Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-07-28
A SPLIT IN HA WA||
Home Rulers" Divide Into
Bitter Factions.
PRINCE CUPID A BOLTER
DELEGATE WILCOX SAVAGELY
DENOUNCED AS A SNAKE"
Lively Times at the Recent Convention
of the Native Royalist
Party.

HONOLULU, T. H, July IA, 1907.
The home rule territorial convention held
m Honolulu last week broke up in row. ana
there is a split in the party which is likely
to defeat Delegate to Congress r. w. wilcox
and send white man and republican TO
Washington from Hawaii next time. The
old battle cry of Kill the snake with
which the late ]. K. kaulia was wont to
begin his campaign speeches denouncns
the missionaries, has been heard in Homo
lulu again, but this time it was former sup
porters of Delegate Wilcox referring to
Wilcox. He stands charged with a political
breach of faith, on account of which some
of the most influential home rule leaders
and forty delegates bolted from the con-
vention
Those who think that American communi-
ties can furnish some lively political de-
bates should come to Hawaii and watch
convention of home rulers, or caucus OF
that extraordinary party-Which has just
changed it's name of home rule republican
by dropping the word republican, as pre-
liminary step to making it home rule
democratic'-and listen to the leaders call
ing another thieves and snakes low
lived liars, bride takers and fools, and,
finally, unable to find words that fit one
another's unworth, admitting that language
fails and contemptuously indicating an OPP
In the meantime, republicans and demo-
Gratis of Honolulu were happy in the pros
pect of having to fight a divided enemy.
Wilcox in a Hurry.
The convention began quietly enough. 1t
was called very suddenly, after the arrival
of Wilcox from Washington. by the presi-
dent of the party, Senator David Kalauoka-
lani, who is WcoX's r.ght-hand man, but
is not the leader the boilers wanted. Pri-
maries were not held, and no one seems to
know just how the delegates were selected.
There were 124 from the Island of Oahu
and only 1S from all the rest of the terri
tory, which should have had more than
Oahu, according to the vote. 1t would have
taken time, however, to send to the other
Islands, and Wilcox wanted to go ahead at
once.
On the first day of the convention the
venerable Kanui, organizer of the Aloha
Alma, royalist society from which the
home rule party grew, proposed that the
territory issue So 900 in greenbacks at
once, to relieve the financial situation. An
other delegate wanted to bring up the city
and county government act which Governor
Dole killed by pocket veto in 1901, and
have it read and passed again. Both were
suppressed, as well as Hon. George Mark
ham, who had written a preamble similar
to the Declaration of independence, and
wanted it put in the platform of the party.
Unheeded Call for Independence.
A feature of the deliberations We're reso-
lutons, offered by two delegates, Kanui be-
ing one of them, to petition the senatorial
commission which is coming to Hawaii for
the restoration of the independence of the
Hawaiian Islands. while one intoxicated
native in the hall howled for Wilcox, and
declared that he would be king yet until
put out of the hall. One of the resolutions
calling for independence referred to the
action of the United States in restoring
freedom to Cuba, and asked that the same
be done with Hawaii On the advice of
Wilcox the resolutions were sent to a com
mittee for action. but before anything was
done with them the convention had reach
ed a stage where nothing but quarreling
was of interest, and the resolutions did not
come up again One extraordinary state
ment by Delegate Wilcox was to the effect
that the people of Hawaii opposed MAX
ing the Moloka1 leper settlement a national
laZaretto because they made money
through the board of health's adminstra-
ton OF the settlement, which costs the ter
ritory over 100000 a year and that the
physicians of the board of health through
vaccination. are putting the disease of
leprosy INTO the young children so that
they will continue the disease for all time"
The platform was adopted without fric-
tlon 1t declares for city and county gov
eminent In Hawaii, and for a number of
other policies which are features Of all
usual plank favors THE furthering of the
interests of the farmers and day laborers
by guaranteeing them their wages at the
end of each week"
Cause of the Split
Inc split came when the younger men of
the party, led by Prince Cupid Kalaniana-
ole, attempt to pass a new constitution for
the party, on which they have been work.
Ing for months. They also ATTEMPTED the
removal of Senator Kalauokalani as presi
Dent OF the party. The new constitution
PROVIDED ?. 1or precinct clubs and primaries
1t would have taken the control of the
party out of the hands of Wilcox and Kala
uokaianl, and enabled the rank and file to
nominate the candidates for the next legis-
lature. instead of the delegate and the SEN
ator naming them, as they had named the
deiegates to the convention. For two DAYS
wilcox fought against the constitution, but
the prince and his followers the younger
would not be downed. A split was evident
when matters were apparently patched nm
by compromise.
compromise Agreement Violated.
At an evening meeting of the leaders NJ
both sides 1t was agreed that the constitu
ton should be adopted. For this CONFESS
sion the prince and his followers agreed to
cease immediate opposition to Kalauokalani
and not to put the constitution into effect
until the next campaign. The next day Ka
Iauokalani and Wilcox went into the con
EeHtloii, utterly ignored the agreement thew
had shaken hands over at midnight and
fought the constitution as If there had
never been an agreement. Prince Cunid
and forty other delegates rose in their seats
and left the convention, declaring that thew
would never associate with either Wilcox
or the senator in politics again.
wilcox may eventually date his downfall
as a successful leader of the HaWaiians
from the day of his failure to carry out the
agreement with the prince. The territory
perhaps Will date from the same day the
happy contamination of the success of an
American political party lifting Hawaii ont
or the present situation, in which she has a
royalist for her representative in the Amer
lean Congress One defeat for the home
rulers will probably end the party, and
from hotbed of political intrigue. faction
nights and efforts to win elections by race
prejudice, Hawaii may suddenly become an
ordinary American political community. d.
vlded according to the ordinary American
political lines.
Boilers in Caucus.
The night after their bolt from the con-
vention the princes faction held a caucus.
Delegate Wilcox's friends and the delegate
himself had been trying to effect a recon-
Citation. Wilcox and Kalauokalani were