The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1876-03-04
The Ministerial Reply.

To the Hon. Godfrey Rhodes, The Hon. A. s. Cleg-
horn, Waller Murray Gibson, Esq, the Hon.
Henry A. p. Garter, p. c. Jones, Jnr., Esq,
J. C.. Glade, Esq, f. a. Schager, Esq. II. NJ.
Whitney, Esq, and TO the other gentlemen i0hO
signed The address 10 His Majesty, dated Febru-
airy 25th, 1876.
GENTLEMEN -
His Majesty in Privy Council, having appointed
the undersigned a Committee to reply to the address
which you presented to him on the 10Th uIt., on the
subject of the repopulation of these Islands, they
hasten to inform you, that His Majesty feels the
deepest interest in this all important question, and
is equally gratifed with the zeal and the spirit Of
loyalty which you exhibit in approaching the sub
jcct, and he is satisfied that this combined action on
the part of so large and influential o PORTION of the
community as have attached their names to the said
address cannot but result in good and in q sounder
knowledge Of the means requisite to advance the
great object which we all have in view.
AS you are well aware, gentlemen. this subject is
not q new one; it is one that has anxiously occupied
the thoughts and the time Of every Hawaiian King
and Cabinet during the last quarter of O century;
and if failure instead of success has 80 far been the
result of most of the schemes which have been in
augurated for repeopIing this kingdom. that is no
reason why renewed efforts should not continue to
be made. Still, q succession Of failures prompts eau
ton. Nothing would have been easier than for the
present Government to have spent another $4,000
or S15, 600 of the public money In abortive attempts
to introduce a permanent and useful population, but
the history Of past efforts in this direction teaches
that it is much easier to fit out expeditions for
bringing immigrants to our shores. than to obtain
people such as will, in the words Of your address,
be well suited for complete assimilation with the
race that peoples this archipelago"
For gentlemen, we understand and His Majesty
understands your address to mean, that it is not
only men that may be required for the immediate
wants Of our agriculturists that you desire should be
introduced, but men and women OF " kindred race ="
to the Hawaiians, by which they may I" gain an
infusion Of fresh BLOOD and so be preserved. This
may truly be part of the great problem to be solved,
but the undersigned in the name Of His Majesty's
Ministers would feel much difhdence about holding
out any very confident hopes that they viii be able
soon to accomplish such q very important and desira-
BILE result, although it is encouraging to learn from
you, that in your opinion " the vast hive OF Asia
invites US to recuperate our AsIatlc and tropical
population from its teeming Millions 9 . " and
we shall find the consanguineous afinities we need
in the overpeopled plains Of British India, in the
swarming Isles of the great Malay Archipelago, in
the noble Empire Of Japan, so youthful in its ciyili-
cation, and in other countless hordes Of the industri-
Gus and prolific races Of the great and parent CONT
nent of the world"
The difficulty would seem to be then in your opin-
ion. gentlemen, to select out Of q profusiOn Of choice
from the kindred peoples o fAsia. the population which
we require to recuperate the Hawaiian race. 1t cannot
however afford any real assistance to the object We
have at heart to take q too saDguine view Of the po-
sition. Let US glance at the Continent Of Asia, and
its great archipelagoe.. First and nearest to us lies
Japan, inhabited by a people who are generally con-
sldered akin to the Hawaiians, and whom we all
agree would be very desirable immigrants. Efforts
have been made by former Governments to bring
them-some were b~rought-but as you all know
most of them had to be sent back again at the re-
quest Of the japanese Government. Notwithstand-
ing this failure, the different Governments since
then, have been persistent in their enquiries Of our
Charge d'Affaires there, as to whether any prospect
appeared Of our being able TO bring japanese immi-
grants. The answer has been as persistently-No