Historical Collections of The Hawaiian Islands - Kalakaua -- Part 14 The US GenWeb Archives provide genealogical and historical data to the general public without fee or charge of any kind. It is intended that this material not be used in a commercial manner. All submissions become part of the permanent collection. Historical Collections of The Hawaiian Islands " Keepers of the Culture " A Study in Time of the Hawaiian Islands and stories told by the ancients Kalakaua -- The King -- Part 14. Spreckels, Moreno, Cabinet, and loans. by Darlene E. Kelley August 20, 2001 http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00026.html#0006374 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Kalakaua -- The King -- Part 14. Spreckels, Moreno, Cabinet, and loans. ******************************************** A shadow had been cast over Kalakaua' s future by breach of loyalty among the Hawaiians in the elections. It was further lengthened by the constitutional right of the king to choose and dismiss his cabinets -- a right Kalakaua stretched to its breaking point. There was coming to the front racial antagonism in who should run the country the Hawaiians or the haole. On one side were the Hawaiians and part-Hawaiians, and on the other were the haole. Approval had been given to the first cabinet appointees, as there apparently been a balance of races. Well thought of, Paul Nahaolelua represented the Hawaiians. There had been the long time feeling that Hawaiians should be represented in the cabinet, but the haole believed that the Hawaiians should serve in subordinate positions until they were properly educated. From the time of King Kamehameha III (1852) to 1887, by right of the 1852 constitution, the King could choose and dismiss his cabinet. During the first two or three years of Kalakaua's reign, cabinet changes occurred because of disagreements among the ministers. One such disagreement occurred over the loan act of 1874. It was not the first legislature act for a loan, but it was for the largest amount. Perhaps it is possible that the Hawaiian Kalakaua had a limited concept of what a loan meant. Hawaiian aloha tended toward an outright gift rather than a borrowed sum. Only partially alerted that such moneys would have to be repaid, but repaid with interest, Kalakaua saw the loan as a solution to his financial problems, as did some other Hawaiians. Some of the haole also favored the loan, fully aware that the moneys would have to be repaid. Kalakaua had difficulty in orienting himself to a concept in which money was power. He was brought up in a tradition in which the high chief had the greatest power and wisdom. He now faced a culture in which the man with the greatest amount of money was the highest. It was the opposite of his traditional beliefs. A loan or the return of it with interest was foreign to the king, as was the idea that support from the taxpayer could be resented. The king made it possible through the reciprocity treaty for the planters to make fortunes. It seemed only fair and right -- worthy of gratitude-- that some of the moneys went to support the King's plan to enhance his people and his country. The country was no longer wealthy. Land, the life blood of Hawaii, had been sold or given away. Also, a far greater problem arose in 1880. It was the first time that government money had to be used for the royal household. Until this time there had been enough money from the high chief lands of the current King to pay for personal needs of the King and the royal family. Queen Emma had used this argument in her campaign. As before mentioned, at the time of the great land division ( Mahele in 1843 ), the lands of Hawaii were divided; a third to the king, a third to high chiefs, and a third to the common people. The lands belonging to King Kamehameha III were then divided into halves -- one half for the Kings personal use and half for the use of the government, known as Crown Lands. It was thought by many that the Crown Lands were to follow the holder of the Crown. Of course, at the time of Kamehameha III it was never expected that anyone except a Kamehameha would hold the Crown. Therefore after the death of Kamehameha V, who left no will, much of the Crown Lands was claimed by the Kamehameha heirs. Because most of the Crown Lands often remained Kamehameha lands, and even after the personal lands of Kamehameha V were witheld from the government, the money from these lands for Kalakaua's use was almost negligible. He had to fall back on the money recieved from the lands of High Chief Aikanaka, lands which had been divided after the death of Aikanaka, between his younger brother, Moehunua, and his daughter, Keohokalole, Kalakaua's mother, whose lands in turn were given to her remaining children -- Kalakaua, Liliuokalani, and Likelike. Only Spreckels had mony to offer the King, but he would demand his pound of flesh in time. Spreckels needed water rights for his tract of land in central Maui. He petitioned the cabinet. The cabinet and Chief Justice C.C. Harris were willing to work out an accomodation for Spreckels. But Spreckels was impatient and demanded immediate action and approached Kalakaua with a plan. The plan was to dismiss the cabinet, and in return the King would receive a $10,000 gift and loan of $40,000 at seven percent interest. C.C. Harris wrote that " it is the first time money had been used in Hawaii to provide and procure favors, and to include the King.... " Kalakaua had stepped upon a slippery road to secure moneys. Therefore, cabinet members that did not agree with him were removed, until he thought was the perfect premier --- Celso Ceasar Moreno. The final blow fell . --- Many of the Hawaiians,who liked Moreno and looked at him as an Italian friend and savior, approved the King's action, but businessmen, and foreign diplomats. and the white community disapproved violently. The native supporters of Moreno publshed a manifesto that revealed their sympathies : " To all true-born citizens of the country, Greetings; We have with us one Celso Moreno, a naturalized and true Hawaiian. His great desire is the advancement of this Country in wealth, and the salvation of this people, by placing the leading positions of Government in the hands of the Hawaiians for admistration. The great desire of Moreno is to cast down foreigners from official positions and to put true Hawaiians in their places, because to them belongs the country ---etc, etc. " The opposition, however, was far stronger then the affirmation of Moreneo. Kalakaaua had opened the 1880 assembly with the praise of Moreno for the loan concept. a loan which would be used for buildings, equipment, manning two forts at Diamond Head and Koko Head, and for several warships to protect Hawaii. The loan was also to support hospitals, boarding schools, harbor improveents, railroads, roads and irrigation works. Robert Hoapili Baker, who introduced the measure, sought also extended suffrage to more natives and promote equality by the repeal of the laws prohibiting the sale of liquor to natives. Moneys from the loan were to open the doors to Asia by a trans-oceanic cable between the American and Asian continents via a Honolulu- China steamer. Th loan failed to pass, but appropriations for a coronation, the establishment of a board of Genealogy of the Chiefs of Hawaii, National Coinage Act, construction of Iolani Palace, and a bill to subsidize education of Hawaiian youths in Europe passed. Then Kalakaua moved fast and inexpediditiously. The Wilder cabinet, which had not supported the King's plans for the loan, was peremptorily dismissed by the King. No reason or complaints were given. Moreno was appointed minister of foreign affairs and premier. Acrimony broke out in Honolulu. Placards denouncing Moreno fooded the city. Talk of abdication, crowning Queen Emma, lynching Moreno, and the ever present threat of annexation by the United States were rampant. Even Queen Emma, Princess Ruth, and Princess Pauahi Bishop supported the King's opposition. Over 2,000 excited people at Kaumakapili Church resolved: " His Majesty has thereby acted inconsistently with the principles of the Hawaiian Government as a Constitutional Monarchy as establishd and handed down by the Kamahamehas and their successor Lunalilo, and that his action therein is hostile to the permanence of Hawaiian independence, the perpetuity of the Hawaiian race and the security of life, liberty, and property in the Hawaiian Islands." Rumors came to the King and, remembering the election riots, he ordered the volunteer companies disarmed, arms stacked in the palace, and the Household Guards posted around the palace and the barracks, where he slept. These were frightening times for Kalakaua, who was threatened with assassination and /or loss of his country. The British and French commissioners, together with the American commissioner, who remained noncommittal , but sided with the French and English, refused to recognize Moreno. This action was followed further by German, British, and American residents signing a petition against Moreno. Following the Monday mass meeting, headed by Sanford Ballard Dole and held at the Kaumakapili Church, the resignation of Moreno was demanded. Comly, the American Commisioner, went to Kalakaua explaining that Moreno's so called commissions from the United States were defunct by the time he presented them as valid and hs achievements were grossly exaggerated. Kalakaua, in fairness to Moreno, called him to the palace and presented the case against him. Kalakaua also explained that peace must be made between Comly and Moreno, or Moreno would be dismissed. Moreno went to Comly, who was dining with Dr. John S. McGrew. A passionate arguement broke out between Comly and Moreno. Infuriated, Moreno returned to the palace, where Kalakaua informed him he had no choice but to dismiss him. Kalakaua by this time had recognized the liability of keeping Moreno in office. Comly received a note from the King within hours that Moreno had resigned. The committee, however, now feeling the success of their pressure, decided to humiliate the King furthur and demanded the removal of the entire cabinet. Even Comly thought this was a mistake; he wrote in his dispatch to Wasington: " A little tact would have given the King time to 'feel good in' and then the people might have had their way. But these old Puritans don't know halfway between damnation and election." The Hawaiian language newspaper, Ko Hawaii Pae Aina, stated the " The Constitution does not grant the subject a right to express his opinion of censure [ censure of Kakakaua had been rampant in newspapers] on His Majesty the King." The political heat of criticism and show of power by the foreigners weighed heavily on Kalakaua. Comforting words in the Hawaiian paper had little or no effect upon the haole population that was beginning to become obsessed with the idea of removing the King from office. They were led largely by Lorrin A Thurston. Thurston was to become one of the King's deadliest enemies. He was a son of the missionaries Asa and Lucy Goodale Thurston. He had studied at Columbia University and had been admitted to the Hawaiian Bar in 1878. ******************************************** to be continued in Part 15.