The Political Revolution in the Hawaiian Islands [pp. 298-304]

The Political Revolution in the HawazatIslaszands.
with the people, but now there was no representative of the historical Kamehamehas
left, and so the commoners felt themselves
at liberty to choose whom they would, without incurring the dreaded displeasure of the
ancient royal line.
The choice fell upon Kalakaua, the present king, who was the representative of
another family of high chiefs. He ascended
the throne in I874 as an elected sovereign,
his only title to the rank and position the
votes of the people.
So much has been said of the past political history of the Hawaiian Islands, in order
that a few important facts may be made evident. It will be seen that the people for
many hundreds of years have always been
subject to the irresponsible will of their chiefs,
and it may be added they have generally been
easily amenable to such edicts as those in
authority might promulgate. For the past
hundred years at least the supreme authority
has been invested in one family, and when
that family died out and the people were told
that they could choose their ruler from
amongst the few remaining representatives of
chiefish families, they were intoxicated with
their newly acquired privileges; and at the
election of Kalakaua the minority expressed
their displeasure at the defeat of their candidate by murderously attacking the representatives and indulging in a serious riot.
Kalakaua came to the throne with the
desire and intent of governing prudently and
wisely. He is a man of good education, of
polished manners, and of fine personal appearance. All these advantages have been
improved by foreign travel and intercourse
with the rulers and statesmen of Europe.
At the same time the want of stability of
purpose and self denial, and the love of personal ease and aggrandizement so characteristic of the Hawaiian race, made him an easy
victim of the astute politicians, the cunning
knaves, and unscrupulous adventurers who
gradually gathered about him.
At the beginning of his reign, Kalakaua
seemed to be actuated by a sincere desire to
improve the condition of his people. He gave
much attention to the development of the
resources of the kingdom, and to the carrying out of much needed sanitary measures.
He took an active part in promoting the welfare of churches and schools, and was an
active member of several charitable and fraternal societies.
As his official advisers he was at first content to call about him men of worth and high
standing in the community. But it was not
long before, dazzled by visions of impossible political grandeur, intensified by his natural fondness for display especially as regards
military organizations, he countenanced most
wasteful expenditures for useless pomp and
show; until In 1884 the amount expended
for "military, bands, flags, and salutes," together with the "salaries," voted Kalakaua and
the royal famnily for two years, absorbed oneninth of the estimated resources of the kingdom for that biennial period.
These large sums, together with others of
a like extravagant character, were allowed by
a majority of the legislature of I884 and
also considerably increased by that of i886,
against the most solemn protests of substantially all the foreign residents on the islands,
who represented the greater part of the wealth
and( business enterprises of the group.
In this connection it will be of interest to
give some figures regarding the amount of
taxes and by whom they were paid at that
time. From a careful report made to the
legislature of 1882 the following table has
been prepared.
NATIONALITY. No.
Hawaiians.. I 5,769
Naturalized.... 740
Chinese.... IO,894
Americans.....886
English...... 72I
Germans......328
Portuguese... 677
Scattering.. -. I,0 I 77
3 1,032
REAL ESTATE.
$34, I33.63
36,737.77
3,780. I8
I10, I08.26
8,847.42
4,363.55
1,276.68
747.-98
'$99,995.47
PERSONAL, ETC.
$89,947.80
55,472.8 I
66,621.45
25,7I2.0I
I6, I48.4I
I8,280.38
4,887.20
5,290.96
$282,361.02
99,995 47
$382,356.49
By the above table it will be seen that
31,032 persons paid an aggregate of $382,356.49, or at the rate of $I2.34 per head.
But while 15,769 "Hawaiians" paid at the
300
[Mar.