The Clifton clarion., 1886-08-04
\ Pro1igate King.

Honolulu Letter: David Kala-
 kaua has now been on the throne
 of the Hawaiian Kingdom for
 twelve years. Previous to his ele
 vation to the throne he was boat
 man in the harbor of Honolulu,
 and usd to pick up some money at
 night by playing the banjo in one
 of the waterfront dives. He is a
 superbly built native, bat, like
 most of the Kanakas, he has no re gard for principle, is profoundly
 selfish, and hopelessly given up to gross vices. He had strain of
 the old Kamehameha blood in his
 veins, however, and when in 1874, an election was held under the farce of what is called constitu-
 tional monarchy, Kalakaua was |eieked up out of the gutter and g8as run by the strong American
 hlssionary party in opposition to Queen Emma, who Showed great |partiality for the Church of Eng
 land. Kalakaua's friends were the
 better politicians and they were successful. For two or three years
 the change did him good and he
 behaved well, living economically
 and taking a warm interest in the
 welfare of his people.
 With proper advisers Kalakaua
 might have remained q model
 monarch, but he suffered from the influence of evil counselors-ad- venturers who took office under him merely to further private ends and who suggested many ways in which he could legally divert the public funds into his own pocket. One of his early attempts was to seize the fees which reverted to the crown for certain duties per formed by officers of the Interior Department. He was greatly in censed when the honest head of this department refused to deliver up these fees, and declared that they were public moneys. The King has beer liberally provided for. as well as most of his family, yet he is always Tn straits for cash. He is given S50,O00 every two years for the privy purse, $200O0 a year for palace expenses, $16,000 for the Queen, and a like sum for Mrs. John Dominis, the Kings sis ter and the wife of the Governor of Oahu Maui, the Governor himself receiving $500. Another sister of the King, Mrs. Archie Cleghorn, receives $12,000, and her daughter 5, ,000. In addition to these gen. erous allowances-for if must be that the annual ex- penses of a native are not more than $50, as he lives mainly on poi and raw fsh-the King was allow ed S1S,000 by the Legislature for the palace stables. This sum he used to build a private stable, which he stocked with horses and zen hacks, which he hired out to oe run in opposition to the regular carnage companies in Honolulu. Besides all these sources of reye- que the King receives a yearly ren- ;al of not less than S100,000 from he crown lands, which comprise soma of the best sugar estates on he islands. The opposition party n the Legislature has tried for several years to compell the King o disclose the exact sum which he 'ecelves from these lands, but with ,ut success.
 With all this money Kalakaua s perennially in debt When he ook the famous trip around the world he brought in bill for S22, 300, which was paid with some grumbhng by the Legislature. " hen the coronation was project d an allowance of S10,000 was made, with the provision that, if his sum was exceeded, 1t should one out of the Kings privy purse. The lavish coronation ceremonies ost St0,000 and the sum had to be 2 'ald, as the plrAnfse was empty