Part 37

_Education._--Education is universal, compulsory and free. Every child between the ages of six and fifteen must attend either a public school or a duly authorized private school. Consequently the percentage of illiteracy is extremely low. The school system is essentially American in its text-books and in its methods, thanks to the foundations laid by American missionaries. Between 1820 and 1824 the missionaries taught about 2000 natives to read. Several important schools were founded before 1840, when the first written laws were published. Among these was a law providing for compulsory education, and decreeing that no illiterate born after the beginning of Liholiho's reign should hold office, and that no illiterate man or woman, born after the same date, could marry. The first Hawaiian minister of public instruction was the Rev. William Richards (1792-1847), who held office from 1843 to 1847, and was followed by Richard Armstrong (1805-1860), an American Presbyterian missionary, the father of General S. C. Armstrong. He laid stress on the importance of manual and industrial training during his term of office (1847-1855), and was succeeded by a board of education (1855-1865), of which he was first president; then an inspector-general of schools was appointed, Judge Abraham Fornander being the first inspector; in 1896 an executive department was created under a minister of public instruction and six commissioners; in 1900 a superintendent of public instruction was first appointed. English is by law the medium of instruction in all schools, both public and private, although other languages may be taught in addition. Formal instruction in Hawaiian ceased in 1898. The schools are in session forty weeks during the year. In 1908 there were 154 public schools with 18,564 pupils (27.06% of whom were Japanese, 20.89% Hawaiian, 13.54% part Hawaiian, 18.72% Portuguese and 10.63% Chinese) and 51 private schools with 4881 pupils. A normal school has been established at Honolulu, with a practice school attached to it. The territorial legislature of 1907 established the College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts of the Territory of Hawaii, and also founded a public library. The Honolulu high school does excellent work and has beautiful buildings and grounds. The Lahainaluna Seminary on west Maui, founded in 1831 as a training school for teachers, furnishes instruction to Hawaiian boys in agriculture, carpentry, printing and mechanical drawing. The boys in the industrial school (1902) at Waialee, on the island of Oahu, are taught useful trades. The teaching of sewing in the public schools has met with great success, and a simple form of the Swedish sloid was introduced into many of the schools in 1894. Lace work was introduced into the public schools in 1903. But the best industrial instruction is furnished by the independent schools, among which the Kamehameha schools take the first place. They were founded by Mrs Bernice Pauahi Bishop (1831-1884), the last lineal descendant of Kamehameha I., who left her extensive landed estates in the hands of trustees for their support. They furnish a good manual and technical training to Hawaiian boys and girls, in addition to a primary and grammar school course of study, and exert a strong religious influence. There are six boarding schools for Hawaiian girls, supported by private resources. The most advanced courses of study are offered by Oahu College, which occupies a beautiful site near the beach just E. of Honolulu; it was founded in 1841 as the Punahou School for missionaries' children, and was chartered as Oahu College in 1852. It is well equipped with buildings and apparatus, and has an endowment of about $300,000.

_Finance_.--The revenue of the Territory for the fiscal year ending the 30th of June 1908 amounted to $2,669,748.32, of which $640,051.42 was the proceeds of the tax on real estate, $635,265.81 was the proceeds of the tax on personal property; and among the larger of the remaining items were the income tax ($266,241.74), waterworks ($141,898.04), public lands (sales, $37,585.75; revenue, $122,541.71) and licences ($206,374.28). On the 30th of June 1908 the bonded debt of the Territory was $3,979,000; there was on hand net cash, without floating debt, $677,648.48.

_History_.--The history of the islands before their discovery by Captain James Cook, in 1778, is obscure.[9] This famous navigator, who named the islands in honour of the earl of Sandwich, was received by the natives with many demonstrations of astonishment and delight; and offerings and prayers were presented to him by their priest in one of the temples; and though in the following year he was killed by a native when he landed in Kealakekua Bay in Hawaii, his bones were preserved by the priests and continued to receive offerings and homage from the people until the abolition of idolatry. At the time of Cook's visit the archipelago seems to have been divided into three distinct kingdoms: Hawaii; Oahu and Maui; and Lanai and Molokai. On the death of the chief who ruled Hawaii at that time there succeeded one named Kamehameha (1736-1819), who appears to have been a man of quick perception and great force of character. When Vancouver visited the islands in 1792, he left sheep and neat cattle,[10] protected by a ten years' taboo, and laid down the keel of a European ship for Kamehameha. Ten or twelve years later Kamehameha had 20 vessels (of 25 to 50 tons), which traded among the islands. He afterwards purchased others from foreigners. Having encouraged a warlike spirit in his people and having introduced firearms, Kamehameha attacked and overcame the chiefs of the other kingdoms one after another, until (in 1795) he became undisputed master of the whole group. He made John Young (c. 1775-1835) and Isaac Davis, Americans from one of the ships of Captain Metcalf which visited the island in 1789, his advisers, encouraged trade with foreigners, and derived from its profits a large increase of revenue as well as the means of consolidating his power. He died in 1819, and was succeeded by his son, Lilohilo, or Kamehameha II., a mild and well-disposed prince, but destitute of his father's energy. One of the first acts of Kamehameha II. was, for vicious and selfish reasons, to abolish taboo and idolatry throughout the islands. Some disturbances were caused thereby, but the insurgents were defeated.

On the 31st of March 1820 missionaries of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions--two clergymen, two teachers, a physician, a farmer, and a printer, each with his wife--and three Hawaiians educated in the Cornwall (Connecticut) Foreign Missionary School, arrived from America and began their labours at Honolulu. A short time afterwards the British government presented a small schooner to the king, and this afforded an opportunity for the Rev. William Ellis, the well-known missionary, to visit Honolulu with a number of Christian natives from the Society Islands. Finding the language of the two groups nearly the same, Mr Ellis, who had spent several years in the southern islands, was able to assist the American missionaries in reducing the Hawaiian language to a written form. In 1825 the ten commandments were recognized by the king as the basis of a code of laws. In the years 1830-1845 the educational work of the American missionaries was so successful that hardly a native was unable to read and write. A law prohibiting drunkenness (1835) was followed in 1838 by a licence law and in 1839 by a law prohibiting the importation of spirits and taxing wines fifty cents a gallon; in 1840 another prohibitory law was enacted; but licence laws soon made the sale of liquor common. Missionary effort was particularly fruitful in Hilo, where Titus Coan (1801-1882), sent out in 1835 by the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, worked in repeated revivals, induced most of his church members to give up tobacco even, and received prior to 1880 more than 12,000 members into a church which became self-supporting and sent missions to the Gilbert Islands and the Marquesas. In 1823 Keopuolani, the king's mother, was baptized; and on a single Sunday in 1838 Coan baptized 1705 converts at Hilo. In 1864 the American Board withdrew its control of evangelical work.

In 1824 the king and queen of the Hawaiian Islands paid a visit to England, and both died there of measles. His successor, Kamehameha III. ruled from 1825 to 1854. In 1839 Kamehameha III. signed a Bill of Rights and in 1840 he promulgated the first constitution of the realm; in 1842 a code of laws was proclaimed; by 1848 the feudal system of land tenure was completely abolished; the first legislature met in 1845 and full suffrage was granted in 1852, but in 1864 suffrage was restricted. Progress was at times interrupted by the conduct of the officers of foreign powers. On one occasion (July 1839) French officers abrogated the laws (particularly against the importation of liquor), dictated treaties, extorted $20,000 and by force of arms procured privileges for Roman Catholic[11] priests in the country; and at another time (February 1843) a British officer, Captain Paulet of the "Carysfort," went so far as to take possession of Oahu and establish a commission for its government. The act of the British officer was disavowed by his superiors as soon as known.

These incidents led to a representation on the part of the native sovereign to the governments of Great Britain, France and the United States, and the independence of the islands (recognized by the United States in 1842) was recognized in 1844 by France and Great Britain. In 1844 John Ricord, an American lawyer, became the first minister of foreign affairs. A new constitution came into effect in 1852. It was the aim of Kamehameha III. and his advisers to combine the native and the foreign elements under one government; to make the king the sovereign not of one race or class, but of all; and to extend equal and impartial laws over all inhabitants of the country. Kamehameha IV. and his queen, Emma, ruled from 1855 to 1863 and were succeeded by his brother, Kamehameha V., who died in 1872, and in whose reign a third (and a reactionary) constitution went into effect in 1864, by mere royal proclamation. Lunalilo, a grandson of Kamehameha I., was king for two years, and in 1874, backed by American influence, Kalakaua was elected his successor, in preference to Queen Emma, a member of the Anglican Church and the candidate of the pro-British party. Kalakaua considered residents of European or American descent as alien invaders, and he aimed to restore largely the ancient system of personal government, under which he should have control of the public treasury. On the 2nd of July 1878, and again on the 14th of August 1880, he dismissed a ministry without assigning any reason, after it had been triumphantly sustained by a test vote of the legislature. On the latter occasion he appointed C. C. Moreno, who had come to Honolulu in the interest of a Chinese steamship company, as Premier and minister of foreign affairs. This called forth the protest of the representatives of Great Britain, France and the United States, and aroused such opposition on the part of both the foreigners and the better class of natives that the king was obliged, after four days of popular excitement, to remove the obnoxious minister. During the king's absence on a tour round the world in 1881, his sister, Mrs Lydia Dominis (b. 1838), also styled Liliuokalani, acted as regent. After his return the contest was renewed between the so-called National party, which favoured absolution, and the Reform party, which sought to establish parliamentary government. The king took an active part in the elections, and used his patronage to the utmost to influence legislation. For three successive sessions a majority of the legislature was composed of office-holders, dependent on the favour of the executive. Among the measures urged by the king and opposed by the Reform party were the project of a ten-million dollar loan, chiefly for military purposes; the removal of the prohibition of the sale of alcoholic liquor to Hawaiians, which was carried in 1882; the licensing of the sale of opium; the chartering of a lottery company; the licensing of kahunas, or medicine men, &c. Systematic efforts were made to turn the constitutional question into a race issue, and the party cry was raised of "Hawaii for Hawaiians." Adroit politicians flattered the king's vanity, defended his follies and taught him how to violate the spirit of the constitution while keeping the letter of the law. From 1882 till 1887 his prime minister was Walter Murray Gibson (1823-1888), a singular and romantic genius, a visionary adventurer and a shrewd politician, who had been imprisoned by the Dutch government in Batavia in 1852 on a charge of inciting insurrection in Sumatra, and had arrived at Honolulu in 1861 with the intention of leading a Mormon colony to the East Indies. To exalt his royal dignity, which was lowered, he thought, by his being only an elected king, Kalakaua caused himself to be crowned with imposing ceremonies on the ninth anniversary of his election (Feb. 12, 1883).

Kalakaua was now no longer satisfied with being merely king of Hawaii, but aspired to what was termed the "Primacy of the Pacific." Accordingly Mr Gibson addressed a protest to the great powers, deprecating any further annexation of the islands of the Pacific Ocean, and claiming for Hawaii the exclusive right "to assist them in improving their political and social condition." In pursuance of this policy, two commissioners were sent to the Gilbert Islands in 1883 to prepare the way for a Hawaiian protectorate. On the 23rd of December 1886 Mr J. E. Bush was commissioned as minister plenipotentiary to the king of Samoa, the king of Tonga and the other independent chiefs of Polynesia. He arrived in Samoa on the 3rd of January 1887, and remained there six months, during which time he concluded a treaty of alliance with Malietoa, which was ratified by his government. The "Explorer," a steamer of 170 tons, which had been employed in the copra trade, was purchased for $20,000, and refitted as a man-of-war, to form the "nest-egg" of the future Hawaiian navy. She was renamed the "Kaimiloa," and was despatched to Samoa on the 17th of May 1887 to strengthen the hands of the embassy. As R. L. Stevenson wrote: "The history of the 'Kaimiloa' is a story of debauchery, mutiny and waste of government property." At length the intrigues of the Hawaiian embassy gave umbrage to the German government, and it was deemed prudent to recall it to Honolulu in July 1887. Meanwhile a reform league had been formed to stop the prevailing misrule and extravagance; it was supported by a volunteer military force, the "Honolulu Rifles." The king carried through the legislature of 1886 a bill for an opium licence, as well as a Loan Act, under which a million dollars were borrowed in London. Under his influence the Hale Naua Society was organized in 1886 for the spread of idolatry and king-worship; and in the same year a "Board of Health" was formed which revived the vicious practices of the _kahunas_ or medicine-men.

The king's acceptance of two bribes--one of $75,000 and another of $80,000 for the assignment of an opium licence--precipitated the revolution of 1887. An immense mass meeting was held on the 30th of June, which sent a committee to the king with specific demands for radical reforms. Finding himself without support, he yielded without a struggle, dismissed his ministry and signed a constitution on the 7th of July 1887, revising that of 1864, and intended to put an end to personal government and to make the cabinet responsible only to the legislature; this was called the "bayonet constitution," because it was so largely the result of the show of force made by the Honolulu Rifles. By its terms office-holders were made ineligible for seats in the legislature, and no member of the legislature could be appointed to any civil office under the government during the term for which he had been elected. The members of the Upper House, instead of being appointed by the king for life, were henceforth to be elected for terms of six years by electors possessing a moderate property qualification. The remainder of Kalakaua's reign teemed with intrigues and conspiracies to restore autocratic rule. One of these came to a head on the 30th of July 1889, but this "Wilcox rebellion," led by R. W. Wilcox, a half-breed, educated in Italy, and a friend of the king and of his sister, was promptly suppressed. Seven of the insurgents were killed and a large number wounded. For his health the king visited California in the United States cruiser "Charleston" in November 1890, and died on the 20th of January 1891 in San Francisco. On the 29th of January at noon his sister, the regent, took the oath to maintain the constitution of 1887, and was proclaimed queen, under the title of Liliuokalani.

The history of her reign shows that it was her constant purpose to restore autocratic government. The legislative session of 1892, during which four changes of ministry took place, was protracted to eight months chiefly by her determination to carry through the opium and lottery bills and to have a pliable cabinet. She had a new constitution drawn up, practically providing for an absolute monarchy, and disfranchising a large class of citizens who had voted since 1887; this constitution (drawn up, so the royal party declared, in reply to a petition signed by thousands of natives) she undertook to force on the country after proroguing the legislature on the 14th of January 1893, but her ministers shrank from the responsibility of so revolutionary an act, and with difficulty prevailed upon her to postpone the execution of her design. An uprising similar to that of 1887 declared the monarchy forfeited by its own act. A third party proposed a regency during the minority of the heir-apparent, Princess Kaiulani, but in her absence this scheme found few supporters. A Committee of Safety was appointed at a public meeting, which formed a provisional government and reorganized the volunteer military companies, which had been disbanded in 1890. Its leading spirits were the "Sons of Missionaries" (as E. L. Godkin styled them), who were accused of using their knowledge of local affairs and their inherited prestige among the natives for private ends--of founding a "Gospel Republic" which was actually a business enterprise. The provisional government called a mass meeting of citizens, which met on the afternoon of the 6th and ratified its action. The United States steamer "Boston," which had unexpectedly arrived from Hilo on the 14th, landed a small force on the evening of the 16th, at the request of the United States minister, Mr J. L. Stevens, and a committee of residents, to protect the lives and property of American citizens in case of riot or incendiarism. On the 17th the Committee of Safety took possession of the government building, and issued a proclamation declaring a monarchy to be abrogated, and establishing a provisional government, to exist "until terms of union with the United States of America shall have been negotiated and agreed upon." Meanwhile two companies of volunteer troops arrived and occupied the grounds. By the advice of her ministers, and to avoid bloodshed, the queen surrendered under protest, in view of the landing of United States troops, appealing to the government of the United States to reinstate her in authority. A treaty of annexation was negotiated with the United States during the next month, just before the close of President Benjamin Harrison's administration, but it was withdrawn on the 9th of March 1893 by President Harrison's successor, President Cleveland, who then despatched James H. Blount (1837-1903) of Macon, Georgia, as commissioner paramount, to investigate the situation in the Hawaiian Islands. On receiving Blount's report to the effect that the revolution had been accomplished by the aid of the United States minister and by the landing of troops from the "Boston," President Cleveland sent Albert Sydney Willis (1843-1897) of Kentucky to Honolulu with secret instructions as United States minister. Willis with much difficulty and delay obtained the queen's promise to grant an amnesty, and made a formal demand on the provisional government for her reinstatement on the 19th of December 1893. On the 23rd President Sanford B. Dole sent a reply to Willis, declining to surrender the authority of the provisional government to the deposed queen. The United States Congress declared against any further intervention by adopting on the 31st of May 1894 the Turpie Resolution. On the 30th of May 1894 a convention was held to frame a constitution for the republic of Hawaii, which was proclaimed on the 4th of July following, with S. B. Dole as its first president. Toward the end of the same year a plot was formed to overthrow the republic and to restore the monarchy. A cargo of arms and ammunition from San Francisco was secretly landed at a point near Honolulu, where a company of native royalists were collected on the 6th of January 1895, intending to capture the government buildings by surprise that night, with the aid of their allies in the city. A premature encounter with a squad of police alarmed the town and broke up their plans. There were several other skirmishes during the following week, resulting in the capture of the leading conspirators, with most of their followers. The ex-queen, on whose premises arms and ammunition and a number of incriminating documents were found, was arrested and was imprisoned for nine months in the former palace. On the 24th of January 1895 she formally renounced all claim to the throne and took the oath of allegiance to the republic. The ex-queen and forty-eight others were granted conditional pardon on the 7th of September, and on the following New Year's Day the remaining prisoners were set at liberty.

On the inauguration of President McKinley, in March 1897, negotiations with the United States were resumed, and on the 16th of June a new treaty of annexation was signed at Washington. As its ratification by the Senate had appeared to be uncertain, extreme measures were taken: the Newlands joint resolution, by which the cession was "accepted, ratified and confirmed," was passed by the Senate by a vote of 42 to 21 and by the House of Representatives by a vote of 209 to 91, and was signed by the president on the 7th of July 1898. The formal transfer of sovereignty took place on the 12th of August 1898, when the flag of the United States (the same flag hauled down by order of Commissioner Blount) was raised over the Executive Building with impressive ceremonies.

The sovereigns of the monarchy, the president of the republic and the governors of the Territory up to 1910 were as follows: Sovereigns: Kamehameha I., 1795-1819; Kamehameha II., 1819-1824; Kaahumanu (regent), 1824-1832; Kamehameha III., 1832-1854; Kamehameha IV., 1855-1863; Kamehameha V., 1863-1872; Lunalilo, 1873-1874; Kalakaua, 1874-1891; Liliuokalani, 1891-1893. President: Sanford B. Dole, 1893-1898. Governors: S. B. Dole, 1898-1904; George R. Carter, 1904-1907; W. F. Frear, 1907.