The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1866-09-29
Commercial Advertiser.
tr't 'i'T 's'e-L4N ~'"+'ii''''A'
The Recent Haiku Assaults Case.

nj LaLaiul upOn the charge of an assault upon a
Chinese coolir with deadly weapons
Your remarks on this subject recently were
commented, upon ia the editorial Of the GT-st,e Of
August 4th. I have hitherto been silent on the
subject willing that people should form their est.
mat. IL nv character from my life aud actions
In; some Of my friends deem il my duty to myself.
ms family and them. that should make state
mint Of the Etcts OF the case. which / will do
n briefly - possible:
n was brought to trial at Lahana ON or about
tre IZth Of Dccember sGj. before Circuit Court,
M Honor Chief Justice AII.E~ presiding for an
assault with = deadly weapon upon one Loon, a
Chinese eoolie. the Z2d day of November pre-
',eding The jury returned verdict of '' guilty
nv atvate If nine tp three, the dissenting jurymcn
'bring Mr-srs. r i. Adams. j. T. Power and H.
Cornwell. and th.reupon was sentenced to- one
day's imprisonment and to 800 fine. which latter
Wa paid by the Haiku Sugar Co.. whose officers
and manager considered my course entirely jHsti-
able. in which opinion, 1 may add. many Of
most respectable men have given me their per
sonaI assurance that they entirely cOneurred-
The circumstances Of the ease were follows
was acting ~ assistant manager Of tine Haiku
Plantation. belonging to tine Haiku Sugar Co.. and
located on Maui under Ge,,rg, T.. Beckwith, ESD.
yiously to the riot, two companies Of Chisesc
coolies amounting to forty-two in all (tirty-seven
r1en and i've women) had been sent to the pllnta-
toa by the Treasurer from IIonoIalu. They had
worked up to this time without any serious cOAi-
sion. aud had beea treated kindly. as any one
acquainted with Mr. Beckwth will easily believe.
On one occasion indeed they had refused to go to
work ON account Of some Misunderstanding about
food hut this occasion they yielded peaceaby
and resumed their work. and all things went ON
quietly till Nov. 2lst, think, when upon being
paid their wages. demand made by the
coolies To which Mr. Il. did not think proper To-
yield as a deraD,d, upon which they refused to do
any further work. They went To their house.
where / visited them in the evening. with an in
terpreter and tried to persuade them to return to
their duty and part Of them Chose living in the
lower story promised to do but in the morning
they all with the exception Ot the wOmen) again
refused. | reported To Mr.. H.. who Immediately
tit was now : O'Clock \. NJ sent to Waikapu for
NE Everett the Sheriff. who did not arrive till IA
%. ". The distance was some fourteen or fifteen
Ties often rode over in two hours i was direct
- to return To the house where bad lett Mr. r ar
den the cooper. Mr.. Jones the watchman, and
WaikGiOa the native overseer, during my absence.
They were to assist (as ordered by Mr. b.
lG keping the coolies confined To the house till the
arrival Of the sheriff their return to duty Both
Mr. Fardcn and had revOlvers, not for assault.
but for defence should circumstances require. The
house had a second story. with small verandah
above and flight of stairs upon the outside lead
ing below. The coolies asked for food. which l
refused to give unless they would trSt return to-
duty. which they would not do 1 should state .
that thu women wanted to- go to work, before .
reported to Mr. B. and started to go. but those in
the story above threw upOn them blocks oi wood .
and any missile upon which they could lay hold, /
also making meuacing gestures aud talking an
gTily 10 them, which the interpreter said they /
were telling the women tht'y would Kill them II ,
they went To- work., and through fear the women .
went back
About eight o'clock. two Of the coolies above .
said they come down. To- which consented .
but IL seemed To- be- prrtrxt. appeared tO me-. \
b change their tartics and base of operations n 4
nothing occurred tO confirm their excuse then \
had .bcir hands tied behind them by Mr. Farleu \
and WaikOloa. which thing was done in little I
valley the house. but was not seen by any \
Df the coolies in ti,. house. On the same plea /
allowed two more to come. telling them. through .
he Interpreter. To perform their wishes in the
valley. and seeing that the first two coolies /
we're tied. they gave alarm To- the coolies IN the
lou-e. which alarm caused great comm0tOn
lmongst those. in the house. had designated the
Airt stlir from th,. top. below which. had told
hem they must not on any account advance without
ny permission and there j. No doubt but that i
hey distinctly understood the order and the con
sequences which would follow their di-1beticncr
lf that order. Ny reason was. that their number
being much larger than ours. by prrcOuct rtcd
rIsh. they would be- able To OverpOwer During .
MS time l horse. with ht- head towards [
lnd near the foot Of the stairs. On hearing the
great cOmmpti0n above and below. which c0mmO-
bon consisted in stamping and loud and angry
Voices. asked ths. interpreter, what was the mat
iers He said they very angry at the tIeIng Il
Of the coolies who bad first come down. With
savage cry they rushed down stairs. the tstieT /
..bEIly raised sAcutt Knife it his hG,L loudly
4>arne'l them back three times, but h. pressed on
the rest following closely behind him. till h.
reached the third stfiT from tie BotOHs when fired
AZ hi- legs inficting slight flesh wound. but he
tid not fall at once. / tired "A second shot which .
passed through both pantlegs OF another coOlie
They then. with the exception Of the wounded one.
inrned and jed back up stairs Upon NV hearing
The great commOtinu- 1 called To Nr. Farden and .
" aikOlOa. who were near the valley on their re-
urn 10 the house, after having tied the first two
COOLIES Ia come quickly To my assistance. ~ /
believed the coolies would soon try To OverpOwer
H.. They came a. soon "a possible. and WaikOlOa I
srested the knife from the wounded cOOlIe and /
taye It To Mr. Jones, who handed II to me- What /
heir designs were. whether they had any. | /
,annOt tell. The change of part from the promise
Df duty the previous evening tO continued insub- Il
ordination indicated that they had conferred during
The night and agreed to return to their insubordi
nation.
1t this time they were. doubt. under the infu- I
enee Of passion but | saw but two courses to be /
pursued. To stay and try tO defend myself and I
others. who foot. to turn my horse and /
iee. leaving those on the ground Zone of whom an /
lnaFmed sripple) suffer the effects of their anger
whilst / should secure my own personal safety by [
light chose tQ stay at my post OF duty and Use 4
such means Of defense had. and abide the rt.- /
suit but believe that had not fred fed. that
sheath knife would in a moment more have been /
buried somewhere in my body. and as soon a the 1
coolies could have got hold of their plantation |
tools. which were laying under the house and near
y the foot Of the stairs, (Which and others be-
leve they had in their design-) there would have
been a general onset, and perhaps massacre of my
family and the few foreigners about the plantation.
and am not alone in this belief. may have erred
IN Judgment but believe then that the dan
ger vas real and If placed again in the same cir
should undoubtedly act in the same
manner as j then did. even il fine and impri>On-
.Gent were the result for to have fled would have
bee7 To abandon the post Of duty, and sacrifice
others men. women and children to nv own per
soual safety, which hope / may never do Such
result might not have followed but who tina. knows
The atrocities which this class of people have perpe-
q