The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1893-01-19
SOME HISTORY.
A Naval Officer in Favor of An
neXatiOn.

Illustrated American, a weekly
paper published in New York
SHALL WE ANNEX HAWAII? 81 ANSWER
UNHEsITATISGLY, YES"
Commander Jewell. Of the United
States navy, Is moved by an article
in the issue of this paper Of Decem
Der Sd to make somewhat spirited
reply to one of orr contributors.
We print the Commanders letter
in full, as it certainly is a forcible
answer to the query:
"Shall We Annex Hawaii"
To THE EDITOR OF The ILLUSTRATED
AMERICAN.
Dear Sir:-In your issue Of De
cember 3, 1892, in an article entitled
Shall We Annex Hawaii the fol
lowing language IS used:
On the death Of Kamehameha '.
they (the planters) secured the cleo
ton of Kslakaua as King. There
was a lawful heir to the throne,
Queen Emma, and no law or prece-
dent for election by the Legislature.
Still 1t was done by the power of
gold. We have here to record the
first interference by American forces.
1t must be told, TO the everlasting
shame of the American people AMI
the discredit Of her representatives.
The people arose en- masse to sup
port Queen Emma The American
Minister, Pierce, thereupon landed
marines and sailors from an Amer
lean war vessel and put down the up
rising by force.
Your historian would have been
spared the modification he expert
enced in the recital of this shameful
story had he made the slightest
effort to verify his data. Not often
are go many misstatements and per
versions of fact crowded into so few
lines. Kalakaua was not elected to
succeed Kamehameha V; there was
no lawful heir TO the throne; Queen
Emma was not heir to the throne,
lawful or unlawful; there was both
law and precedent for the election of
King by the Legislature. So much
for the misstatements; the perver
sions are in regard to the actions of
the American representatives, and
to the object for which the Amer
lean forces were landed, as [ shall
proceed TO show.
l was at Honolulu when the events
referred to took place-in fact, it
was my fortune to command the first
detachment of the American forces
that landed, and which drove the
rioters out of the court house, where
the meetings of the Legislature were
held. Consequently, | know some
thing about these events, and L have
taken the trouble to verify my recol
lection of them by reference to vari-
GUS sources of information.
The constitution of Hawaii, under
which Kalakaua was elected King in
1874, had been adopted some ten
years before, during the reign Of
Kamehameha V. This constitution
provided that, failing heirs of his
own body, the sovereign might nom
mate, and, with the consent Of the
mobiles, appoint his successor by
public proclamation. In the event
that no such nomination and pro
clamation were made, it was pro-
vided that the Legislature should
elect the sovereign, who, however,
must be Of the ALI of the kingdom;
i. g., he must be descendant of the
ancient chiefs. Kamehameha ".
had died without issue, and his sue
cessor, Kamehameha v, was also
childless. The latter died in De-
cember, 1872, without having ap-
pointed successor in the constitu-
tionai manner, and with him the
Kamehameha line ended.
His successor was LunalliO, who,
in January, 1872, in accordance with
the constitution, was elected King
by the Legislature. Queen Emma,
the widow of Kamehameha ", was
a competitor for the throne, as was
Kalakaua, the late King. Lunalilo
did not belong to the royal line, but
he was high chief, descendant of
the ancient chiefs. His reign lasted
a little more than a year and he died
on the Sd or 4th of February, 1874.
He had no heir, and had not APP
pointed a successor as the constitu-
ton provided. Therefore special
session of the Legislature was called
by his Ministers to elect a successor
in accordance with the terms Of the
constitution.
1t so happened that the biennial
election of representatives to the
Legislative assembly had occurred
but few days prior to the death of
the King. This assembly was a re
markable body from the fact that the
representatives, with single excep-
ton, were natives, and, with few ex-
captions, they belonged to the pop
ular party, whose campaign cry had
been Hawaii for the Hawaiians."
Two candidates for the throne
were nominated in this Legislature,
both of whom had been candidates
at the previous election. One was
David Kalakaua, high chief, de-
scendant of ancient chiefs, a Noble
Of the kingdom, and an intelligent
and educated man. He was candl-
date of the native Hawaiian party,
and was supported generally by those
of the people who were OF American
birth or descent. The other candidate
was Queen Emma, who was supposed
to represent the foreign TOR, more
strictly speaking, the English ele
ment In the Islands. She was the
widow of Kamehameha ", and had
had son who died IL infancy. She
was the adopted and putatiye daugh-
ter of an English physician, had a
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