The Saint Paul globe., 1897-04-05
OneHope ofHdWuii


A representative citizen of Honolulu,
widely known in scientific circles in this
country, is Prof. W. T. Brigham, the
director Of the Bishop Museum of Poly
nesian Ethnology and Natural History
at Honolulu Prof. Brigham has re-
Gently passed some time in Boston af-
ter European tour in the interest of
his profession. He is enthusiastic in
his praise of the Hawaiian islands and
their climate, and in the prospect of the
establishment there Of an extensive
biological station for the study of tropi-
cal deep sea life. He is in no sense a
politician, and hence his unbiased
opinion Of the political situation in the
islands, from the standpoint Of an in
telligent citizen. is Of value.
Il think" he said, that the feeling
that the islands should be annexed to
the United States is daily growing
stronger in the islands and more fixed
and settled. But there is till a differ
ence Of opinion as to methods Several
plans Of annexation have been pro-
posed. Some desire the admission of
the islands as state of the Union 1
think that so extreme a view is hardly
justif1able; and 1 should also object
strongly to the annexation of the ISL
ands as a county of California The
state Of California is thoroughly domi-
mated by the railroad interests, and
such a control would not be to the
taste Of the Hawaiian people. Then
there are some people who advocate
annexation with a territorial form of
government. 1 should object also to
that, because we do not care to be
governed by political adventures sent
out to us as the territorial governors
are.
The best plan, in my opinion, is to
establish some form of government
similar to that by which the District
Of Columbia is managed. / should adj
vocate a government by a board of
commissioners, In which there should
be more or less local influence. Per-
haps one might be appointed by the
president Of the United States and the
other two elected by the people of the
islands. | think that such a plan as
this would be acceptable to the ma
jority Of the people
For myself, l should prefer. on some
accounts, to be annexed to the British
empire. The chief reason for this feei-
ing Is that Great Britain protects its
colonies and it's people wherever they
may be. And this protection is grant
ed, no matter which party may be in
power In parliament. But we all rec
Ognize the fact--even the British resi-
dents in the islands recognize it that
annexation to the British empire would
be our commercial ruin. ALL or the
vast majority of our commercial rela-
tiOns, are with the United States, and
it is in the trade with this country that
our prosperity lies. To become British
territory would be a terrible blow to
us. If we might maintain independ-
ence, with a complete reciprocity ar
rangement with the United States, it
would be satisfactory to many But
we could not be sure of a continuance
of such reciprocity agreement, with
the liability of a radical change Of
administration at Washington. Only
with annexation shall we feel abso-
Lutte commercial safety
What is the feeling among the ma
tive Hawaiians in regard to annexa-
tiOn to the United States?' was asked.
Il think that the majority Of them
would like it. That is, they would
like the idea of becoming a portion of
a great nation. If a poll could be
taken Of the natives, without influence
being brought upon them from any
quarter, l am inclined to think that
majority of them would favor annexa-
tiCn. But to tell the truth, l think
that it is scarcely worth while to con-
slider the natives as an important fac
tor in the politics Of the islands any
more than the Indians are regarded as
political factor in the states of the
Union. The fact is, that the native
Hawaiians are rapidly dying out. They
are a moribund race.
Speaking from the standpoint of an
ethnolOgist," continued Prof Brigham.
Il feel sure that ten years hence there
will scarcely be a full blooded Ha-
waiian on the islands. The native
women are rapidly intermarrying with
the Chinese, Japanese and Portuguese.
The union Of a native Hawaiian man
and woman is seldom fruitful. Even
the eX-queen, Liliuokalani, although
the fact is not generally known in
this country, is not of pure Hawaiian
lineage. Her father, and the father
Of her brother, Kalakaua, the late king.
was a Portuguese negro. Neither was
she of the true royal line at all Her
brother, Kalakaua, after the failure of