"We want the possessions of these land holders to be respected without their being obliged to pay any canon, lease or tax whatsoever of religious character, depressive or unjust, ceasing thus their detainment, anti-juridicial and anti-social, on the part of monarchial orders, rapacious orders whom, on the strength of their being a 'necessary evil,' the ignorant functionaries of Spanish administration, like themselves insatiable extortioners, have been aiding, in disdain of right, reason and equity.
"We want in order to consolidate the property, the ominous 'Inspection de Montes,' to disappear and cease in its actual functions, as a disorganizing and fiscalizing center of the titles of property of the natives, which on pretense of investigating and discovering the detainment of State lands, had the custom of declaring the property of the State or of others, such as was already cultivated and producing by the improvements made by the poor peasant, awarding such to their friends or to those who bribe them if the legitimate proprietor refused to give them, in shameless auction, what they asked for as a remuneration for what they called 'shutting their eyes,' as has happened lately, amongst other scandalous cases, in Mindoro, when staking out the limits of the new Hacienda adjudged there to the Recoleto Priests.
"We want public administration to be founded and to act on a basis of morality, economy and competence, in the charge of natives of the country or of such others who by their experience and learning can serve us as guides and teach us the basis and the system of those countries who have their economical, political and administrative offices and proceedings simplified and well organized.
"We want the recognition of all the substantive rights of the human personality; guaranteed by judicial power, cemented in the principles in force in all the cultured nations; that the judicial authorities, when applying the laws, be penetrated by and identified with the spirit and the necessities of the locality; that the administration of justice be developed by simple, economical and decisive proceedings; and that judges and magistrates have their attributions limited by the functions of a jury and by verbal and public judgment, making thus disappear the actual state of affairs, of which prevarication and crooked dealings are the natural and necessary mark.
"We want sensible codes, adapted to our manner of being without differentiation of races and without odious privileges contrary to the principle of equality before the law.
"We want the increase and protection of our industries by means of subventions and of local and transient privileges without putting barriers to the general exchange of produce and of mercantile transactions with all the nations of the globe without exception.
"We want liberty of banking business, liberty of mercantile and industrial societies and companies, commercial liberty, and that the Philippines cease to be shut up amongst the walls of its convents, to become again the universal market, like that of Hongkong, that of Singapore, that of the Straits, that of Borneo, that of the Moluccas, and that of some of the autonomous colonies of Australia, countries which surround us; and that capital may with confidence develop all the elements of wealth of this privileged soil, without more duties or charges on import and export than those the circumstances of each epoch may require for determined purposes.
"We want roads, canals and ports, the dredging of our rivers and other waterways, railroads, tramways and all the means of locomotion and transport, on water and earth, with such help and assistance as may be needed to carry them out within a certain time and develop them conveniently.
"We want the suppression of the so-called 'Guardia Civil,' this pretorian and odious institution in whose malignment and inhuman meshes so many Philippine martyrs have suffered and expired; that center of tortures and iniquities, those contemptible flatterers of small tyrants and of the concupiscense of the priests, those insatiable extortioners of the poor native; those hardened criminals animated constantly in their perverseness by the impunity with which their accomplices, the representatives of despotism and official immorality, covered them.
"In their stead we want a judicial and gubernatorial police, which is to watch over and oblige the fulfillment of existing laws and regulations without tortures and abuses.
"We want a local army, composed of native volunteers, strictly limited to what order and natural defense demands.
"We want a public instruction less levitical and more extensive in what refers to natural and positive sciences; so that it may be fitted to industrate woman as well as man in the establishment and development of the industries and wealth of the country, marine and terrestrial mining, forestal and industrial of all kinds, an instruction which is to be free of expenses in all its degrees and obligatory in its primary portion, leaving and applying to this object all such property as is destined to-day to supply the sustainment of the same; taking charge of the administration of such property a Council of Public Instruction, not leaving for one moment longer in the hands of religious institutions, since these teach only prejudice and fanaticism, proclaiming, as did not long since a rector of the university of Manila, that 'medicine and physical sciences are materialistic and impious studies,' and another, that 'political economy was the science of the devil.'
"We want to develop this public instruction, to have primary schools, normal schools, institutes of second degree, professional schools, universities, museums, public libraries, meteorological observatories, agricultural schools, geological and botanical gardens and a general practical and theoretical system of teaching agriculture, arts and handicraft and commerce. All this exists already in the country, but badly organized and dispersed, costing the contributors a good deal without practical results, which might have been expected, by the incompetency of the teachers and the favoritism employed in their nominations and remunerations.
"We want laws for hunting and fishing, and teaching and regular vigilance for the faithful carrying on of pisciculture, well-known already to the natives, for the advantageous disposing of their marine products, such as conch shell, mother of pearl, pearls, bichi de mer, ray skins, fish lime, etc., and for the raising of all kinds of animals useful for agricultural and industrial purposes and as victuals for the natives and for export.
"We want liberty of immigration and assistance for foreign settlers and capitalists, with such restrictions only, when there be an opportunity, as limit actually Chinese immigration, similar to legislature on this point in North America and Australia.
"We want, finally, anything that be just, equitable and orderly; all that may be basis for development, prosperity and well being; all that may be a propelling element of morality, virtue and respect to the mutual rights of all the inhabitants, in their minor relations and in those with the foreigner.
"Do not believe that the American nation is unbelieving or fanatically protestant, that it take to the scaffold or to the fire those who do not believe determined principles and practice special religious creeds; within that admirable organization, masterly and living model of perfection for the old nations of Europe and Asia, lives and prospers the Roman Catholic Church.
"There are some seven million inhabitants who profess that religion directed by natural clergy with their proper ministers, taken from that fold of Christ.
"Then there are bishops, archbishops, cardinals of the Roman Church,American subjects, beloved faithful of the Pope Leo XIII.
"There then is a Temporal Apostolical Delegate representative of the legitimate successor of St. Peter; there are parsons, canons, dignitaries and provisors, who live and teach in order peace and prosperity, respected by one and all, as you yourselves will be the day the American flag will influence in the spiritual direction of the Philippine people.
"Then there are cathedrals, parish churches, temples and chapels, sumptuous and admired, where they adore the same God of the Sinai and Golgotha, where severs and ostensive cult is rendered to Immaculate Virgin Mary and to the Saints you have on your altars and none dare to destroy, attack or prostitute them.
"There then are seminaries, convents, missions, fraternities, schools, everything Catholic, richly furnished, well kept up and perfectly managed to the glory of the religion.
"There resides His Eminence Cardinal Gibbons, a wise Roman Catholic prelate, American citizen, who recently and on occasion of the present war, has ordered, with consent of His Sanctity, that all the catholic clergy of the American nation raise daily prayers to the Most High to obtain the triumph of the arms of their country, for the good of religion and humanity, which cause, in the present conflict legitimately and unquestionably represents that government.
"And just as Christ, to be Messiah, had to be according to the prophecies, Jew and of the Tribe of Judah, that is: By right of his political fatherland, as by that of his native soil, of the chosen people, thus amongst you who ever wants to be a clergyman or merit being canon, dignitary, provisor, bishop, archbishop and cardinal, must as an indispensable condition, have been born on your proper soil, as is occurring absolutely in all the civilized nations of the old and new world, with the only exception of the Philippines.
"There may be priests, religious congregations, nuns and convents, but submissive to the laws of the country and obliged to admit in their bosom as formerly happened in these isles, as estimable and superior members of such institutions, those feel a vocation for a conventual life, as the noble and generous people of North America will demand, and will, do not doubt it, recognize these your legitimate rights.
Filipinos and Countrymen.
"The protection of the great American Republic will make you respected and considered before the cultured powers, legitimately constituted; and your personality will be proclaimed and sanctioned everywhere.
"We have the duty to exact the rights we have just proclaimed and the 'natives' in all the isles and in all their different races, as well as the 'Mestizo Sangley,' as the 'Mestizo Espanol,' and the 'Son of the Country,' we all have the honorable duty of defending ourselves against the whip and the contempt of the Spaniards, accepting the protection and direction of the humane North American nation.
Viva Filipinos
Hurrah for liberty and right.Hurrah for the Grand Republic of the United States of North America.Hurrah for President McKinley and Rear Admiral Dewey.[ERROR: unhandled comment start]
—>The Junta Patriotica.
"Hongkong, April, 1898."
Under the authority of the United States there have been inquiries by a court into the causes of the imprisonment of the inmates of the penitentiary and common jail at Manila, and others who have suffered from the enmities of the members of the government that ceased when the Spanish flag was taken down and the American flag raised. The memoranda following were made in the court proceedings, and state the facts as judicially established.
Fulgencia Tuazon.
This lady was confined in Bilibid seven years ago (though the record shows July 11, 1898,) by order of the Governor-General, on a charge of selling counterfeit stamps. She was tried, and sentenced to six years' confinement; but the Judge accepted a bribe of $900 and released her about a week after her trial. A year afterwards she was again arrested by a new judge on the same charge, and $3,000 was demanded as the price of her liberty. This was refused, and imprisonment followed. She claims to have bought the stamps (which were telegraph stamps), from the Government.
Dorotea Arteaga.
This young lady, who was a school teacher in her native province, Montinlupa, Manila province, was confined in Bilibid, August 8th, 1895, charged with "sacrilege and robbery," and insurrection. She came to Malate to see about her license as a school teacher, and was arrested by the civil guard on the above charge. She claims her arrest was instigated by a priest who had made overtures to her to have carnal intercourse with him, and had attempted the same, and had been repulsed and refused. To cover up his ill-doing he caused her arrest on the charge of having stolen part of the vessels used in the communion service of the Roman Catholic church. She has never been married and the Alcalde says, "Her conduct in prison has been very good."
Senora Maxima Guerrera.
This woman was born in Santa Cruz, in 1838, and has been confined in Bilibid since 1890, though the record shows that she was imprisoned July 11, 1898, by order of the Governor-General. This date, however, is admitted to be an error by the Alcalde, without any explanation of the error. The record shows that she was imprisoned because she objected to the Government taking wood off her property without paying for it. She claims that since her imprisonment, the Government has confiscated $10,000 worth of her property.
Felipe Rementina.
This prisoner was confined in the year 1889, when only 12 years old. At that time a revolution was in progress in the province in which he resided, and he was "captured" by the Spanish forces and sent to Bilibid Carcel. He did not know with what he was charged, and while he was tried, he never received any sentence.
Jose David.
"I was put in here June 13th, 1898. Am a civilian and a 'Katipunan.' Was tried, but never sentenced." The foregoing is the testimony of the prisoner Jose David, and is quoted here as an example of the testimony of some hundreds of others, which is almost identical. Large numbers of the natives seem to be members of the "Katipunan" society, which appears to be a revolutionary brotherhood of some kind. They have been imprisoned for terms varying from one or two months to several years (in some cases ten or twelve years), upon the charge of belonging to this society; in very many cases without trial, and in the majority with no sentence whatever, and, very largely, simply "on suspicion."
Agapito Calibugar.
This man was arrested by the Civil Guard, in July, 1889, in his own house, and was tried but not sentenced, or rather did not know what his sentence was. He was told that his sentence was served out, but he could not be returned to his own province of Negros because the Governor had no ships available for that purpose. He had no idea why he was arrested and tried. There are several other cases similar to this one, in which the charge is "resisting armed forces"—most of which were tried by court martial, and never sentenced.
Gregorio Domingo.
This prisoner was confined in Bilibid Carcel on the 25th of November, 1896, the entry on the prison record against his name being "no se espresa"—"no charge expressed." He was, of course, neither tried nor sentenced, but had been in prison almost two years, with absolutely no reason attempted to be made for his confinement. This case is also cited as an example of many similar ones.
Jose Trabado.
This is the case of a man who was a member of the Katipunan society, but who was tried and sentenced. He was imprisoned in Bilibid Carcel, May 5th, 1898, his sentence being confinement "cardena perpetua"—"in chains forever." He was one of five men who received the same sentence for a like offence. He, with the others, was set free August 31st, 1898.
Silvino De Castro.
In this case the prisoner, who was formerly employed as a clerk in a grocery store, was imprisoned in Bilibid Carcel on the 25th of December, 1897, charged with having stolen $4.50 (Spanish, which represents about $2.25 American). His story was that he was sent out to collect a bill, but lost the said bill, and was therefore accused by his employer of stealing the money, and was imprisoned, He was tried, but never received any sentence.
Don Fernando Sierra.
The prisoner above named is a full-blooded Spaniard, thirty-eight years of age, married, and has one child, three months old. He was confined in Bilibid, May 28, 1893, for "insulting" a civil guard, while drunk, and was tried and sentenced to six years and six months imprisonment. He had already served over five years of this sentence, when he was released September 2nd, 1898.
Cristan del Carmen.
This man was confined in the Carcel De Bilibid, the "common prison,"May 4th, 1898, and his offense was that he was "suspected of being anAmerican!" For this heinous crime he was neither tried nor sentenced.
Julian Soriano.
In this case the prisoner was confined in Bilibid, March 25th, 1895, after having been in prison one year in his province on suspicion of being implicated in the killing of a civil guard at a place colled Balauga. He was tried by a sergeant of the civil guard, who caused him to be tortured in order to wring a confession from him. This torture was inflicted by means of a thin rope or cord, tied very tightly around the muscles of the arm above the elbow (cutting into the flesh deeply), and left there in some instances for thirty days. In some cases the men were also hung up, the weight of the body being sustained by the cords around the arms. Several of the prisoners have deep scars on their arms caused by the torture. This man was never sentenced.
Leon Bueno.
The charge against this man was that he had stolen a pig, and he was confined in Bilibid, March 21st, 1893, after being tried and sentenced to eight years' imprisonment. He had already served over five years when released Sept. 3, 1898.
Jose Castillo.
This man was confined in Bilibid Carcel, December loth, 1894, charged with "insulting the armed forces of Spain." His version of the reason for his imprisonment is as follows: His cousin and a lieutenant in the guardia civile were very close friends, and the said cousin, wishing to present a cow to the lieutenant, applied to the prisoner for one, which was given to him. Later on the cousin thought he would like to present his friend with another cow, so applied to the prisoner for cow No. 2, and was this time refused. In order to take vengeance on the prisoner, the cousin denounced him to the civil guard lieutenant as a "bandit," and he was arrested and imprisoned as above. The prisoner was sixty years of age.
Anastacio de Mesa.
The story of this prisoner seems to be particularly sad. He was a chorister or sacristan in a Roman Catholic church, with several others, and was arrested, with his companions, by the civil guard, charged with "sacrilege." The truth of the matter, however, seems to be as follows: The prisoner had a sweetheart with whom a lieutenant of the civil guard, named de Vega, appears to have been infatuated. After imprisoning Anastacio de Mesa and his companions upon the above charge, which seems to be without foundation entirely, de Vega took the girl, and compelled her by force and against her will to live with him as his mistress. The girl soon died, her end, no doubt, being hastened by the brutal cruelty of de Vega. These young men, hardly more than boys, were imprisoned on August 3, 1895, after having been tried by court martial, but not sentenced. They have now been liberated. It should be stated that de Vega himself constituted the "court martial" before which these boys were tried.
Note.—There are several cases of arrests for "insulting and resisting the armed forces of Spain." In the case of Pedro Javier, the accused was over seventy years old, and in that of Miguel de la Cruz, he was seventy-five years old; while in one or two other cases boys of ten or twelve years of age were arrested on the same charge.
Hawaii As Annexed.
The Star Spangled Banner Up Again in Hawaii, and to Stay—Dimensions of the Islands—What the Missionaries Have Done—Religious Belief by Nationality—Trade Statistics—Latest Census—Sugar Plantation Laborers—Coinage of Silver—Schools—Coffee Growing.
The star spangled banner should have been waving in peaceful triumph over our central possessions in the Pacific for five years. Now Old Glory has ascended the famous flag-staff, from which it was mistakenly withdrawn, and is at home. Its lustrous folds are welcomed by a city that is strangely American, in the sense that it is what the world largely calls "Yankee," and does not mean bad manners by the most expressive word that has so vast a distinction. The shops of Honolulu are Americanized. There is a splendid blossoming of the flag of the country. The British parties of opposition have faded out. There is the wisdom in English statesmanship to be glad to see us with material interest in the Pacific Ocean. In this connection there is something better than a treaty.
Do not mispronounce the name of the capital city of the Hawaiian Islands. Call it Hoo-noo-luu-luu and let it sing itself. Remember that this city is not on the larger of the islands, but the third in size. The area of Hawaii, the greater island, is 4,210 square miles. Oahu, the Honolulu island, has 600 square miles, with a population of 40,205, and Hawaii has 33,285 people. The area of the islands, told in acres is, Hawaii, 2,000,000; Nani, 400,000; Oahu, 260,000; Kauai, 350,000; Malokai, 200,000; Lauai, 100,000; Nichan, 70,000; Kahloolawe, 30,000. The dimensions of the tremendous volcanoes that are our property now are startling:
Dimensions of Kilauea, Island of Hawaii.(The largest active Volcano in the World.)
Area, 4.14 square miles, or 2,650 acres.Circumference, 41,500 feet, or 7.85 miles.Extreme width, 10,300 feet, or 1.95 miles.Extreme length, 15,500 feet, or 2.93 miles.Elevation, Volcano House, 1,040 feet.
Dimensions of Mokuaweoweo.(The Summit Crater of Mauna Loa, Island of Hawaii.)
Area, 3.70 square miles, or 2,370 acres.Circumference, 50,000 feet, or 9.47 miles.Length, 19,500 feet, or 3.7 miles.Width, 9,200 feet, or 1.74 miles.Elevation, 13,675 feet.
Dimensions of Haleakala.(The great Crater of Maui, the Largest in the World.)
Area, 19 square miles, or 12,160 acres. Circumference, 105,600 feet, or 20 miles. Extreme length, 39,500 feet, or 7.48 miles. Extreme width, 12,500 feet, or 2.37 miles. Elevation of summit, 10,032 feet. Elevation of principal cones in crater, 8,032 and 7,572 feet. Elevation of cave in floor of crater, 7,380 feet.
Dimensions of Iao Valley, Maui.
Length (from Wailuku) about 5 miles.Width of valley, 2 miles.Depth, near head, 4,000 feet.Elevation of Puu Kukui, above head of valley, 5,788 feet.Elevation of Crater of Eke, above Waihee Valley, 4,500 feet.
Honolulu's importance comes from the harbor, and the favor of the missionaries. As to the general judgment of the work of the missionaries, there is nothing better to do than to quote Mr. Richard H. Dana's "Two Years Before the Mast." He said in that classic:
"It is no small thing to say of the missionaries of the American Board, that in less than forty years they have taught this whole people to read and write, to cipher and to sew. They have given them an alphabet, grammar and dictionary; preserved their language from extinction; given it a literature and translated into it the Bible, and works of devotion, science and entertainment, etc. They have established schools, reared up native teachers, and so pressed their work that now the proportion of inhabitants who can read and write is greater than in New England. And, whereas, they found these islanders a nation of half-naked savages, living in the surf and on the sand, eating raw fish, fighting among themselves, tyrannized over by feudal chiefs and abandoned to sensuality, they now see them decently clothed, recognizing the law of marriage, knowing something of accounts, going to school and public worship more regularly than the people do at home, and the more elevated of them taking part in conducting the affairs of the constitutional monarchy under which they live, holding seats on the judicial bench and in the legislative chambers, and filling posts in the local magistracies."
Take away the tropical vegetation and the gigantic scenery and we have here, in our new Pacific possessions, a new Connecticut. The stamp of New England is upon this lofty land, especially in Honolulu, where the spires of the churches testify. There is much that is of the deepest and broadest interest in the possible missionary work here, on account of the remarkable race questions presented. Here are the nations and the people of mixed blood—the Chinese, Japanese and Portuguese—a population immensely representative of Oriental Asia. The measure of success of the missionaries under our flag in dealing with these people can hardly fail to be accepted by the world as a test of the practical results of the labor with the Asiatica. In this connection, the figures following, from the Hawaiian Annual of 1898, furnish a basis of solid information for study:
Table of Religious Belief, By Nationality.(So Far as Reported in Census Returns, 1896.)
RomanNationalities. Protestants. Catholics.Mormons.Hawaiians………………. 12,842 8,427 4,368Part Hawaiians………….. 3,242 2,633 396Hawaiian born foreigners…. 1,801 6,622 15Americans………………. 1,404 212 34British………………… 1,184 180 7Germans………………… 592 83 2French…………………. 6 57 …..Norwegians……………… 154 8 …..Portuguese……………… 146 7,812 1Japanese……………….. 711 49 4Chinese………………… 837 67 49South Sea Islanders……… 178 42 3Other nationalities……… 176 171 7====== ====== =====Totals…………… 23,273 26,363 4,886
Note.—This table shows but 54,522 of the population (just about one-half) to have made returns of their religious belief. With 21,535 Japanese and 18,429 Chinese (probably Buddhists and Confucians) unreported because not provided for in the schedules, the great difference is largely accounted for.
The latest census returns show that of the whole population, 109,020, there are: Males, 72,517; females, 36,503. The latest information of labor, under contract for sugar-making, make the number of males on the island more than double that of the females. There has been an increase of population of more than 50,000 in the eighteen years from 1878 to 1896. The census of the several islands, taken September 27, 1896, shows:
Population. Dwellings.Unin-Male. Female. Total. Inhab- habi- Build- Total.ited. ted. ing.Oahu…. 26,164 14,041 40,205 6,685 1,065 60 7,010Hawaii.. 22,632 10,653 33,285 5,033 955 35 6,027Molokai. 1,335 972 2,307 651 92 3 746Lanai… 51 54 105 23 13 .. 36Maui…. 11,435 6,291 17,726 3,156 650 18 3,824Niihau.. 76 88 164 31 3 .. 34Kauai .. 10,824 4,404 15,228 2,320 299 8 2,627====== ====== ======= ====== ===== === ======72,517 36,503 109,020 17,099 3,081 124 21,104
Hawaii's annual trade balance since 1879 is a notable record:
Excess Export Custom House Year Imports. Exports. Values. Receipts. 1880 $3,673,268.41 $4,968,444.87 $1,295,176.46 $402,181.63 1881 4,547,978.64 6,885,436.56 2,337,457.92 423,192.01 1882 4,974,510.01 8,299,016,70 3,324,506.69 505,390.98 1883 5,624,240.09 8,133,343.88 2,509,103.79 577,332.87 1884 4,637,514.22 8,184,922.63 3,547,408.41 551,739.59 1885 3,830,544.58 9,158,818.01 5,328,273.43 502.337.38 1886 4,877,738.73 10,565,885.58 5,688,146.85 580,444.04 1887 4,943,840.72 9,707,047.33 4,763,206.61 595,002.64 1888 4,540,887.46 11,903,398.76 7,362,511.30 546,142.63 1889 5,438,790.63 14,039,941.40 8,601,150.77 550,010.16 1890 6,962,201.13 13,142,829.48 6,180,628.35 695,956.91 1891 7,438,582.65 10,395,788.27 2,957,205.62 732,594,93 1892 4,028,295.31 8,181,687.21 4,153,391.90 494,385.10 1893 4,363,177.58 10,962,598.09 5,599,420.51 545,754.16 1894 5,104,481.43 9,678,794.56 4,574,313.13 524,767.37 1895 5,714,017.54 8,474,138.15 2,760,120.61 547,149.40 1896 7,164,561.40 15,515,230.13 8,350,668.73 656,895.82
The percentage of imports from the United States in 1896 was 76.27;Great Britain, 10.54; Germany, 2.06; France, .25*; China, 4.17;Japan, 3.86. In 1895 the export of sugar was 294,784,819 pounds;value, $7,975,500.41.
Nationality of Vessels Employed in Foreign Carrying Trade, 1889-1896.
1889. 1890. 1891. 1892.Nations. No. Tons. No. Tons. No. Tons. No. Tons.American 185 125,196 224 153,098 233 169,472 212 160,042Hawaiian 44 56,670 35 43,641 21 26,869* *21 4,340British 22 21,108 16 22,912 33 52,866 30 58,317German 5 3,337 9 7,070 9 9,005 5 5,978Japanese .. ……. … ……. 5 8,239 3 4,701All others 9 12,268 9 9,980 10 8,401 11 8,201=== ======= === ======= === ======= === =======Total 269 218,579 293 236,701 311 274,852 722 242,579
Bonded Debt, Etc., Hawaiian Islands, June 30, 1897.
Per Cent.Under Loan Act of 1876 7 $ 1,500.00" " " 1882 6 67,400.00" " " 1886 6 2,000,000.00" " " 1888 6 190,000.00" " " 1890 5 and 6 124,100.00" " " 1892 5 and 6 82.100.00" " " 1893 6 650,000.00" " " 1890 5 222,000.00=============3,337,100.00Due Postal Savings Bank Depositors 782,074.25=============$4,119,174.25
Number and Nationality of Sugar Plantation Laborers.
(Compiled from latest Report of Secretary Bureau of Immigration,December 31, 1897.)
Hawaii- Portu- Japan- S. S. AllIslands. ans. guese. ese. Chinese. Isl'ders. Others. Total.Hawaii 594 980 6,245 2,511 24 232 10,586Mauai 580 526 2,010 1,114 45 110 4,385Oahu 197 211 1,331 973 16 55 2,783Kauai 244 551 3,307 1,691 30 203 6,026===== ===== ====== ===== === === ======Tot.1896 1,615 2,268 12,893 6,289 115 600 23,780Tot.1895 1,584 2,497 11,584 3,847 133 473 20,120===== ===== ====== ===== === === ======Inc.1896 31 ….. 1,309 2,442 … 127 3,660Dec.1899 ….. 231 …… ….. 18 … ……
The number of day laborers, 11,917, or a little over one-half of the total force engaged. The Japanese and South Sea Islanders are about evenly divided in their numbers as to term and day service, while Hawaiians and Portuguese show each but a small proportion of their numbers under contract. Minors are reducing in number. Women laborers, numbering 1,024 in all, show a gain of 89 over 1875. Only thirty Hawaiian females are engaged among all the plantations, and confined to one plantation each in Oahu, Kauai and Maui.
The Hawaiian Annual of 1898 makes this annotation:
During the year various changes have occurred in the labor population of the country; and under the working of the present law, requiring a proportion of other than Asiatic of all immigrant labor introduced, there has already arrived one company of Germans, comprising 115 men, 25 women and 47 children, all of whom found ready engagements with various plantations.
Chinese arrivals in 1897 to take the place of Japanese whose terms were expiring, will alter the proportions of these nationalities of plantation labor, and by the new law Asiatic laborers must return to their country at the expiration of their term of service, or re-engage; they cannot drift around the country, nor engage in competition with artizans or merchants.
The islands comprising the Hawaiian territory are Hawaii, Mauai, Oaha, Kauai, Molokai, Lauai, Niihau, Kahaalawe, Lehua and Molokini, "The Leper Prison," and, in addition, Nihoa, or Bird Island, was taken possession of in 1822; an expedition for that purpose having been fitted out by direction of Kaahumanu, and sent thither under the charge of Captain William Sumner.
Laysan Island became Hawaiian territory May 1st, 1857, and on the 10th of the same month Lysiansky Island was added to Kamehameha's realm by Captain John Paty.
Palmyra Island was taken possession of by Captain Zenas Bent, April 15th, 1862, and proclaimed Hawaiian territory in the reign of Kamehameha IV., as per "By Authority" notice in the "Polynesian" of June 21st, 1862.
Ocean Island was acquired September 20th, 1886, as per proclamation of Colonel J.M. Boyd, empowered for such service during the reign of Kalakaua.
Neeker Island was taken possession of May 27th, 1894, by CaptainJames A. King, on behalf of the Hawaiian Government.
French Frigate Shoal was the latest acquisition, also by Captain King, and proclaimed Hawaiian territory July 13th, 1895.
Gardener Island, Mara or Moro Reef, Pearl and Hermes Reef, Gambia Bank, and Johnston or Cornwallis Island are also claimed as Hawaiian possessions, but there is some obscurity as to the dates of acquisition, and it is of record in the Foreign Office articles of convention between Hen. Charles St. Julien, the Commissioner and Political and Commercial Agent of His Majesty the King of the Hawaiian Islands, and John Webster, Esq., the Sovereign Chief and Proprietor of the group of islands known as Stewart's Islands (situated near the Solomon Group), whereby is ceded to the Hawaiian Government—subject to ratification by the King—the islands of Ihikaiana, Te Parena, Taore, Matua Awi and Matua Ivoto, comprising said group of Stewart's Islands. But the formalities do not seem to have been perfected, so that we are not certain that the Stewart's Islands are our possessions. The latest thorough census of the Hawaiian Islands was taken in September, 1896, but the population was closely estimated July 1st, 1897.
Japan- Portu- All OtherNatives. Chinese. ese. guese. Foreigners. TotalPopulation as per Census,September, 1896 39,504 21,616 24,407 15,191 8,302 109,020Passengers-Arrivals-Excess over departures,4th quarter, 1896 …… 1,377 1,673 …… 339 3,389Excess over departures,6 mos. to July 1, 1897. …… 2,908 396 58 207 3,569====== ====== ====== ====== ====== ======Total 39,504 25,901 26,476 15,249 8,848 115,978
The following denominations of Hawaiian silver were coined during the reign of Kalakaua, at the San Francisco mint, and imported for the circulating medium of the islands in 1883 and 1884. They are of the same intrinsic value as the United States silver coins and were first introduced into circulation January 14th, at the opening of the bank of Clans Spreckles & Co. in Honolulu. The amount coined was $1,000,000, divided as follows:
Hawaiian Dollars……………………………..$ 500,000" Half Dollars………………………… 350,000" Quarter Dollars……………………… 125,000" Dimes………………………………. 25,000
Total……………………………………….$ 1,000,000
Schools, Teachers and Pupils for the Year 1896.
==Teachers.== ==Pupils.==Schools. Male. Female. Total. Male. Female.Government 132 111 169 280 5,754 4,435Independent 63 72 130 202 1,994 1,840==== ==== ==== ==== ====== ======195 183 299 482 7,748 6,275
Nationality of Pupils Attending Schools for the Year 1896.
Nationality. Male. Female.Hawaiian 3,048 2,432Part-Hawaiian 1,152 1,296American 219 198British 105 151German 152 136Portuguese 2,066 1,534Scandinavian 51 47Japanese 242 155Chinese 641 280South Sea Islanders 15 13Other foreigners 57 33===== =====7,748 6,275
Of the Japanese, 8.5 per cent. were born on the islands; of the Chinese, percentage born here, 10.3. Of a total of 41,711 Japanese and Chinese, 36,121 are males and 5,590 females. The figures show that the Asiatics are not at home.
The sugar industry in our new possessions has had great prominence agriculturally. The sugar interest of these islands has had a formidable influence in the United States. Recent events and the ascertained certainties of the future show that the people of the United States will soon raise their sugar supply on their own territory. The annexation of these sugar islands was antagonized because there was involved the labor contract system. As a matter of course, the United States will not change the labor laws of the nation to suit the sugar planters of Hawaii, who have been obtaining cheap labor through a system of Asiatic servitude. There is but one solution—labor will be better compensated in Hawaii than it has been, and yet white men will not be largely employed in the cultivation of sugar cane in our tropical islands. The beet sugar industry is another matter. There will be an end of the peculiar institution that has had strength in our new possessions, that brings, under contract, to Hawaii a mass of forty thousand Chinese and Japanese men, and turns over the majority of them to the plantations, whose profits have displayed an unwholesome aggrandizement. Once it was said cotton could not be grown in the cotton belt of our country without slave labor, but the latter trouble is, the cotton producers claim, there is too much of their product raised. A ten-million bale crop depresses the market. Already experiments have been tried successfully to pay labor in the sugar fields by the tons of cane delivered at the mills for grinding. This is an incident full of auspicious significance. A general feeling is expressed in the current saying that coffee raising is "the coming industry." The confidence that there is prosperity in coffee amounts to enthusiasm. Here are some of the statistics of coffee growers, showing number of trees and area, trees newly planted and trees in bearing:
No. of Trees or Area.Newly 1 to 3 Trees inPlanted. year old. Bearing.J. C. Lenhart, Kaupo 2,000 trs. 4,000 trs. ….Mokulau Coffee Co., Kaupo 2,000 trs. 10,000 trs. 2 acresE. E. Paxton, Kaupo 5,000 trs. 7,000 trs. ….Native Patches throughout Kaupo 10 acres …. ….Lahaina Coffee and Fruit Co., Ltd.,Lahaina 10,000 trs. 100,000 trs. 30,000 trs.H. P. Baldwin, Honokahua 35,947 trs. 4,669 trs. 2,641 trs.Waianae Coffee Plantation Co.,Waianae 7,500 trs. 23,000 trs. 36,000 trs.C. A. Wideman, Waianae 10,000 trs. 8,500 trs ….Makaha Coffee Co., Ltd., Waianae 112 acres …. ….Lanihau Plantation, Kailua 20,700 trs. 25,000 trs. 10,000 trs.Kona Coffee Co., Ltd., Kailua …. …. 35 acresGeo. McDougal & Sons, Kailua …. 176 acres 105 acresH. C. Achi, Holualoa …. …. 10,000 trs.E. W. Barnard, Laupahoehoe …. …. 30,000 trs.J. M. Barnard, Laupahoehoe …. 5,000 trs. ….John Gaspar, Napoopoo …. 33,000 trs. 16,000 trs.Manuel Sebastian, Kealakekua …. …. 8,000 trs.J. G. Henriques, Kealakekua …. …. 3,000 trs.C. Hooper, Kauleoli …. 2 acres 12 acresJ. Keanu, Keei 5 acres 10 acres 16 acresA. S. Cleghorn 3 acres …. 100 acresMrs. E. C. Greenwell …. 8 acres 25 acresJ. M. Monsarrat, Kolo …. 38 acres 40 acresQueen Emma Plantation …. …. 25,000 trs.L. M. Staples Plantation …. 25,000 trs. 12,000 trs.Olaa Coffee Co., Ltd 50 acres 90 acres ….Grossman Bros 100 acres 30 acres ….B. H. Brown 2,260 trs. 2,000 trs. 3,225 trs.Herman Eldart 40,000 trs. 20,000 trs. 7,000 trs.
The list of coffee growers is very long. That which is of greater interest is the showing made of the immense number of new trees. The coffee movement steadily gains force and the pace of progress is accelerated.
Everybody has not been pleased with annexation. The Japanese are not in a good humor about it. The minister of Japan got his orders evidently to leave for Japan when the news arrived that the question had been settled in Washington, and he left for Yokohama by the boat that brought the intelligence. Japanese journals of importance raise the question as to the propriety of our establishing a coal station here. There is some dissatisfaction among the Hawaiians, who are bewildered. They are children who believe stories in proportion as they are queer. Many of them feel that they have a grievance. The young princess who is the representative of the extinguished monarchy is affable and respected. If the question as to giving her substantial recognition were left to the Americans here, they would vote for her by a large majority. It would not be bad policy for the government to be generous toward her. She is not in the same boat with the ex-Queen. The Americans who have been steadfast in upholding the policy that at last has prevailed are happy, but not wildly so, just happy. Now that they have gained their cause, their unity will be shaken by discussions on public questions and personal preferments.
There should be no delay in understanding that in this Archipelago the race questions forbid mankind suffrage, and that our new possessions are not to become states at once, or hurriedly; that it will take generations of assimilation to prepare the Hawaiian Islands for statehood.
The objection to the climate of the marvelous islands of which we have become possessed is its almost changeless character. There is no serious variation in the temperature. There is a little more rain in "winter" than in "summer." There is neither spring nor fall. The trade winds afford a slight variety, and this seems to be manipulated by the mountains, that break up the otherwise unsparing monotony of serene loveliness. The elevations of the craters, and the jagged peaks are from one thousand to thirteen thousand feet. If you want a change of climate, climb for cold, and escape the mosquitos, the pests of this paradise. There are a score of kinds of palms; the royal, the date, the cocoanut, are of them. The bread fruit and banana are in competition. The vegetation is voluptuous and the scenery stupendous. There is a constellation of islands, and they differ like the stars in their glories and like human beings in their difficulties.
Early History of the Sandwich Islands.
Captain James Cook's Great Discoveries and His Martyrdom—Characterand Traditions of the Hawaiian Islands—Charges Against the FamousNavigator, and effort to Array the Christian World Against Him—TheTrue Story of His Life and Death—How Charges Against Cook Cameto Be Made—Testimony of Vancouver, King and Dixon, and LastWords of Cook's Journal—Light Turned on History That Has BecomeObscure—Savagery of the Natives—Their Written Language Took UpTheir High Colored Traditions, and Preserved Phantoms—Scenes inAboriginal Theatricals—Problem of Government in an Archipelago WhereRace Questions Are Predominant—Now Americans Should Remember CaptainCook as an Illustrious Pioneer.
Regarding the islands in the Pacific that we have for a long time largely occupied and recently wholly possessed, the Hawaiian cluster that are the stepping stone, the resting place and the coal station for the golden group more than a thousand leagues beyond, we should remember Captain Cook as one of our own Western pioneers, rejoice to read his true story, and in doing so to form a correct estimate of the people who have drifted into the area of our Protection, or territory that is inalienably our own, to be thoroughly Americanized, that they may some day be worthy to become our fellow-citizens.
Sunday, January 18th, 1778, Captain Cook, after seeing birds every day, and turtles, saw two islands, and the next day a third one, and canoes put off from the shore of the second island, the people speaking the language of Otaheite. As the Englishmen proceeded, other canoes appeared, bringing with them roasted pigs and very fine potatoes. The Captain says: "Several small pigs were purchased for a six-penny nail, so that we again found ourselves in a land of plenty. The natives were gentle and polite, asking whether they might sit down, whether they might spit on the deck, and the like. An order restricting the men going ashore was issued that I might do everything in my power to prevent the importation of a fatal disease into the island, which I knew some of our men now labored under." Female visitors were ordered to be excluded from the ships. Captain Cook's journal is very explicit, and he states the particulars of the failure of his precautions. This is a subject that has been much discussed, and there is still animosity in the controversy. The discovery of the islands that he called the Sandwich, after his patron the Earl of Sandwich, happened in the midst of our Revolutionary war. After Cook's explorations for the time, he sailed in search of the supposed Northwest passage, and that enterprise appearing hopeless, returned to the summer islands, and met his fate in the following December. Captain George Vancouver, a friend and follower of Cook, says, in his "Voyage of Discovery and Around the World." from 1790 to 1795:
"It should seem that the reign of George the Third had been reserved by the Great Disposer of all things for the glorious task of establishing the grand keystone to that expansive arch over which the arts and sciences should pass to the furthermost corners of the earth, for the instruction and happiness of the most lowly children of nature. Advantages so highly beneficial to the untutored parts of the human race, and so extremely important to that large proportion of the subjects of this empire who are brought up to the sea service deserve to be justly appreciated; and it becomes of very little importance to the bulk of our society, whose enlightened humanity teaches them to entertain a lively regard for the welfare and interest of those who engage in such adventurous undertakings for the advancement of science, or for the extension of commerce, what may be the animadversions or sarcasms of those few unenlightened minds that may peevishly demand, "what beneficial consequences, if any, have followed, or are likely to follow to the discoverers, or to the discovered, to the common interests of humanity, or to the increase of useful knowledge, from all our boasted attempts to explore the distant recesses of the globe?" The learned editor (Dr. Douglas, now Bishop of Salisbury) who has so justly anticipated this injudicious remark, has, in his very comprehensive introduction to Captain Cook's last voyage, from whence the above quotation is extracted, given to the public not only a complete and satisfactory answer to that question, but has treated every other part of the subject of discovery so ably as to render any further observations on former voyages of this description wholly unnecessary, for the purpose of bringing the reader acquainted with what had been accomplished, previously to my being honored with His Majesty's commands to follow up the labors of that illustrious navigator Captain James Cook; to whose steady, uniform, indefatigable and undiverted attention to the several objects on which the success of his enterprises ultimately depended, the world is indebted for such eminent and important benefits."
Captain George Vancouver pays, in the introduction of his report, a remarkable tribute to Captain Cook, that should become familiar to the American people, for it is one of the features of prevalent Hawaiian literature that the great navigator is much disparaged, and denounced. One of the favorite theories of the missionaries has been that Cook's death at the hands of the savages was substantially the punishment inflicted by God, because the Captain allowed himself to be celebrated and worshipped as a god by the heathen, consenting to their idolatry when he should have preached to them, as was done with so much efficiency nearly half a century later. The fact is the natives had a great deal of "religion" of their own, and defended their superstitions with skill and persistence before yielding to the great simplicities of the Christian faith. Captain Cook, it must be admitted, did not attempt to preach the gospel. The gentleness of the natives turned out to contain a great deal that was most horrible.
The closing years of the last century were those of rapid progress in the art of navigation, and Captain Vancouver gives this striking summary of testimony:
"By the introduction of nautical astronomy into marine education, we are taught to sail on the hypothenuse, instead of traversing two sides of a triangle, which was the usage in earlier times; by this means the circuitous course of all voyages from place to place is considerably shortened; and it is now become evident that sea officers of the most common rate abilities who will take the trouble of making themselves acquainted with the principles of this science, will, on all suitable occasions, with proper and correct instruments, be enabled to acquire a knowledge of their situation in the Atlantic, Indian or Pacific Oceans, with a degree of accuracy sufficient to steer on a meridianal or diagonal line, to any known spot, provided it be sufficiently conspicuous to be visible at any distance from five to ten leagues.
"This great improvement, by which the most remote parts of the terrestrial globe are brought so sasily within our reach, would nevertheless have been of comparatively little utility had not those happy means been discovered for preserving the lives and health of the officers and seamen engaged in such distant and perilous undertakings; which were so peacefully practiced by Captain Cook, the first great discoverer of this salutary system, in all his latter voyages around the globe. But in none have the effect of his wise regulations, regimen and discipline been more manifest than in the course of the expedition of which the following pages are designed to treat. To an unremitting attention, not only to food, cleanliness, ventilation, and an early administration of antiseptic provisions and medicines, but also to prevent as much as possible the chance of indisposition, by prohibiting individuals from carelessly exposing themselves to the influence of climate, or unhealthy indulgences in times of relaxation, and by relieving them from fatigue and the inclemency of the weather the moment the nature of their duty would permit them to retire, is to be ascribed the preservation of the health and lives of sea-faring people on long voyages."
"Those benefits did not long remain unnoticed by the commercial part of the British nation. Remote and distant voyages being now no longer objects of terror, enterprises were projected and carried into execution, for the purpose of establishing new and lucrative branches of commerce between Northwest America and China; and parts of the coast of the former that had not been minutely examined by Captain Cook became now the general resort of the persons thus engaged."
The special zeal and consistency with which Cook is defended by the English navigators who knew him and were competent to judge of the scope of his achievements is due in part to the venom of his assailants. The historian of the Sandwich Islands, Sheldon Dibble, says: "An impression of wonder and dread having been made, Captain Cook and his men found little difficulty in having such intercourse with the people as they chose. In regard to that intercourse, it was marked, as the world would say, with kindness and humanity. But it cannot be concealed that here and there at this time, in the form of loathsome disease, was dug the grave of the Hawaiian nation; and from so deep an odium it is to be regretted that faithful history cannot exempt even the fair name of Captain Cook himself, since it was evident that he gave countenance to the evil. The native female first presented to him was a person of some rank; her name was Lelemahoalani. Sin and death were the first commodities imported to the Sandwich Islands."
We have already quoted Captain Cook's first words on this subject. He had much more to say giving in detail difficulties rather too searching to be fully stated. As for the charge that Cook personally engaged in debauchery, it rests upon the tradition of savages, who had no more idea than wild animals of the restraint of human passion. It was debated among the islanders whether the white men should be assailed by the warriors, and it was on the advice of a native queen that the women were sent to make friends with the strangers; and this was the policy pursued. As for the decline of the natives in numbers, and the "digging the grave of the nation." the horror of the islands was the destruction of female infants, and also the habit of putting aged and helpless men and women to death. The general indictment against Captain Cook is that this amiable race was just about prepared for Christianity when he thrust himself forward as a god, and with his despotic licentiousness destroyed immediate possibilities of progress. In Sandwich Island notes by "a Haole" (that is to say, a white person) we see what may be said on the other side of the picture: "It becomes an interesting duty to examine their social, political and religious condition. The first feature that calls the attention to the past is their social condition, and a darker picture can hardly be presented to the contemplation of man. They had their frequent boxing matches on a public arena, and it was nothing uncommon to see thirty or forty left dead on the field of contest.
"As gamblers they were inveterate. The game was indulged in by every person, from the king of each island to the meanest of his subjects. The wager accompanied every scene of public amusement. They gambled away their property to the last vestige of all they possessed. They staked every article, of food, their growing crops, the dollies they wore, their lands, wives, daughters, and even the very bones of their arms and legs—to be made into fishhooks after they were dead. These steps led to the most absolute and crushing poverty.
"They had their dances, which were of such a character as not to be conceived by a civilized mind, and were accompanied by scenes which would have disgraced even Nero's revels. Nearly every night, with the gathering darkness, crowds would retire to some favorite spot, where, amid every species of sensual indulgence they would revel until the morning twilight. At such times the chiefs would lay aside their authority, and mingle with the lowest courtesan in every degree of debauchery.
"Thefts, robberies, murders, infanticide, licentiousness of the most debased and debasing character, burying their infirm and aged parents alive, desertion of the sick, revolting cruelties to the unfortunate maniac, cannibalism and drunkenness, form a list of some of the traits in social life among the Hawaiians in past days.
"Their drunkenness was intense. They could prepare a drink, deadly intoxicating in its nature, from a mountain plant called the awa (Piper methysticum). A bowl of this disgusting liquid was always prepared and served out just as a party of chiefs were sitting down to their meals. It would sometimes send the victim into a slumber from which he never awoke. The confirmed awa drinker could be immediately recognized by his leprous appearance.
"By far the darkest feature in their social condition was seen in the family relation. Society, however, is only a word of mere accommodation, designed to express domestic relations as they then existed. 'Society' was, indeed, such a sea of pollution as cannot be well described. Marriage was unknown, and all the sacred feelings which are suggested to our minds on mention of the various social relations, such as husband and wife, parent and child, brother and sister, were to them, indeed, as though they had no existence. There was, indeed, in this respect, a dreary blank—a dark chasm from which the soul instinctively recoils. There were, perhaps, some customs which imposed some little restraint upon the intercourse of the sexes, but those customs were easily dispensed with, and had nothing of the force of established rules. It was common for a husband to have many wives, and for a wife also to have many husbands. The nearest ties of consanguinity were but little regarded, and among the chiefs, especially, the connection of brother with sister, and parent with child, were very common. For husbands to interchange wives, and for wives to interchange husbands, was a common act of friendship, and persons who would not do this were not considered on good terms of sociability. For a man or woman to refuse a solicitation was considered an act of meanness; and this sentiment was thoroughly wrought into their minds, that, they seemed not to rid themselves of the feeling of meanness in a refusal, to feel, notwithstanding their better knowledge, that to comply was generous, liberal, and social, and to refuse reproachful and niggardly. It would be impossible to enumerate or specify the crimes which emanated from this state of affairs. Their political condition was the very genius of despotism, systematically and deliberately conducted. Kings and chiefs were extremely jealous of their succession, and the more noble their blood, the more they were venerated by the common people."
Mr. Sheldon Dibble is a historian whose work was published in 1843. He complains most bitterly that the natives bothered the missionaries by trying to give them the benefit of native thought. They wanted to do some of the talking, and said very childish things, and were so intent on their own thoughts that they would not listen to the preachers. But it ought not to have been held to be an offense for a procession of heathen to march to a missionary's house and tell him their thoughts. That was an honest manifestation of profound interest—the slow ripening of a harvest field. Mr. Dibble's book is printed by the Mission Seminary, and Mr. Dibble says, page 21: "We know that all the inhabitants of the earth descended from Noah," therefore, the Hawaiians "must once have known the great Jehova and the principles of true religion." But the historian says on the next page that the Hawaiians were heathen from time immemorial, for, "Go back to the very first reputed progenitor of the Hawaiian race, and you find that the ingredients of their character are lust, anger, strife, malice, sensuality, revenge and the worship of idols." This is the elevation upon which Mr. Dibble places himself to fire upon the memory of the English navigator Captain James Cook. The first paragraph of the assault on Cook is this:
"How unbounded the influence of foreign visitors upon the ignorant inhabitants of the Pacific! If the thousands of our countrymen who visit this ocean were actuated by the pure principles of the religion of Jesus, how immense the good they might accomplish! But, alas! how few visitors to the Western hemisphere are actuated by such principles."
This is preparatory to the condemnation of Cook in these terms: "Captain Cook allowed himself to be worshipped as a god. The people of Kealakeakua declined trading with him, and loaded his ship freely with the best productions of the island. The priests approached him in a crouching attitude, uttering prayers, and exhibiting all the formalities of worship. After approaching him with prostration the priests cast their red kapas over his shoulders and then receding a little, they presented hogs and a variety of other offerings, with long addresses rapidly enunciated, which were a repetition of their prayers and religious homage.
"When he went on shore most of the people fled for fear of him, and others bowed down before him, with solemn reverence. He was conducted to the house of the gods, and into the sacred enclosure, and received there the highest homage. In view of this fact, and of the death of Captain Cook, which speedily ensued, who can fail being admonished to give to God at all times, and even among barbarous tribes, the glory which is his due? Captain Cook might have directed the rude and ignorant natives to the great Jehovah, instead of receiving divine homage himself.
"Kalaniopuu, the king, arrived from Maui on the 24th of January, and immediately laid a tabu on the canoes, which prevented the women from visiting the ship, and consequently the men came on shore in great numbers, gratifying their infamous purposes in exchange for pieces of iron and small looking-glasses. Some of the women washed the coating from the back of the glasses much to their regret, when they found that the reflecting property was thus destroyed.
"The king, on his arrival, as well as the people, treated Captain Cook with much kindness, gave him feather cloaks and fly brushes and paid him divine honors. This adoration, it is painful to relate, was received without remonstrance. I shall speak here somewhat minutely of the death of Captain Cook, as it develops some traits of the heathen character, and the influence under which the heathen suffer from foreign intercourse."
After setting forth the horrible character of the natives, Captain Cook is condemned and denounced because he did not refuse the homage of the ferocious savages, paid him as a superior creature. One of Cook's troubles was the frantic passion the islanders had to steal iron. The common people were the property of the chiefs, and they had no other sense of possession. They gave away what they had, but took what they wanted.
Mr. Dibble shows his animus when he charges that Cook did not give the natives the real value of their hogs and fruit, and also that he had no right to stop pilferers in canoes by declaring and enforcing a blockade. This is a trifling technicality much insisted upon. Dibble's account of the death of Cook is this:
"A canoe came from an adjoining district, bound within the bay. In the canoe were two chiefs of some rank, Kekuhaupio and Kalimu. The canoe was fired upon from one of the boats and Kalimu was killed. Kekuhaupio made the greatest speed till he reached the place of the king, where Captain Cook also was, and communicated the intelligence of the death of the chief. The attendants of the king were enraged and showed signs of hostility, but were restrained by the thought that Captain Cook was a god. At that instant a warrior, with a spear in his hand, approached Captain Cook and was heard to say that the boats in the harbor had killed his brother, and he would he revenged. Captain Cook, from his enraged appearance and that of the multitude, was suspicious of him, and fired upon him with his pistol. Then followed a scene of confusion, and in the midst Captain Cook being hit with a stone, and perceiving the man who threw it, shot him dead. He also struck a certain chief with his sword, whose name was Kalaimanokahoowaha. The chief instantly seized Captain Cook with a strong hand, designing merely to hold him and not to take his life; for he supposed him to be a god and that he could not die. Captain Cook struggled to free himself from the grasp, and as he was about to fall uttered a groan. The people immediately exclaimed, "He groans—he is not a god," and instantly slew him. Such was the melancholy death of Captain Cook.
"Immediately the men in the boat commenced a deliberate fire upon the crowd. They had refrained in a measure before, for fear of killing their Captain. Many of the natives were killed."
"Historian Dibble does not notice the evidence that Cook lost his life by turning to his men in the boats, ordering them not to fire. It was at that moment he was stabbed in the back. Dibble represents the facts as if to justify the massacre of the great navigator, because he allowed the heathen to think he was one of their gang of gods. But this presumption ought not to have been allowed to excuse prevarication about testimony. The importance of Dibble's history is that it is representative. He concludes with this eloquent passage: "From one heathen nation we may learn in a measure the wants of all. And we ought not to restrict our view, but, look at the wide world. To do then for all nations what I have urged in behalf of the Sandwich Islands, how great and extensive a work! How vast the number of men and how immense the amount of means which seem necessary to elevate all nations, and gain over the whole earth to the permanent dominion of the Lord Jesus Christ! Can 300,000,000 of pagan children and youth be trained and instructed by a few hands? Can the means of instructing them be furnished by the mere farthings and pence of the church? Will it not be some time yet before ministers and church members will need to be idle a moment for the want of work? Is there any danger of our being cut off from the blessed privilege either of giving or of going? There is a great work yet to be done—a noble work—a various and a difficult work—a work worthy of God's power, God's resources, and God's wisdom. What Christendom has as yet done is scarcely worthy of being called a commencement. When God shall bring such energies into action as shall be commensurate with the greatness of the work—when he shall cause every redeemed sinner, by the abundant influence of His Holy Spirit, to lay himself out wholly in the great enterprise, then there will be a sight of moral sublimity that shall rivet the gaze of angels."
We quote this writer as to what became of the remains of Cook: "The body of Captain Cook was carried into the interior of the island, the bones secured according to their custom, and the flesh burned in the fire. The heart, liver, etc., of Captain Cook, were stolen and eaten by some hungry children, who mistook them in the night for the inwards of a dog. The names of the children were Kupa, Mohoole and Kaiwikokoole. These men are now all dead. The last of the number died two years since at the station of Lahaina. Some of the bones of Captain Cook were sent on board his ship, in compliance with the urgent demands of the officers; and some were kept by the priests as objects of worship." The "heart, liver, etc.," were of course given to the children to eat! The bones are still hidden, and presumably not much worshiped. The first of the remains of Captain Cook given up was a mass of his bloody flesh, cut as if from a slaughtered ox. After some time there were other fragments, including one of his hands which had a well known scar, and perfectly identified it. Along with this came the story of burning flesh, and denials of cannibalism. Mr. Dibble speaks of Cook's "consummate folly and outrageous tyranny of placing a blockade upon a heathen bay, which the natives could not possibly be supposed either to understand or appreciate." That blockade, like others, was understood when enforced. The historian labors to work out a case to justify the murder of Cook because he received worship. As to the acknowledgment of Cook as the incarnation of Lono, in the Hawaiian Pantheon, Captain King says: