The Hawaiian gazette., 1902-12-12
RECOLLECTIONS
OF KAMEHAMEHAV.
Bold and Wise Sovereign
as Remembered by
R. A. Lyman.

well be proud has reigned over ;he land,
a King who would compare very favor
ably with the monarchs of more en-
lightened nations. Kamehameha v,
who assembled the throne of the lla-
waiian Islands upon the death of Ia
mehameha ". in 1865.
Before ascending the throne kameha-
meha V. had acted as Minister of the
Interior under Kamehameha ". He
had a very strong will. so that he was
not Minister in name alone, but at
tended faithfully TO the duties of his
office.
Upon the death of his brother Ka-
mehameha ", Kamehameha V. show
ed his strong will. He persuaded his
sister, Victoria, to give up ascending
the throne, and in "A few hours had him.
self proclaimed as King. He declined
to take an oath to the Constitution,
and after making a trip to several parts
of the Islands, called "A Constitutional
Convention to meet in Honolulu. and
upon the delegates refusing to impose
a property qualification for voters, the
King sent them home and promulgated
! a new Constitution, in which he IN
serted clause that no one could ascend
the throne without taking the oath to
this Constitution. In after years when
! | became well acquainted with Kane
| hameha, he often told me that he would
not take the oath of the old Constitu-
| ton. as he had made up his mind to
set it aside, and he did not wish to
commit perjury by swearing to support
| a Constitution that he had determined
to set aside The King felt that it
would be wrong to commit perjury him
| self, and one example will show what
| he thought of others perjuring them
selves. When Kamehameha received
| the news that K of kona had Civ
| en- up being a minister of the gospel,
l and several others We're present The
| King said that he had hoped that
k would stand firm as long as he
lived; that he was sorry to have to say
it of his own people, but too many of
them would commit perjury in court,
and that the native ministers and
church members seemed to think they
could take an oath to be ministers of
the gospel or followers of Christ, and
that when they got tired Of that, they
could go back to a life of sin as easily
as they could put on new coat; and
as long as the Nation does not realize
the solemnity of an oath to God, and
the sin Of breaking that oath, the Ma
ton could never amount to anything.
When Kamehameha came to the
throne, he found that his late brother
owed so much money that most of his
lands would have to be sold to settle
up the estate SO he had the Act pas
sed setting apart the Crown Lands, tn,
income of which was used to pay his
brothers debts, and after those debts
were paid, then the income was to bt
for the Crown.
Kamehameha V. was not a King sim
ply in name, but took an active part II
the Government, and was well inform.
ed as to what his ministers were do
ing. He always dictated the program
mes for the state funerals which oc'
CURED during his reign. He always
prepared his own speeches for the open
ing and closing of legislatures and fol
other state occasions. In order to keel
himself well informed about other coun
tries. the King took a great many
American and English papers and mag
aZnes. ii was his custom to reat
the speeches made in the English Par
, lament and in the American Congress
and he kept himself well informed a.
to the measures brought forward II
, those bodies. Several months before tn
would hold a cabinet meeting nearl.
every day to DISCUSS the measures tina
the government was going to bring be
fore the legislature. The King said, -
want my Cabinet to know before tn
legislature meets, what / will supper
and what l will not support: and
wish the Cabinet to show me before
> hand the reasons why the government
should bring forward certain measures
!, and then there will be no surprise {
! my Cabinet during the session of tn
: Legislature from not knowing what m
5 views are"
i Kamehameha was an honorable bust
/ ness man, and was unwilling to take a
unfair advantage of others in business
q Several years before he assembled tn
!, thrOle he failed In business and wen
S into bankruptcy. After he had been o
the throne over a year he directe
judge Harris who had been his lawye
: when bee failed, to pay all his old credl
q. tors in iull, saying Although the Cour
. has r,'elsed me from paying thes
claims in fun, | wish to have them a
; paid, as ! ana in a position 10 do II an
e d. 1T wish any one TO lose cent b
= my having failed before"
The King was very particular ab1u
: the Smull matters OF business, ana ~
s not leave everything - others 10 100
9 after lie always kept the run Of any
thing that was purchased for him d
by his orders. lie would enter the prlc
In his memorandum book. After break
fast he would can his people t0gethe
', and looking over his book, would pas
y out the money ~ those who had mad
~ tho purchases, saying, You promise
X that such ana such AN article woul
;, be paid Tor today. now go and pa
" Tor it'
business men IN Honolulu have tol
r. mo that they felt sure ~ their none
n IN time whom the KINGS servants mad
~ any purchases In MA name. ON h
Pr lTlps 40 li'lp, he would direct Wr a. pa
an bio biila for supplies ana a. lrR
nn him wac constantly purrhasin
rs hundreds NJ dollars worth 0f feather
lH canoes. pluna ana other ArlloloH, au
u a D.. NN A 80