The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1894-06-26

In view Of the absurd story pub
lished in the y. Y. Herald, which
attacks the good name of a dis
iinguished officer of the Amer
lean navy, / beg leave to submit a
few facts bearing on the case.
The late r. c. Wyllie, Minister of
Foreign Affairs for the Hawaiian
Kingdom, in his report TO the Legis.
lature of 1876, commented severely on
COmmodoreJoues course in pressing"
the settlement of the claims of the
American traders against the native
chiefs in December, 1926.
Commodore Jones' reply and mass
Of accompanying documents were pub
lished in the supplement to the report
Of the Minister of Foreign Affairs to
the Legislature of 1856.
The American Minister Resident at
Honolulu, Hon. d. l.. Gregg, also
took the testimony of Rev. a. Bishop,
Capt. John Meek, Governor Kekua-
naoa, John Ii and Ksnaina, which
was published at the same time.
Capt. John Meek, a well-knOwn
and respected resident, stated as fol-
lows in his letter dated January 10,
1856:
81 was present at the final media
ton and settlement affected through
the friendly offices Of Capt. Jones. He
acted as a sort of umpire between the
parties. Commodore Jones had been
examining and trying TO arrange the
matter for month or more, and
understood il fully. The final council
or meeting at which the decision was
rendered, lasted only a short time,
perhaps not over two or three hours
Most OF the chiefs were there, and
some Of the clalmlnts Sisu. Tne
claims were reduced to a considerable
extent. Commodore Jones took the
side Of the chiefs, and was regarded
a. very friendly to them. They were
perfectly satisfied and even pleased,
and admitted the amount of his award
to be Justly due. The other parties
were not content and complained
that their interests had not been duly
considered. These claims were for
vessels ami goOds-sometimes by the
cargo sold to the chiefs. Six vessels,
I think, had been purchased by them,
and goods to large extent
Capt. Jones was always mild and gen.
clemanly. He u~ed no threats, and
employed no coercion, No naval
commander was ever more res
pected or praised by the chiefs,
and none, / was satisfied, ever better
deserved their confidence. The col
lection OF sandal wood to liquidate the
claims was not regarded as oppressive
or buniensome. Each native was al
lowed proportion of what he gather
ed, and thus all derived some advan-
tage from the tax imposed" etc.
Prom the replies made by NJ. Keku-
anaoa, John Ii, Kanaina and John
Meek TO the twenty-five questions put
by Mr.. Wyilie, i can only make a few
extracts.
q state the names of all the
Americaus who made claims on the
Hawaiian Government; the amount
Of the claim of each American firm or
individual the particular kind of
goods that he had sold TO the Govern
ment or To the chiefs" etc.
A. By KekuanaOa and John H.
"William Denney, Capt. Ebbetts,
Thomas Meek, William French, Con
sui Jones and his partners; do not
recollect the amount of each claim;
the greater part of the debt was for
vessels sold and for the manufactured
goods; cannot say precisely for how
long 'ime, they were old debts"
4. BY Kanaina. "Says that 'Aluli,'
or the American who carried his head
on one side, he superintended and
brought forward all the claims; says
some of them were just claims, but
the greater portion unjust. The chiefs
had been in the habit of going and
buying things, thinking little of the
price, as they had to pay in sandal
wood; they did not then know the
value of dollars, of goods or of sandal
wood correctly"
John Meek added the names of Cap
taius Andrew, Blanchard, Wildes and
Brown, and said that "Aluli" was
the name given by the natives to the
Consul, John Coffin Jones.
Q. Do you remember the price at
which any particular vessel, boat or
brass or iron gun was sold? IL so state
the price of such article.n
A. By KekuanaOa and John II. 1.-The
brig Haaheo (CleOpatra's barge was
charged at 5000 piculs; a little vessel
built near where the CustomhOuse is,a
schooner of about 20 tons, was charg
ed at 1000 piculs, the large brass gun
nov lying in the fort, was charged at
500 piculs
10 the above list of vessels pur-
chased by the chiefs we can add the
Albatross, purchased in October, 1918,
IF John Ebbets for 400 pieuls of sandal
wood the brigantine Bordeaux
Packet, purchased in 1917 of Captain
Blanchard the brig Niu, sold to
Liholiho in August, 1913, for SOL, $50;
the brig Thaddeus, purchased in 1920
for $4,000; the brig Kamehameha,
purchased of Thomas Meek in 1928
for 800 piculs besides several vessels,
including the Beckett, the Kamaha-
lOlani, etc sold to Kaumualii, King
Of Kauai-on several of which unpaid
balances remained due for long
time.
Commodore Jones' orders from the
Secretary of the Navy directed him,
among other things, "to secure GER
tain debts due American citizens by
the native government"
A. BY Kanains. One schooner,
about 200 tons, sold by a captain tRey-
Mold was his matel for 10000 paunas
e. The brass gun was paid for in