Evening star., 1897-03-27

companionship he soon fell into dissolute
ha bits killed his own secretary N a drnnk>
en- frenzy, withdrew himself i'll great meas
from public aHalrs, ana oleu pieh'
turely in 1863.
He was succeeded by his brother as
Kamehameha V who made career haro-
ly less ignoble. distinguished himself man
ly by the arbitrary overthrow or Ine nv,
oral constitution Of Kamehameha III and
the substitution Of of his own making
as also by his announcement OF ieatneh-
ish rites, the lascivious dances ana the sor-
cerers After a brief reign or nine years
he likewise came to a premature eno IN
1872 With his death the kamehameha lhle
became extinct. ,,
No successor having been named either
by the late king or by law. It became hsces s.,
| sary for the legislature to choose one IRON,
among the descendants or the chleis' anu
| the choice fel! upon william =; kh, Kulait.o,
meha l. This selection had been Indicated
| by vote of the people, and his unlver-
| sal popularity, his amiable traits OF char-
| acter and his liberal views won Tor MIN
| the sympathy OF all classes. both native
| and foreign. But he possessed the weak
| ness of his predecessors, and tno'sh ne
| called to his cabinet good advisers MS us
| elevation to power brought around nm
| boon companions and his excesses hastened
| the work of disease which terminated ms
| reign within thirteen months from the
| day he ascended the throne.
| Knlnkaua's Reign.
| Lunalilo had likewise 1alled 10 eAsieise
| his right to name successor. ana 'Ee
| country was again thrown into 1ever OF
excitement over the election OF a KING.
The rival candidates were the queen
Dowager Emma and David Kalakaua. a
| descendant of one of the chiefs of Kane
| hameha + through a somewhat clouded
| lineage Kalakaua was chosen by the leg-
| islature but not without a riot Whlch
was only quelled by the active interp I,os osi, =
l lan "A
| and British men-of-war in the haroor;
The low ebb which the people mad reached
in keeping the constantly vacated throne
filed was strikingly illustrated III 'ne
choice of Kalakaua. His reputed grand
ather had been hanged for poisoning his
wife, he had himself become defaalter
as government official his 1amliy was
known to the natives a an ldoiatrous ole,
| and under the former monarchs ne hao
been an advocate of absolutism ana tne
free sale of liquors. His career as King o>o
| not belle his antecedents
| For a time he retained in his cabinet men
| of ability aud integrity, but he soon fell
under the influence of designing foreign ad-
| venturers. One of these (Gibson) was a
| renegade Mormon, who had been driven out
| Of that community, and during his resi-
| dence in the islands had shown himself to
| be entirely unworthy Of respect Another
| Is described by the Hawaiian historian
! Professor Alexander, as a professional lob
| byist, well known in Washington, who
came to Honolulu with some grand scheme
and by his servile fattery gained such an
| unbounded influence over the king that
| within few months he made prime
minister and was preparing to launch the
| government into projects of unbounded
fcily, when the foreign community, repre-
| senting the property interests of the coun-
| try, raised such a storm OF Indignation
that the king was forced to dismiss him
But Gibson. the renegade Mormon, was
| more successful, and retained his place Is
prime minister for some years. He humor
ed the kings passion for display and ar
ranged and carried out with grand cere
monies the coronation of kalakaua II
1888 nine years after his Inauguration
He inspired him with great ambition. ant
led him to assume what his prime ministe
termed the primacy Of the Pacific.
grandiloquent protest was addressed to tn,
great powers, warning them against fur
ther annexation of the Islands of the Pa
cific, and an imposing embassy was sent t.
the King Of Samoa and the Queen of Tonga
| A treaty of alliance was made with tn
Samoan king, and the Hawaiian embass,
gave grand banquet in honor of tn
event, at which Robert Louis Stevenson re
ports "all decency appears to have bee
forgotten. and the next day found tn
house carpeted with slumbering grandees.
One Of the Samoan chiefs remarked to tn
Hawaiian envoy, III you came here t
: teach my people to drink, wish you ha
:, Under the lead of Gibson, the king di
!, not hesitate to resort to un5lushing col
- ruption and interference In the election c
| oI the legislature, ana hooded tn
n country districts with liquors passe
- through the custom house under the king
w frank. Other scandals which marked th
n ! period were the sale of Offices, the defraut
=, ing of the revenue. the illegal leasing
\ the lands and other disgraceful metloG
rs for replenishing his privase exchequer; an
"a to these were added his efforts to revi,
a heathenism and its lascivlous practice
ID urder the pretense of cultivating "nation:
4, feeling" Affairs went from bad to wor:
A. until they were finally brought to a cris
is by what is known the opium scanda
a The legislature of 1885, elected throus
or royal corruption and intimidation, ha
A. against the protest of the more decel
le members, passed an opium license law
TO rich Chinese (AkD was secretly informs
In that on the payment of 10000 to tt
81 kings private purse he would be granite
es the license, and the money was paid; b,
st soon after he was informed that anoth
Y, Chinese had offered to give the king $7l
is OO0. and that to secure the license he mu
10 pay $4,000 more. which he did, haudir
id the money personally to the king.
a. Shortly afterward another Chinese syni
cate paid the king $4,000, and took t