satisfaction.
It is, indeed, a fact worthy of notice and of remembrance,
that the relations existing between the two countries were
never more happy, or more calculated to inspire the smaller
nation with a sense of independence and an appreciation of the
fact that its future is in its own hands, than at this very
moment, when, after having faithfully watched the interests
intrusted to your care for more than four years, you are
resigning that honorable duty into other hands. You have shown
that strength of purpose may be united with courtesy of
manner, and have justified your appointment by proving that
their rights are best guarded, whose representative, being
honest in his own intentions, does not without cause doubt the
faith of the Government to which he is accredited.
Although I am afraid you over-estimate the actual value of the
marks of courtesy and attempts to make agreeable your
residence and that of your family upon these islands, which we
have sought to offer, I thank you for the kind expression of
your acknowledgments, and trust that you will always believe
that my object, and that of every member of my Government, was
but poorly carried out by any manifestations which it has been
in our power to make. But, Mr. Gregg, not to seem to claim
more credit than we deserve, allow me to add that the attempt
was by no means a disinterested one, for in all the relations
of society, those persons are most welcome who ornament it
most and are themselves the most courteous.
I have too much confidence in the good will and sympathy of
the Government of the United States, and faith in the wisdom
of the President, to allow of a single doubt as to the course
which your successor will pursue. It shall be my endeavor, and
that of my Government, to regard him as the honored
Representative of a great nation, and a good Friend. I believe
that his dealings with us will be generous, that he will
pursue the policy which in the hands of his predecessors has
so largely helped to make this nation what it is to-day, and
that if, coming after you, he cannot increase the feelings of
kindness, and on one side of gratitude, which already exist
here and in the United States, he will at least maintain them.
Then addressing himself to Mr. Borden, the King spoke as follows:
In welcoming you as the Representative of the United States,
allow me to say, Mr. Borden, that I anticipate nothing but the
most satisfactory intercourse between you and my Government.
The country from which you are accredited has afforded too
many tokens of good will, and manifested too lively an interest
in all that concerns this archipelago, and that for too long a
succession of years, to leave any question possible as to its
future policy.
So long as such feelings exist on your side, and we retain
gratitude enough to remember with acknowledgments the benefits
we have already received from the Government and people of the
United States, and can appreciate the advantages continually
derived from the friendship and countenance of such a nation,
there is little chance that the harmony now happily existing
will be disturbed. I thank you for the kind terms in which you
have alluded to the birth of the Prince, my son--an event
which has filled me with the greatest pleasure and gives rise
to many hopeful anticipations.
MAY 29, 1858.
_Published by Authority in the_ =Polynesian=, _May 29, 1858._
ROYAL LETTERS PATENT.
Know all men that we, Kamehameha, by the Grace of God, of the
Hawaiian Islands King, by virtue of the power and authority in
us vested as Sovereign of these realms, and in accordance with
Article XXXVII, of the Constitution of our Kingdom, have
decreed, and do, by these our Royal Letters Patent,
constitute, establish and declare the following to be the
style and title of our infant Son, born on the twentieth day
of May, instant, the Hereditary Heir Apparent of Our Throne,
viz:
"HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS THE PRINCE OF HAWAII."
He, Our said infant son, from now and henceforth to assume,
and to receive the aforesaid style and title for himself, and,
in the event of his succeeding Us in the Throne, and having
male issue of his body lawfully begotten, then, the said style
and title shall descend to, and be the style and title of his
first-born son, as being the nearest hereditary and
Constitutional Heir to the Throne of the Hawaiian Islands.
Done at the Palace, in Honolulu, this twentieth day of May,
A. D. 1858, and in the 4th year of Our Reign.
(Signed,) KAMEHAMEHA.
JUNE 11, 1858.
_His Majesty's Speech at the Opening of the Session of the Hawaiian
Legislature of 1858._
NOBLES AND REPRESENTATIVES:--Since the Legislature was last in
session, it has pleased Almighty God to bless me with a son. The
birth of an Heir to the Throne is an event which you, now
congregated to pass measures, not for the temporary only, but
for the permanent prosperity of the Hawaiian Islands, under a
Constitutional Monarchy, cannot but regard with solemn
interest. Not only the continuance of his life, but the
characteristics which the Prince may develop as he grows to
manhood, and the education to be imparted to him, are matters
in no small degree inseparable from the future of our
country's history--from that distant part of it in which I,
and many, if not all of you, will take no share. Gentlemen,
the child is yours as well as mine; the circumstances that
attend his birth deprive me of an undivided interest in him,
for if such be the will of Divine Providence, he will one day
be to your sons what I am to their fathers. Destined as he is
to exercise a paramount influence in years to come, I
consecrate him to my people, and with God's help, I will leave
unused no faculty with which I am indued to make him worthy of
your love and loyalty, and an ornament to the Throne of his
great Predecessor who only did battle to establish peace and
lay the foundations of order.
I have called you together according to the requirements of
the Constitution. Having thus fulfilled the duty imposed upon
me, I would suggest to you, Nobles and Representatives, the
propriety, under existing circumstances, of confining the
business of the present session to providing, by a Joint
Resolution, or otherwise, for the financial necessities of the
Government, and appointing a Joint Committee to report after
an adjournment and as soon as practicable, to their respective
Houses, upon the New Code, or such portions of it as may be
ready for presentation by the Commission appointed by the
Legislature of 1856 to prepare it.
The reasons for such a course will appear in the fact that the
Commissioners selected to revise, codify and amend the laws
now in force, partly on account of the ill health of one of
the members, now deceased, and partly from the laborious
nature of the task imposed upon persons whose time was already
occupied by the duties of office, have been unable to perfect
their work within the time, which before the undertaking was
commenced, was deemed sufficient. The Joint Committee could
only receive and proceed to review such portions of the
Revision as are already prepared, and receive more as the
Commissioners progressed. By means of a little inquiry, the
time when their report upon the whole would probably be
forthcoming might be ascertained, when the two Houses could
meet again to review the Report and proceed with the general
business of the country.
The suggestion I have made demands further consideration from
the fact that a new Treaty, negotiated between me and the
Emperor of the French, has lately been returned from Paris,
accompanied by the formal ratification of the Emperor. It now
awaits a similar concurrence, on my part, to render it
effective. In accordance with the provision of our
Constitution, this Treaty is now under consideration by me, in
my Privy Council of State. The provisional Act, therefore,
which a former Legislature passed, will become operative or
otherwise, according to the result of those deliberations I
refer to, and until that result becomes known the Minister of
Finance cannot make to you a satisfactory showing of the
probable receipts of the Government for this and the next
fiscal year; and without such data to go by you will hardly
be able to dispose of the strictly financial business of the
country.
So, too, in regard to the Civil Acts, the passage of which
draws so largely upon the time of your two Houses. It would be
nothing less than a waste of labor to alter, by separate
enactments, those laws which the Revised Code will amend, or
to sanction new provisions, in that Compendium already
provided for, and which temporary enactments would, therefore,
become valueless almost as soon as they should have been
promulgated.
Believing, gentlemen, that you will coincide with me in seeing
the necessity for a speedy adjournment, after having made the
provisions I have pointed out, I forbear to call your
attention to the general business and details to which I
should otherwise direct your notice.
MARCH 31, 1859.
_Special Message of His Majesty sent to the Legislature of 1859._
NOBLES AND REPRESENTATIVES:--I deem it my duty, as Chief
Magistrate of the Kingdom, to submit to the Legislature
certain points in regard to which the organic law seems to
require revision.
Experience has conclusively shown that the Constitution of
1852 does not, in many important respects, meet the
expectations of its framers, or of my Predecessor, by whom it
was voluntarily conceded.
It is the part of wisdom to derive lessons from experience,
and to regulate our future policy in conformity with its
suggestions.
The 105th Article of the Constitution prescribes the ordinary
mode of amendment. Without reference to a different manner of
revision, clearly founded on the inherent rights of the
different Estates of my Kingdom, I am, at this time, content
to appeal to the Legislature for such action as will provide
an adequate remedy for all existing difficulties.
I am satisfied that it would result in great public advantage
to allow to my Executive Ministers the privilege of election
to the House of Representatives, except when constituted
Members of the House of Nobles by Royal Patent. It would also,
in my opinion, be politic to permit additions to be made to
the House of Nobles for a term of years as well as for life.
These changes are earnestly recommended and urged upon your
favorable consideration.
I further recommend that the House of Representatives be
limited, as to its members, to a number not exceeding twenty;
and that a suitable property qualification for eligibility be
established. The compensation of such members ought also to be
definitely fixed for the entire period of their service, so as
to avoid all inducements to protracted sessions beyond the
requirement of the public good.
Relying on your wisdom and patriotic disposition, I place
these suggestions before you, in the full confidence that they
cannot fail to meet your sanction. I entertain no doubt that
if the Constitution should be amended in conformity thereto, a
beneficial reform of the Legislative Department would be
effected, and the general advantage of my Kingdom thereby
greatly promoted.
KAMEHAMEHA.
MAY 4, 1859.
_His Majesty's Speech Proroguing the Legislature of 1859._
NOBLES AND REPRESENTATIVES:--I congratulate you upon having
concluded the labors of a Session protracted beyond my
expectation, and, I imagine, that of the country at large. I
trust that after all the attention which has been expended on
the revised Civil Code, the result will prove a compilation
sound in its principles and convenient in its arrangement. If
it have no other effect than to encourage a decrease of
litigation, by exposing in its proper place the law applicable
to every civil regulation which legislation makes the
frame-work of our national system, your time, and the expenses
of the session, will not have been consumed in vain.
I have heard with satisfaction that the amendments of the
Constitution which I suggested and laid open to your
consideration, have been acted upon, and I do not doubt that
the next session will see them confirmed and made effective. I
think they will initiate a more wholesome system of
legislation, prevent unnecessary delays and expenses, and
place the Executive Government in a position better calculated
for giving explanations and receiving instructions from that
House which originates every fiscal measure.
I thank you, Representatives, for the provision you have made
for myself and those nearest to me; and, while alluding to the
Bill of Appropriations, I cheerfully notice the fact, that in
making distribution of the revenue, you have, for the first
time, proposed for the country a system of expenditure
strictly proportioned to the estimated receipts.
I confess that the act of your two Houses which I regard with
most complacency, is that in which you commit the public
Treasury to the aid of Hospitals. You, Representatives,
amongst whose constituents are those very persons for whom
these places of refuge are principally designed, have
expressed a kind and grateful feeling for the personal share
which I and the Queen have taken in the labor of securing the
necessary means for the establishment of a Hospital in
Honolulu. Whilst acknowledging your courtesy, I wish to take
this first public occasion to express the almost unspeakable
satisfaction with which I have found my efforts successful
beyond my hopes. It is due to the subscribers as a body, that
I should bear witness to the readiness, not less than the
liberality, with which they have met my advances. When you
return to your several places, let the fact be made known,
that in Honolulu the sick man has a friend in everybody. Nor
do I believe that He who made us all, and to whose keeping I
commend in now dismissing you, has seen with indifference how
the claims of a common humanity have drawn together, in the
subscription list, names representative of almost every race
of men under the sun.
MAY 20, 1859.
_Replies by His Majesty to the Felicitations of the Commissioners of
France and of the United States, and to the Captain of the Honolulu
Rifle Corps, on behalf of its Members, on the first Anniversary of the
Birth of H. R. H. the Prince of Hawaii._
GENTLEMEN:--I receive with unfeigned satisfaction the
congratulations which you offer on this the first anniversary
of the birth of the Heir to the Throne. As the Representatives
of nations so pre-eminently called upon, by virtue of their
physical and intellectual resources, to watch and foster the
progress of the human race at large, I rejoice in those
aspirations with which you have connected the future career of
my infant son. To you, gentlemen, and to the Governments of
which you are the honored organs, the best thanks of the
Father and Mother of the Prince of Hawaii are cordially
tendered.
GENTLEMEN OF THE HONOLULU RIFLES:--For the loyal and generous
expressions your Captain has offered in your behalf I thank
you in the name of the Prince of Hawaii, who doubtless will
one day hear in what manner your good wishes were made known
on this occasion. For in families it is not uncommon for
certain incidents and expressions to become traditional, and I
know that neither I nor the Queen can ever cease to cherish
the remembrance of the many tokens of good will and sympathy
this day manifested, or fail to tell our Son in time to come
how the anniversary of his first birth-day was welcomed by the
"Honolulu Rifles."
OCTOBER 3D, 1859.
_Speech of His Majesty at the Extraordinary Session of the House of
Nobles held at the Palace October 3d, 1859._
GENTLEMEN OF THE HOUSE OF NOBLES:--I have thought proper to
convene you in special session in order to consult on a
matter, which in my judgment relates to the highest welfare of
the nation. In contemplation of a vacancy in the chief
executive office, at all times liable to occur, it is
important that the succession to the crown should be
definitely established in a constitutional manner. To this
subject I invite your attention, in the full confidence that
the recommendation I am about to make will receive at your
hands a hearty concurrence.
The Constitution points out the mode of procedure to be
adopted, and I avail myself of the authority thus vested in me
to designate my infant son, the Prince of Hawaii, as my heir
and successor to the Throne. Your assent and co-operation in
the measure are required, but I do not doubt your ready and
loyal support, not only on grounds relating to the stability
of the existing dynasty, but from motives intimately connected
with the public good.
PROCLAMATION.
KAMEHAMEHA IV., of the Hawaiian Islands, King, to all Our
loving subjects, and others to whom these Presents shall come,
Greeting:--
Be it known that We, in concurrence with Our House of Nobles,
hereby appoint and proclaim Our Son, His Royal Highness the
Prince of Hawaii, to be Our Successor and Heir to the Hawaiian
Throne.
Done at Our Palace, at Honolulu, this third day of October,
in the year of Our Lord 1859, and the fifth year of Our
Reign.
(Signed,) KAMEHAMEHA.
(Signed) KAAHUMANU.
By the King and Kuhina Nui.
(Signed,) L. KAMEHAMEHA.
MAY 23D, 1860.
_The King's Speech to the Legislature of 1860._
NOBLES AND REPRESENTATIVES:--In accordance with the
Constitution, I have called you together in Legislative
assembly.
It is with pleasure that I make known to you that my relations
with Foreign Powers are in an amicable and satisfactory
position, and to the Report of my Minister of Foreign Affairs
I direct your attention for information in relation to the
Department under his care.
The Chief Justice in his Report has given a general view of
the administration of the department of law. There are some
portions of the report to which I desire to call your special
attention. By reference to the comparative view of convictions
contained therein, you will observe that two classes of
offences against the laws constitute nearly two-thirds of the
whole number of convictions. The inevitable effect of these
offences is to demoralize and destroy the people, and I would
designate as well worthy of your careful consideration and
adoption, the recommendations of the Chief Justice in relation
to such amendments or alterations of the existing laws as will
tend to eradicate or diminish these evils.
The Report of the Minister of the Interior will furnish you
with full information in relation to the affairs of his
department for the last two years. The financial prospects of
the country, as exhibited in the Report of the Minister of
Finance, are satisfactory, and I would particularly direct to
your favorable consideration his suggestion that provision be
made for paying off outstanding liabilities as they become
due. I would also call to your attention for careful
consideration, his suggestions in relation to the assessments
and collection of taxes, and in relation to the transit
duties; also to the proposed alteration in the mode of
remunerating District Justices.
The all-important subject of Education now occupies the public
mind with more than usual interest, and I particularly
recommend to your favorable notice the suggestions of the
President of the Board of Education, with reference to
substituting English for Hawaiian schools, in so far as may be
practicable, and also in relation to the granting of Government
aid towards independent schools for the education and moral
training of females.
Through the laudable efforts of a number of private
individuals--whom I take this first public opportunity of
thanking--several establishments of this latter description
have been instituted during the past year; and although thus
far little more than a commencement in the good work has been
made, their progress has been satisfactory. I dwell on this
subject, Nobles and Representatives, because our very
existence as a people depends on the youthful training of the
future mothers of our land, and that must not be jeopardized
through lack of effort on our part.
To your careful consideration I recommend the proposed
amendments to the Constitution, as passed by the last
Legislature.
The "Queen's Hospital," at Honolulu, instituted for the relief
of the sick and indigent, has now been in operation for nine
months, and to this praiseworthy institution I direct your
attention, that suitable provision in aid thereof may be made
in the biennial estimates, with a view also that branch
Dispensaries may be established at other places in the
Kingdom.
In conclusion, Nobles and Representatives, I trust that in
your deliberations on the necessary business that may come
before you, that you will combine care with dispatch, and I
will join with you in supplicating the Ruler of all nations
for that wisdom which will best direct your efforts.
MAY 30, 1860.
_His Majesty's Reply to Rev. W. P. Alexander, on behalf of the "Hawaiian
Evangelical Association."_
I assure you, gentlemen, that no expression of good will
towards myself or my people is necessary on your part; that is
well known. Nor need I say that the same confidence and
friendly regard which was ever cherished towards you by my
predecessors is entertained by myself. The feeling with me is
not only personal but hereditary.
In regard to those portions of my speech to the Legislature to
which you are pleased to refer, I shall certainly rely upon
the co-operation of the clergy in carrying into effect any
measures that may be adopted for the suppression of those
great evils referred to, and I am confident that I shall have
it not only in this but in every other good work.
Gentlemen and ladies, I am always happy to see you, while on
these yearly visits to the metropolis.
AUGUST 14, 1860.
_His Majesty's Special Message to the House of Nobles and
Representatives, delivered by the Royal Commissioners._
KAMEHAMEHA IV., by the Grace of God King of the Hawaiian
Islands:
_To His Excellency_ M. KEKUANAOA, _Our Governor of Oahu, and
the Honorable_ ELISHA H. ALLEN, Our Chancellor:
GREETING:--We hereby commission you in Our place and stead, to
deliver to the Nobles and Representatives, Our Message,
touching certain alterations proposed to be made in the
Constitution of Our Kingdom: And for so doing this shall be
your sufficient warrant.
Given at Our Palace in Honolulu, this Fourteenth day of August,
in the year of our Lord 1860, and in the sixth year of
Our reign.
KAMEHAMEHA.
KAAHUMANU.
At the request of the President, Mr. R. Armstrong read the Royal Message
in Hawaiian, after which the Chancellor read the same in English. The
following is the English version:
NOBLES AND REPRESENTATIVES:--I called the attention of the
last Legislature to the amendments of the Constitution.
Experience of the practical operation of that instrument has
impressed me with their importance, and in this view that body
coincided. But from some omission the publication was not made
in conformity to the provision of the Constitution, and hence
you have very properly expressed your constitutional inability
to pass finally upon the amendments as adopted by them.
Therefore, it has become my duty to call your attention to
some of those amendments, as well as others, which a more
mature reflection has suggested.
I regard favorably the eligibility of the Ministers to the
House of Representatives. The experience of monarchical
governments has illustrated the importance of their services
to the popular branch. It is a power of selection which may be
wisely entrusted to the people to exercise. A property
qualification of a limited amount will tend to make the
selection from the more substantial men of the Kingdom, and
the payment by a salary for their services, I regard as more
just than a per diem allowance as now provided. A limited
number of appointments to the House of Nobles for a term of
years may afford that body valuable aid.
When the Constitution was adopted, its provisions in reference
to a successor to the throne, were made with especial
reference to my Predecessor, who had no lineal heirs.
Additional provisions now seem to be necessary as a protection
to the Heir Apparent to the Throne, and so secure beyond
reasonable contingencies the stable administration of the
sovereignty.
I regard a regency by the Queen, in cases of temporary vacancy
of the Throne, or during a minority of the Heir Apparent, as
the best means to secure a wise and safe exercise of regal
authority, with proper regard to the rights of all persons. It
would be a safe depository of power, for no one can feel a
more sincere interest for the honor and prosperity of the
Kingdom than the Queen Consort, and the mother of the Heir
Apparent. Amendments which will secure these objects, you will
regard as the part of wisdom to adopt.
There are some minor amendments which will be submitted, to
which I do not regard it as essential more particularly to
advert. Of their wisdom and propriety I am fully impressed.
Relying upon your wisdom and your devotion to the integrity
and prosperity of my Kingdom, I have the most entire
confidence that the amendments proposed will receive your most
careful consideration.
AUGUST 28, 1860.
_His Majesty's Speech at the Prorogation of the Legislature of 1860._
NOBLES AND REPRESENTATIVES:--In meeting you to-day at the
close of your session, I have first to ask you to join with me
in returning thanks to the Ruler of all nations for His
beneficent providence in restoring to health one of your
number from that dangerous illness with which he has been
afflicted, whose loss would have been a grievous calamity to
the welfare of my Kingdom.[B]
I beg to congratulate you on the termination of your labors,
and trust that the new enactments passed by your joint wisdom
may prove to be for the advantage and welfare of my people.
I have to thank you, Gentlemen of the House of
Representatives, for the provisions you have made for the
expenses of the State during the current biennial period.
While I regret with you, Nobles and Representatives, that,
owing to the near approach to the termination of this session,
you have been unable to take final action on the Amendments to
the Constitution submitted to you with my late Message, I
fully concur in the wisdom of your course--as made known to me
by your Joint Committee--in deferring that important subject
for that more mature consideration it requires.
Nobles and Representatives, in conformity with the
Constitution, I now and hereby do declare this session of the
Legislature to be prorogued.
[Footnote B: The King here refers to H. R. H. Prince Kamehameha, who had
been dangerously ill.]
NOVEMBER 28, 1860.
_Replies of His Majesty to the Addresses of the Diplomatic and Consular
Corps, on the occasion of the Anniversary of the Joint Declaration by
Great Britain and France of the 28th of November, 1843, Recognizing this
Kingdom as an Independent State._
His Majesty, in reply to Mr. Perrin, H. I. M.'s Commissioner, expressed
himself deeply gratified with the repeated kind offices of the two
Governments, whose congratulations had been so happily tendered by His
Excellency, and his confidence in the continuation of the same friendly
relations.
And to Mr. Green, who had addressed His Majesty on behalf of himself as
H. B. M. Acting Commissioner and Consul General, and of the Consular
Corps, His Majesty replied:
For the congratulations you have just offered in so genuine a
form, that any doubt as to their sincerity would be
impossible, I offer you my kind thanks. The Consular corps has
always sympathized with me and my people in everything that
regards the real and physical prosperity of these islands.
Indeed it could not be otherwise, for commerce makes our
interests identical. It is with great pleasure that I see on
this occasion the officers of a ship of war of that nation
which concurred in the initiation of the declaration of the
independence of these islands, the anniversary of which
gracious act we this day celebrate.
FEBRUARY 9, 1861.
_His Majesty's Replies To the Addresses of the Diplomatic Corps, and to
the Consuls of Foreign Nations, Congratulating Him on the Anniversary of
His 27th Birth-day._
His Majesty replied to M. Perrin and the members of the Diplomatic Corps
in the following gracious terms:
GENTLEMEN:--For the congratulations you have just offered me
on the recurrence of the anniversary of my birthday, I thank
you very kindly indeed. I do indeed hope that further
experience may offer me new lights by which to be directed in
my endeavors to secure prosperity to all who dwell within this
Kingdom. But let me assure you that your felicitations on this
occasion cannot fail to stimulate and encourage me, for they
show that at least up to this very day the large and
predominating powers you represent, are good enough to survey
with satisfaction, and through you, Gentlemen, to express
their satisfaction for the present, and their hopes for the
future, in the conduct of my Government, and with God's help,
I will not disappoint them. In justice to myself and your kind
expressions connected with the names of the Queen and our son,
I must express the peculiar pleasure with which that portion
of your address has filled me.
To Mr. Reiners and all other Consuls of foreign nations, his Majesty
made the following gracious answer:
GENTLEMEN:--To congratulations so warm and so flatteringly
addressed, it is difficult to reply so as to be satisfied that
I have done justice to your feelings as they have this moment
been expressed. I and my house have, indeed, a great deal for
which to be thankful to Divine Providence, and on this
twenty-seventh anniversary of my birthday, I cannot but be
sensible of the debt I owe to the King of Kings. Any occasion
which is converted into an opportunity for the expression of
satisfaction and cordiality on the part of those who represent
great external interests, must be gratifying to one whose
position is a difficult one, even when things are at the very
best, if due allowance be made for the number of conflicting
interests to be respected, and more than that, fostered.
At a time when our commerce is drooping from causes beyond the
control of any Government, it is a source of high satisfaction
to me to receive so many well wishes for the continuance of my
rule from gentlemen so perfectly adapted as yourselves to
judge of the benefits which my reign is likely to bestow. On
the part of the Queen and the Prince of Hawaii, I thank you,
most kindly and sincerely, for your prayers in their behalf.
Transcriber's note
Minor punctuation errors have been corrected without notice. The
following words were spelled in two different ways and were not changed:
birthday, birth-day
preeminently, pre-eminently
interisland, inter-island
A few obvious typographical errors have been corrected and are listed
below.
Page 15: "to be regreted" changed to "to be regretted".
Page 16: "circumstances that will alway" changed to "circumstances that
will always".
Page 19: "these island" changed to "these islands".
Page 19: "I forsee a high" changed to "I foresee a high".
Page 24: "an Hospital established" changed to "a Hospital established".
Page 34: "Prince may develope" changed to "Prince may develop".
Page 34: "child is your's" changed to "child is yours".
Page 36: "Prorogueing the Legislature" changed to "Proroguing the
Legislature".
Page 36: "an Hospital in Honolulu" changed to "a Hospital in Honolulu".
*** End of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "Speeches of His Majesty Kamehameha IV. To the Hawaiian Legislature" ***
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