Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1914-03-14

private life as mild, kline, affable,
generous and forgiving. He was
never more happy than when, free
from the cares and trappings of state,
be could enjoy himself socially with
hts friends Having associated much
while. = boR with. Foreigners he con.
3inaed to- the last fond OF their COM
pany. Without his persona; influence
the law to allow them to hold lands
in fee simple could never nave been
enacted, neither could conflicting
claims TO land have been settled by
that most useful institution, the
board Of land commissioners. It is
hardly possible to conceive of any
king more generally beloved than was
his late majesty; more universally
cbeyed or more completely sovereign
in the essential respect of independent
sovereignty, that of governing his sub
jects free from any influence Or con-
trel from beyond the limits or his own
jurisdiction"
Great Land Division.
1t was during this kings reign that
| the "mahele." or great division Of
lands, was carried out Up to this
time all lands in the islands were held
by feudal tenure Ownership was for
life only, while only the chiefs had
even this limited ownership. On the
death of a chief his lands reverted to
!. the king, who could give them to
| whomever he chose. There had in.
deed grown UP in some degree the
custom of confirming the lands of
chiefs to their heirs, and of continu-
| ing the use and occupation of land
by the common people to the heirs of
! those who had last cultivated or oc-
| cupied them. But the legal title re-
manned in the king.
"By the great division, roughly,
one-third of the lands of the kingdom
was distributed among the chiefs; an
other third was distributed among the
common people, every Hawaiian adult
receiging a 'kuleana' or homestead,
and the remaining third was reserved
Ito the king, who afterWard set apart
half of his lands for the government,
retaining the other half for his own
| private property. The CONAN given
/ to the government was known as gov
eminent lands, and that reserved by
A.
the overthrow of the monarchy, when
the republican administration claimed
both as public lands, Congress after
| annexation ratifying the claim. For.
mer Queen Liliuokalani makes the
confiscation of the crown lands part
of her pending claim against the. Unit.
ed States for compensation for the
loss of her sovereignty, as she alleges,
through the aid of the United States
forces to the revolution. "
His Two Constitutions. =..=... -aa=.
| With regard to the first constitu-
ton ever provided for the government
of these islands, Archiyist IL. G. Ly.
decker wrote as follows to Senator A.
N Hayselden of Maui in 1907, in con-
! nection with the scheme for erecting
monument at Lahaina upon the spot
where Kamehameha III promulgated
the instrument:
I Previous to the PRONUNCIATION OF
the constitution itself, declaration of
rights was signed by the king and
promulgated June Z, 1889 This dec
laration may be considered as the
Magma Charta of Hawaiian freedom.
i 1t granted protection to all persons,
their lands and their property, also
religious freedom so long as they com.
piled with the laws, and it was the
/ forerunner of the constitution itself
4 During this same year tIS39) the
first draft OF the constitution was