The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1894-01-13

| Japan
The Legislature of 1882 was one of
| the weakest and most corrupt that
ever sat in Honolulu. At the opening
| of the session Minister Carter was
absent in Portugal, negotiating a
| treaty with the Government of that
country. 1t was soon evident that
] the Ministry did not control major
! ity of the House, but the king did.
| After an Intellectual attempt to quiet
| of the Board of Health, with salary
of $4,000, they resigned May 10Th, and
| Gibson became Premier.
! His colleagues were j. IL. Bush,
| lately of Moreno's cabinet; Simon
Kaai, who drank himself to death !;
| and Edward Preston, Attorney-Gen-
eral, who was really the mainstay of
the Cabinet.
| One of their first measures was an
| act to convey to Claus Spreckels the
crown lands of Wailuku, containing
some "a 900 acres, in order to compro-
mise a claim which he held to an un-
| divided share of the crown lands. He
| had purchased from Ruth Keelikolani,
| for the sum of $4,000, all the interest
which she might have had in the
crown lands as being the half-sister of
Kamehameha w, who died intes-
tate. Her claim had been ignored in
the decision of the Supreme Court and
| the Act of 1865, which constituted the
crowd lands. Instead of testing her
right by suit before the Supreme
| Court, the Ministry thought it best to
! accept the above compromise and car
ried it through the Legislature.
| The prohibition against furnishing
| Intoxicating liquor to natives was re-
| pealed at this session, and the conse-
Quences to the race have been disas-
trous. The ten-million loan bill was
again introduced, but was shelved in
committee and a two-milIiOn loan
| act substituted for it. The appropria-
| ton bill was swelled to double the
estimated receipts of the Government,
including $4,000 for coronation ex-
penses, $50, 900 for Hawaiian youths
in foreign countries, $4,000 for
Board of Generalogy, besides large
sums for the military, foreign en-
bassies, the palace, etc.
At the last moment bill was rush
ed through giving the king sole power
to appoint district justices, through
his creatures, the governors, which
had formerly been done only "by and
WIFI Uno duNICt vi tuo a uS&iSCS vi LhC
Supreme Court" This was another
step toward absolutism. Meanwhile
| Gibson defended the kings right to be
| an active politician, and called him
s'the first Hawaiian king with the
brains and heart of statesman"
At the same time it was understood
that Claus Spreckels backed the Glib
son ministry and made them advances
under the Loan Act.
THE CORONATION.
Kalakaua hal always felt dissatis-
fed with the manner in which he had
been sworn in as king. He was also
tired of being reminded that he was
not king by birth, but only by elec-
ton. To remedy this defect he deter
mined to have the ceremony per-
formed over again in as imposing a
manner as possible. Three years were
spent in preparations for the great
event, and invitations were sent to
all rulers and potentates on earth to
be present in person or by proxy on
the occasion. Japan sent commits
siCner, while England, France and
the United States were represented by
ships of war. The ceremony took
place February II, 1888, nine years
after Kalakaua's Inauguration. Most
of the regalia had been ordered from
London, viz, two crowns, a scepter,
ring and sword, while the royal
feather mantle, tabu stick and kahili |
or plumed staff, were native insignia |
of rank.
A pavilion was built for the occa-
sion, as we'll as temporary amphi- |
theatre for the spectators. The Chief |
Justice administered the oath of office |
and invested the king with the vari- |
Gus insignia. This ceremony was boy
cotted by the high chiefs, Queen
Emma, Ruth Keelikolani and Mrs.
Bernice Pauahi Bishop, and by a large
part of the foreign community, as an
expensive and useless pageant intend
ed to aid the kings political schemes
to make himself an absolute monarch.
The coronation was followed by feasts,
a regatta and races, and by series of
nightly hula hulas, i. e., heather
dances, accompanied by appropriate
songs. The printer of the coronation
hula programme, which contained
the subjects and first lines of these
songs, was prosecuted and fined by
the court on account of their gross and
incredible obscenity.
EMBASSIES, ETC.
During this year Mr.. J. NJ. Kapena
was sent as Envoy Extraordinary to
Japan, while Mr.. G. p. Iaukea, with