_His Majesty's Speech in English and Hawaiian at the Opening of the
Legislature, April 7, 1855._
NOBLES AND REPRESENTATIVES:--It has pleased the Almighty to
gather to his forefathers my beloved Predecessor. This
bereavement has been to me the source of the deepest sorrow;
but my grief has been assuaged by the sympathy of this whole
nation, in whom I see innumerable and ever-gathering proofs of
the love and gratitude they bore their departed Chief.
You meet this day in conformity with the Constitution he gave
you. Had his suggestions, on the many occasions he addressed
you from the place I now occupy, been matured by your
deliberations, and carried into effect, there would, perhaps,
be little for me to recommend, or for you to perform. The
measures he initiated reflect lustre upon his name, and if by
any endeavor of mine those measures shall be perfected, I
shall consider it indeed an honor.
In the exercise of my prerogative, I have availed myself of an
Act passed during your last session, and since approved by me,
by virtue of which I have separated the offices of Kuhina Nui
and Minister of the Interior. To the former post I have called
her Royal Highness, Princess Victoria Kamamalu. The Ministry
of the Interior remains in the same hands as heretofore, as do
the other portfolios of my Government; for, young and newly
come to this responsible position, I have gladly availed
myself of the wisdom and experience of the counsellors of our
deceased King.
I have instructed the high officers of my government to lay
before you reports of their several departments.
For a history of the Judiciary Department during the last
year, and for certain changes proposed in our laws, I would
refer you to the report of my Chancellor. His recommendations,
especially those suggesting remedies for the great evils which
are so speedily destroying our race, meet my most hearty
approval, and are worthy of your serious consideration.
I trust you will be able to devise such wise and salutary
measures as shall effectually check licentiousness and
intemperance.
The doors of Justice are open to all, and so far as I am
informed, its administration in the higher courts has been
prompt, efficient and satisfactory. Of the inferior
magistrates, there has been some complaint, no doubt in many
instances with reason; but the character of district justices
has greatly improved within the past few years, and it is to
be hoped it will continue to improve. Weak as we are, and
imperfect as our Government may be, it will not be doubted, I
think, that there is no country in which there is more entire
security for life, liberty, person and property.
His Royal Highness, Prince Kamehameha, on whom has devolved
the chief military command, will exhibit to you in his report,
which is embodied in that of the Secretary at War, the plans
he has in contemplation to render efficient the important
service intrusted to his care. I have to request that you will
give this subject the grave attention it deserves. His late
Majesty urged the matter upon you frequently, but the
appropriations have hitherto been insufficient for any
permanent or efficient organization of that important
department. I indulge a strong hope that you will remedy this
deficiency, and place the Department of War upon a firm and
better footing.
Deeply imbued with a sense of the responsibility that rests
upon my Government, not only to foster, but to lead the way in
all that tends to the general good, I would invite your
earnest attention to the recommendations that will be laid
before you by my Minister of the Interior, and particularly to
that portion of his report relating to the proposed
improvements in the harbor of Honolulu. The facilities that
would be afforded in the loading and unloading of vessels,
native as well as foreign; the extra inducements that these
new accommodations would hold out to those parties who
contemplate making this port a place where ocean steamers may
seek refreshments, and take in coal and water; the general
impetus that would be given to trade by providing, at the
water's edge, a site for the erection of warehouses; and the
hundred other conveniences proper to a maritime city;--all
these considerations prove to my mind the propriety of
proceeding energetically with a work so national in its
character that no part of the islands can fail to share in
many of its advantages. To your wisdom it belongs to consider
in what way the funds necessary to effect this great
improvement may be best procured.
It is gratifying to me, on commencing my reign, to be able to
inform you, that my relations with all the great Powers,
between whom and myself exist treaties of amity, are of the
most satisfactory nature. I have received from all of them,
assurances that leave no room to doubt that my rights and
sovereignty will be respected. My policy, as regards all
foreign nations, being that of peace, impartiality and
neutrality, in the spirit of the Proclamation by the late
King, of the 16th May last, and of the Resolutions of the
Privy Council of the 15th June and 17th July, I have given to
the President of the United States, at his request, my solemn
adhesion to the rule, and to the principles establishing the
rights of neutrals during war, contained in the Convention
between his Majesty the Emperor of all the Russias, and the
United States, concluded in Washington on the 22d July last.
I have exchanged my ratification for that, by my great and
good friend, His Majesty Oscar, King of Sweden and Norway, of
the treaty concluded at my Court on the 1st day of July, 1852.
I have ordered my Minister of Foreign Relations to inform you
of all treaties with foreign nations negotiated under the late
reign, of the progressive steps by which the sovereignty and
independence of this Kingdom have become so generally
acknowledged, and of the transactions generally of the
Department under his charge.
I have committed an important mission to the Honorable William
L. Lee, Chancellor of the Kingdom and Chief Justice of the
Supreme Court, and have accredited him as my Envoy
Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, from which mission
I anticipate important results for the benefit of you all,
which will be made known to you hereafter. In the meanwhile, I
recommend you to vote such a sum as, in your wisdom, you may
deem adequate for the expenses of that mission.
My Minister of Finance will submit, for your considerations,
certain important measures relating to the National finances;
and you cannot fail to be impressed with the necessity of
devising some means of enlarging them. Without more extended
means we must remain in the position of having the will,
without the power, to stimulate agriculture and commerce, and
to provide generally for the physical, mental and moral
improvement of the nation. As a preparatory step towards
increasing the sources of revenue, we must increase the
revenue to be drawn from such sources as already exist. But,
restricted as we are, by treaty, from exercising a right
common to all free communities, we are unable to impose
discriminating duties on foreign imports, which, whilst
supplying the Treasury with additional means, would enhance
the price of articles of luxury only. To regain the right of
which we have, for the present, divested ourselves, it may be
necessary that you reconsider the act by which the duty on
spirituous liquors is now regulated. The Minister of Finance
laid this subject before you last year in a clear and able
manner, and his views have been confirmed by the experience of
another year. Whether it would be wise to assist the revenue
by a tax on property, is for you to determine.
To foster education and widen every channel that leads to
knowledge, is one of our most imperative duties. It will be
for you to determine what obstacles, if any, exist, to the
general enlightenment of my people. On this subject there will
be submitted for your consideration, certain proposed changes
in the Department of Public Instruction. It is of the highest
importance, in my opinion, that education in the English
language should become more general, for it is my firm
conviction that unless my subjects become educated in this
tongue, their hope of intellectual progress, and of meeting
the foreigners on terms of equality, is a vain one.
It is a melancholy fact that agriculture, as now practiced, is
not a business of so prosperous and lucrative a nature as to
induce men of means to engage in it; and capital is absolutely
necessary to the successful production of our great staples,
sugar, coffee and tobacco. I beg you, therefore, to consider
whether there exist any restrictions, the removal of which
would give new life to this important source of national
prosperity, and tend to create a juster balance between our
imports and exports. I need hardly mention the obligation that
weighs upon you, to open wide our ports to commerce. Without
commerce our agricultural produce might moulder in our
warehouses; roads, and interisland communication almost cease
to exist; the making of wharves become a work of
supererogation, and the opening and closing of stores an idle
ceremony. As the legislators of a young commercial nation, we
should be liberal in our measures, and far-sighted in our
views.
A subject of deeper importance, in my opinion, than any I have
hitherto mentioned, is that of the decrease of our population.
It is a subject, in comparison with which all others sink into
insignificance; for, our first and great duty is that of
self-preservation. Our acts are in vain unless we can stay the
wasting hand that is destroying our people. I feel a heavy,
and special responsibility resting upon me in this matter; but
it is one in which you all must share; nor shall we be
acquitted by man, or our Maker, of a neglect of duty, if we
fail to act speedily and effectually in the cause of those who
are every day dying before our eyes.
I think this decrease in our numbers may be stayed; and happy
should I be if, during the first year of my reign, such laws
should be passed as to effect this result. I would commend to
your special consideration the subject of establishing public
Hospitals; and it might, at first, perhaps, be wise to confine
these hospitals to diseases of one class; and that the most
fatal with which our population is afflicted.
Intimately connected with this subject is that of preventing
the introduction of fatal diseases and epidemics from abroad.
Visited as we are by vessels from all parts of the world, this
is no easy matter; but I trust your wisdom will devise some
simple and practical remedy.
It affords me unfeigned pleasure to be able to state that,
according to the returns from most of the districts, the
births during the past year have exceeded the deaths.
It is to be regretted that the Chinese coolie emigrants, to
whom has been given a trial of sufficient length for testing
their fitness to supply our want of labor and population, have
not realized the hopes of those who incurred the expense of
their introduction. They are not so kind and tractable as it
was anticipated they would be; and they seem to have no
affinities, attractions or tendencies to blend with this, or
any other race. In view of this failure it becomes a question
of some moment whether a class of persons more nearly
assimilated with the Hawaiian race, could not be induced to
settle on our shores. It does not seem improbable that a
portion of the inhabitants of other Polynesian groups might be
disposed to come here, were suitable efforts made to lead them
to such a step. In a few days they would speak our language
with ease; they would be acclimated almost before they left
the ships that conveyed them hither; and they might bring with
them their wives, whose fecundity is said to be much greater
than that of Hawaiian females. Such immigrants, besides
supplying the present demand for labor, would pave the way for
a future population of native born Hawaiians, between whom,
and those of aboriginal parents, no distinguishable difference
would exist.
May the issue of your deliberations be crowned with those
successful results which the will of the Almighty only can
bestow.