The times., 1898-07-10

of twenty AS he had been reared as
Christian and had travelled extensively in
the United States and Europe, and was a
young man of courteous, winning man
ners. and of real ability, the missionaries
looked for unprecedented progress during
his reign. To their dismay, he took to
drink and every form of vice, killing his
secretary in drunken frenzy, and shut
ting himself up from his advisers. He
died in 1863.
Hardly less disgraceful was the career
Of his brother, who succeeded him as
Kamehameha V. This high-handed mon
arch, the last of his line, overthrew the
liberal constitution of Kamehameha III,
substituting one of his own. that was un-
worthy of a man of ordinary intelligence.
From pure perversity and dislike of the
missionaries. he restored many of the
| old superstitious rites, and after. reign
of nine years he died.
The Elective KfLgs.
Now, for the first time. 1t became nee
essary for the legislative body to choose
a king, the selection being limited to the
descendants Of the hereditary chiefs.
popular vote had already indicated as the
common desire the election of William c.
Lunalilo, a son of the stepdaughter Of
hamehameha !, and the Legislature
promptly ratified it. He proved TO be an
amiable and liberal ruler, popular with
/ both natives and foreigners, but he, too,
soon fell a victim to rum, and in year
ard a month he died.
Because he had failed to exercise his
right to name his successor, division and
turbulence followed his death. There
were two candidates Tor the vacant
throne-the Queen Dowager Emma and
David Kalakaua-and so violent became
party feeling that a riot threatened the
destruction of the capital city and the
! shedding of blood. 1t became necessary
in order TO protect the lives and property
of foreigners. for the marines of an
American and a British man-of-war TO go
ashore and suppress the outbreak of
violence. Kalakaua was the choice of
the legislative majority, but his record
was such as almost 10 warrant a revolt
against his Inauguration. His reputed
grandfather had been hanged for poison
| ing his wife, his family was known 10
worship idols. and he himself was a de-
faulter as a government official. Under
the former monarch he had been opposed
TO popular rights, and favored an unre-
strained traffic in liquor.
Inevitably self-seeking foreigners set
traps for his capture in their own in
terest, and easily succeeded. The chief
among these was Gibson, a renegade
Mormon, who had been cut off by the
Mormon Church and driven from his
| former home. He became the prime min
lister and maintained his influence by
| pandering 10 the kings love of display.
| After a gorgeous ceremony of coronation.
| nine years after the king had assumed
the throne, Gibson induced him to issue
grandiloquent warning to the powers
| islands of the Pacific Scandals of all
kinds become common under the admin
! istration of the renegade Mormon and
| corruption ragged.
The king resorted to unblushing brib-
| cry to control the election of legislators
and was able, in 1886, to secure the
adoption of opium license law. A
| rich Chinese, Ak by name paid $4,000 to
| the king in person for the license, but
| on being offered and paid $4,000 by a
| Chinese syndicate the king transferred 1t
| to the latter, but kept Axis money.
| The exposure of this transaction, follow
| ing other scandals, led the American
! English and German residents to protest
| to their respective diplomatic representa-
| tives that the condition OF affairs was in
| tolerable A mass-meeting of citizens of
| all rationalities declared that the gov
! ernment had ceased through incom-
| potency and corruption to perform the
! functions and to afford the protection for
! which all governments exist" A COM
mittee waited on the king to demand the
| dismissal of Gibson and the adoption of a
| liberal constitution. The king instantly
| assented, Gibson was driven out and a
reform legislature elected. The only in
| cident of moment in the rest of his reign
was the defeat of conspiracy to de-
| throne the king and place his sister, Lii
uokalani on the throne. He died during a
visit to San Francisco in 1891.
The Throne Falls.
Under the constitution, Liliuokalani
became the successor to the throne. She
soon passed under the influence of for
eign adventures, who were able to con-
troll legislation in the interest of lottery
schemes opium licenses and whatever
would permit them to make money cor
ruptly. The Queen, never satisfied with
| attempted a coup d etat for the over
| throw of the very constitution from
| which she derived her title to the throne
| This provoked the revoiution of 1893,
| which ended in her overthrow. What
| followed is recent history. fresh in the
| public memory. The provisional govern
ment established in 1893 was succeeded
on July T. 1894. by the republic of Hawaii
with Sanford Ballard Doie, Hawaiian
| born, but of American parentage, as
| president.