The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1917-11-16
THE TOPEKA STATE JOURNAL
INFORMATION BUREAU
By FREDERIC J. HAsKTN. director.
Washington, D. @.
Early Patriotism in Hawaii.


an unexplainable mystery. On the
sugar plantations the employees talked
if over and discussed the advisability
of Informing the~United States govern
rnent: in the mountain passes the
men armed themselves with rifles, ana
in the cities, especially around the
Notifications, guards were Stationed
And the cause OF all TINS nervous , az
tivity was a country school teacher
who chose to spend her vacation tour
ing the islands, armed with camera
and a notebook.
Such conduct in Hawaii at this time
could have but one meaning. The
Young woman must be a German spy.
She was, of course, going about col
lecting information for the Germans,
photographing Notifications and,
worst of all. spreading anthrax germs
the last being the popular German
atrocity in Hawaii Hence, when the
school teacher returned to her village,
with q notebook full of notes and sew
eraI rolls of film, she was at once
taken into custody by national
guardsman and her possessions care
fully examined. To the great dlsap-
pointment of the authorities, the pic
lures were all of unimportant things
such as sunsets, volcanoes and people
not one view of fertilization,
bridge or training camp.
This is only one of many instances
in which the fevered Hawaiian imagi-
nation has created a war situation,
and then been keenly disappointed.
Although about as far away from the
war as it is possible to get, the islands
are, nevertheless, extremely patriotic,
attaching great importance to their
part in the conflict.
Early Patriotism in Hawaii.
AS soon as the United States de-
clared war on Germany, the Hawai-
ian national guard. acting on orders
received from the war department,
began to mobilize. Following the
policy in vogue in the states, married
men and those having dependents
were discharged from the organiza-
ton and new members recruited to
take their places. There was much
concerning what they were going to
do when they met the Germans.
Then it suddenly ceased, the recruit
ing fell off, and the talked changed
to ways of obtaining exemptions
Word had been received from the
war Department that the Hawaiian
guard would not be drafted into the
Federal service.
This was a keen disappointment.
Instead of being sent to France
themselves, the men learned that
they were to increase their number
for home defense and thus relieve the
| troops of the United States regular
army. In this, however, they are
more than performing their duty. If
fortress remains unprotected or a
| German spy undetected, it is not the
fault of the Hawaiian national
guard.
Such patriotism is all the more
striking when you realize that Hawaii
| like America, is a melting pot of
| many different races. Chinese, Jap
anese, Portuguese, Filipinos and Porto
Ricans make up the larger part of
| it's population, while the pure Hawai-
! ians are now only a small percent
! age. In the national guard there Is
one company made up of Hawaiians,
Portuguese, FilipinoS and Japanese;
another company is constituted Who'll
| ly of Japanese, and still another con-
tains only Filipinos.
The guard now numbers 400
| members. Before the United States
various com panies which policed the
! islands. Now it is consolidated into
| two regiments which are receiving
the same camp training that Ancri-
can soldiers are receiving in the
| United States. Officers training
camps for the purpose of turning
civilians into officers have also been
| established, every effort being made
to prepare Hawaii to defend itself.
A Most Strategic Possession.
Although Hawaii is presumably
far from being a vital factor in the
! )
strategic possession in the Pacific
Ocean and is therefore vital enough
in the national defense policy. Con-
corning this phase of the matter, Mr..
William R. Castle, Jr., in his book
on Hawaii saws: while the Philip
pines remain an American possession
| Hawaii must always be the most i'm
portant station of the immensely long
line of communication between the
coast and Manila. Even should the
Philippines be ultimately abandoned,
| Hawaii must constitute, not an out
posts of American civilization, difficult
to defend, but rather a first line of
defense and an invaluable aid i'll any
offensive naval demonstration. 1t
demands no great intelligence to per-
supply station, either in peace or in
war, part way across an ocean five
thousand miles wide.''
This fact was, of course, clearly
demonstrated during the Spanish
American war, which led to the an
nexation of the islands. Prior to
1898, Hawaii led a turbulent exist
ence, decimated by frequent wars ex-
plotted by Adventures and badly
ruled by inefficient monarchs. The
fittest of the Polynesian race, who
survived a journey across the Pa
cific ocean in canoes and set up their
abodes on three of the islands. This
journey is supposed by historians &c
have taken place about 500 A. D. Fol-
a long period there were repeated
voyages back and forth between
Samoa and the islands, and then. Sc
far as can be traced by the ancient
folk-songs and legends, they ceased
Hawaii became a nation in itself
with new national customs and dis
tinct national religion.
Its organization was based on the
| feudal system in its worst form. con
sisting of three classes-the nobility
the priests and medicine men, and the
common people. All the land be.
longed to the chief, who distributed i
according to his whims among the
nobility, and the nobility in turn dis
tributed it among the common PEG
pie. In governing the people the
chief and his mobiles were aided by tht