Hawaii As Annexed.
The Star Spangled Banner Up Again in Hawaii, and to Stay--Dimensions
of the Islands--What the Missionaries Have Done--Religious Belief
by Nationality--Trade Statistics--Latest Census--Sugar Plantation
Laborers--Coinage of Silver--Schools--Coffee Growing.
The star spangled banner should have been waving in peaceful triumph
over our central possessions in the Pacific for five years. Now Old
Glory has ascended the famous flag-staff, from which it was mistakenly
withdrawn, and is at home. Its lustrous folds are welcomed by a city
that is strangely American, in the sense that it is what the world
largely calls "Yankee," and does not mean bad manners by the most
expressive word that has so vast a distinction. The shops of Honolulu
are Americanized. There is a splendid blossoming of the flag of the
country. The British parties of opposition have faded out. There is
the wisdom in English statesmanship to be glad to see us with material
interest in the Pacific Ocean. In this connection there is something
better than a treaty.
Do not mispronounce the name of the capital city of the Hawaiian
Islands. Call it Hoo-noo-luu-luu and let it sing itself. Remember
that this city is not on the larger of the islands, but the third
in size. The area of Hawaii, the greater island, is 4,210 square
miles. Oahu, the Honolulu island, has 600 square miles, with a
population of 40,205, and Hawaii has 33,285 people. The area of the
islands, told in acres is, Hawaii, 2,000,000; Nani, 400,000; Oahu,
260,000; Kauai, 350,000; Malokai, 200,000; Lauai, 100,000; Nichan,
70,000; Kahloolawe, 30,000. The dimensions of the tremendous volcanoes
that are our property now are startling:
_Dimensions of Kilauea, Island of Hawaii._
(The largest active Volcano in the World.)
Area, 4.14 square miles, or 2,650 acres.
Circumference, 41,500 feet, or 7.85 miles.
Extreme width, 10,300 feet, or 1.95 miles.
Extreme length, 15,500 feet, or 2.93 miles.
Elevation, Volcano House, 1,040 feet.
_Dimensions of Mokuaweoweo_.
(The Summit Crater of Mauna Loa, Island of Hawaii.)
Area, 3.70 square miles, or 2,370 acres.
Circumference, 50,000 feet, or 9.47 miles.
Length, 19,500 feet, or 3.7 miles.
Width, 9,200 feet, or 1.74 miles.
Elevation, 13,675 feet.
_Dimensions of Haleakala_.
(The great Crater of Maui, the Largest in the World.)
Area, 19 square miles, or 12,160 acres. Circumference,
105,600 feet, or 20 miles. Extreme length, 39,500 feet,
or 7.48 miles. Extreme width, 12,500 feet, or 2.37 miles.
Elevation of summit, 10,032 feet. Elevation of principal
cones in crater, 8,032 and 7,572 feet. Elevation of cave
in floor of crater, 7,380 feet.
_Dimensions of Iao Valley, Maui._
Length (from Wailuku) about 5 miles.
Width of valley, 2 miles.
Depth, near head, 4,000 feet.
Elevation of Puu Kukui, above head of valley, 5,788 feet.
Elevation of Crater of Eke, above Waihee Valley, 4,500 feet.
Honolulu's importance comes from the harbor, and the favor of
the missionaries. As to the general judgment of the work of the
missionaries, there is nothing better to do than to quote Mr. Richard
H. Dana's "Two Years Before the Mast." He said in that classic:
"It is no small thing to say of the missionaries of the American Board,
that in less than forty years they have taught this whole people to
read and write, to cipher and to sew. They have given them an alphabet,
grammar and dictionary; preserved their language from extinction;
given it a literature and translated into it the Bible, and works
of devotion, science and entertainment, etc. They have established
schools, reared up native teachers, and so pressed their work that now
the proportion of inhabitants who can read and write is greater than
in New England. And, whereas, they found these islanders a nation of
half-naked savages, living in the surf and on the sand, eating raw
fish, fighting among themselves, tyrannized over by feudal chiefs
and abandoned to sensuality, they now see them decently clothed,
recognizing the law of marriage, knowing something of accounts,
going to school and public worship more regularly than the people
do at home, and the more elevated of them taking part in conducting
the affairs of the constitutional monarchy under which they live,
holding seats on the judicial bench and in the legislative chambers,
and filling posts in the local magistracies."
Take away the tropical vegetation and the gigantic scenery and we have
here, in our new Pacific possessions, a new Connecticut. The stamp of
New England is upon this lofty land, especially in Honolulu, where the
spires of the churches testify. There is much that is of the deepest
and broadest interest in the possible missionary work here, on account
of the remarkable race questions presented. Here are the nations and
the people of mixed blood--the Chinese, Japanese and Portuguese--a
population immensely representative of Oriental Asia. The measure
of success of the missionaries under our flag in dealing with these
people can hardly fail to be accepted by the world as a test of the
practical results of the labor with the Asiatica. In this connection,
the figures following, from the Hawaiian Annual of 1898, furnish a
basis of solid information for study:
_Table of Religious Belief, By Nationality_.
(So Far as Reported in Census Returns, 1896.)
Roman
Nationalities. Protestants. Catholics.
Mormons.
Hawaiians................... 12,842 8,427 4,368
Part Hawaiians.............. 3,242 2,633 396
Hawaiian born foreigners.... 1,801 6,622 15
Americans................... 1,404 212 34
British..................... 1,184 180 7
Germans..................... 592 83 2
French...................... 6 57 .....
Norwegians.................. 154 8 .....
Portuguese.................. 146 7,812 1
Japanese.................... 711 49 4
Chinese..................... 837 67 49
South Sea Islanders......... 178 42 3
Other nationalities......... 176 171 7
====== ====== =====
Totals............... 23,273 26,363 4,886
_Note_.--This table shows but 54,522 of the population (just about
one-half) to have made returns of their religious belief. With 21,535
Japanese and 18,429 Chinese (probably Buddhists and Confucians)
unreported because not provided for in the schedules, the great
difference is largely accounted for.
The latest census returns show that of the whole population, 109,020,
there are: Males, 72,517; females, 36,503. The latest information of
labor, under contract for sugar-making, make the number of males on
the island more than double that of the females. There has been an
increase of population of more than 50,000 in the eighteen years from
1878 to 1896. The census of the several islands, taken September 27,
1896, shows:
Population. Dwellings.
Unin-
Male. Female. Total. Inhab- habi- Build- Total.
ited. ted. ing.
Oahu.... 26,164 14,041 40,205 6,685 1,065 60 7,010
Hawaii.. 22,632 10,653 33,285 5,033 955 35 6,027
Molokai. 1,335 972 2,307 651 92 3 746
Lanai... 51 54 105 23 13 .. 36
Maui.... 11,435 6,291 17,726 3,156 650 18 3,824
Niihau.. 76 88 164 31 3 .. 34
Kauai .. 10,824 4,404 15,228 2,320 299 8 2,627
====== ====== ======= ====== ===== === ======
72,517 36,503 109,020 17,099 3,081 124 21,104
Hawaii's annual trade balance since 1879 is a notable record:
Excess Export Custom House
Year Imports. Exports. Values. Receipts.
1880 $3,673,268.41 $4,968,444.87 $1,295,176.46 $402,181.63
1881 4,547,978.64 6,885,436.56 2,337,457.92 423,192.01
1882 4,974,510.01 8,299,016,70 3,324,506.69 505,390.98
1883 5,624,240.09 8,133,343.88 2,509,103.79 577,332.87
1884 4,637,514.22 8,184,922.63 3,547,408.41 551,739.59
1885 3,830,544.58 9,158,818.01 5,328,273.43 502.337.38
1886 4,877,738.73 10,565,885.58 5,688,146.85 580,444.04
1887 4,943,840.72 9,707,047.33 4,763,206.61 595,002.64
1888 4,540,887.46 11,903,398.76 7,362,511.30 546,142.63
1889 5,438,790.63 14,039,941.40 8,601,150.77 550,010.16
1890 6,962,201.13 13,142,829.48 6,180,628.35 695,956.91
1891 7,438,582.65 10,395,788.27 2,957,205.62 732,594,93
1892 4,028,295.31 8,181,687.21 4,153,391.90 494,385.10
1893 4,363,177.58 10,962,598.09 5,599,420.51 545,754.16
1894 5,104,481.43 9,678,794.56 4,574,313.13 524,767.37
1895 5,714,017.54 8,474,138.15 2,760,120.61 547,149.40
1896 7,164,561.40 15,515,230.13 8,350,668.73 656,895.82
The percentage of imports from the United States in 1896 was 76.27;
Great Britain, 10.54; Germany, 2.06; France, .25*; China, 4.17;
Japan, 3.86. In 1895 the export of sugar was 294,784,819 pounds;
value, $7,975,500.41.
Nationality of Vessels Employed in Foreign Carrying Trade, 1889-1896.
1889. 1890. 1891. 1892.
Nations. No. Tons. No. Tons. No. Tons. No. Tons.
American 185 125,196 224 153,098 233 169,472 212 160,042
Hawaiian 44 56,670 35 43,641 21 26,869* *21 4,340
British 22 21,108 16 22,912 33 52,866 30 58,317
German 5 3,337 9 7,070 9 9,005 5 5,978
Japanese .. ....... ... ....... 5 8,239 3 4,701
All others 9 12,268 9 9,980 10 8,401 11 8,201
=== ======= === ======= === ======= === =======
Total 269 218,579 293 236,701 311 274,852 722 242,579
Bonded Debt, Etc., Hawaiian Islands, June 30, 1897.
Per Cent.
Under Loan Act of 1876 7 $ 1,500.00
" " " 1882 6 67,400.00
" " " 1886 6 2,000,000.00
" " " 1888 6 190,000.00
" " " 1890 5 and 6 124,100.00
" " " 1892 5 and 6 82.100.00
" " " 1893 6 650,000.00
" " " 1890 5 222,000.00
=============
3,337,100.00
Due Postal Savings Bank Depositors 782,074.25
=============
$4,119,174.25
Number and Nationality of Sugar Plantation Laborers.
(Compiled from latest Report of Secretary Bureau of Immigration,
December 31, 1897.)
Hawaii- Portu- Japan- S. S. All
Islands. ans. guese. ese. Chinese. Isl'ders. Others. Total.
Hawaii 594 980 6,245 2,511 24 232 10,586
Mauai 580 526 2,010 1,114 45 110 4,385
Oahu 197 211 1,331 973 16 55 2,783
Kauai 244 551 3,307 1,691 30 203 6,026
===== ===== ====== ===== === === ======
Tot.1896 1,615 2,268 12,893 6,289 115 600 23,780
Tot.1895 1,584 2,497 11,584 3,847 133 473 20,120
===== ===== ====== ===== === === ======
Inc.1896 31 ..... 1,309 2,442 ... 127 3,660
Dec.1899 ..... 231 ...... ..... 18 ... ......
The number of day laborers, 11,917, or a little over one-half of
the total force engaged. The Japanese and South Sea Islanders are
about evenly divided in their numbers as to term and day service,
while Hawaiians and Portuguese show each but a small proportion of
their numbers under contract. Minors are reducing in number. Women
laborers, numbering 1,024 in all, show a gain of 89 over 1875. Only
thirty Hawaiian females are engaged among all the plantations, and
confined to one plantation each in Oahu, Kauai and Maui.
The Hawaiian Annual of 1898 makes this annotation:
During the year various changes have occurred in the labor population
of the country; and under the working of the present law, requiring
a proportion of other than Asiatic of all immigrant labor introduced,
there has already arrived one company of Germans, comprising 115 men,
25 women and 47 children, all of whom found ready engagements with
various plantations.
Chinese arrivals in 1897 to take the place of Japanese whose terms
were expiring, will alter the proportions of these nationalities of
plantation labor, and by the new law Asiatic laborers must return to
their country at the expiration of their term of service, or re-engage;
they cannot drift around the country, nor engage in competition with
artizans or merchants.
The islands comprising the Hawaiian territory are Hawaii, Mauai,
Oaha, Kauai, Molokai, Lauai, Niihau, Kahaalawe, Lehua and Molokini,
"The Leper Prison," and, in addition, Nihoa, or Bird Island, was
taken possession of in 1822; an expedition for that purpose having
been fitted out by direction of Kaahumanu, and sent thither under
the charge of Captain William Sumner.
Laysan Island became Hawaiian territory May 1st, 1857, and on the
10th of the same month Lysiansky Island was added to Kamehameha's
realm by Captain John Paty.
Palmyra Island was taken possession of by Captain Zenas Bent,
April 15th, 1862, and proclaimed Hawaiian territory in the reign
of Kamehameha IV., as per "By Authority" notice in the "Polynesian"
of June 21st, 1862.
Ocean Island was acquired September 20th, 1886, as per proclamation
of Colonel J.M. Boyd, empowered for such service during the reign
of Kalakaua.
Neeker Island was taken possession of May 27th, 1894, by Captain
James A. King, on behalf of the Hawaiian Government.
French Frigate Shoal was the latest acquisition, also by Captain King,
and proclaimed Hawaiian territory July 13th, 1895.
Gardener Island, Mara or Moro Reef, Pearl and Hermes Reef,
Gambia Bank, and Johnston or Cornwallis Island are also claimed as
Hawaiian possessions, but there is some obscurity as to the dates
of acquisition, and it is of record in the Foreign Office articles
of convention between Hen. Charles St. Julien, the Commissioner and
Political and Commercial Agent of His Majesty the King of the Hawaiian
Islands, and John Webster, Esq., the Sovereign Chief and Proprietor
of the group of islands known as Stewart's Islands (situated near the
Solomon Group), whereby is ceded to the Hawaiian Government--subject
to ratification by the King--the islands of Ihikaiana, Te Parena,
Taore, Matua Awi and Matua Ivoto, comprising said group of Stewart's
Islands. But the formalities do not seem to have been perfected,
so that we are not certain that the Stewart's Islands are our
possessions. The latest thorough census of the Hawaiian Islands was
taken in September, 1896, but the population was closely estimated
July 1st, 1897.
Japan- Portu- All Other
Natives. Chinese. ese. guese. Foreigners. Total
Population as per Census,
September, 1896 39,504 21,616 24,407 15,191 8,302 109,020
Passengers-Arrivals-
Excess over departures,
4th quarter, 1896 ...... 1,377 1,673 ...... 339 3,389
Excess over departures,
6 mos. to July 1, 1897. ...... 2,908 396 58 207 3,569
====== ====== ====== ====== ====== ======
Total 39,504 25,901 26,476 15,249 8,848 115,978
The following denominations of Hawaiian silver were coined during
the reign of Kalakaua, at the San Francisco mint, and imported for
the circulating medium of the islands in 1883 and 1884. They are of
the same intrinsic value as the United States silver coins and were
first introduced into circulation January 14th, at the opening of
the bank of Clans Spreckles & Co. in Honolulu. The amount coined was
$1,000,000, divided as follows:
Hawaiian Dollars...................................$ 500,000
" Half Dollars.............................. 350,000
" Quarter Dollars........................... 125,000
" Dimes..................................... 25,000
Total..............................................$ 1,000,000
Schools, Teachers and Pupils for the Year 1896.
==Teachers.== ==Pupils.==
Schools. Male. Female. Total. Male. Female.
Government 132 111 169 280 5,754 4,435
Independent 63 72 130 202 1,994 1,840
==== ==== ==== ==== ====== ======
195 183 299 482 7,748 6,275
Nationality of Pupils Attending Schools for the Year 1896.
Nationality. Male. Female.
Hawaiian 3,048 2,432
Part-Hawaiian 1,152 1,296
American 219 198
British 105 151
German 152 136
Portuguese 2,066 1,534
Scandinavian 51 47
Japanese 242 155
Chinese 641 280
South Sea Islanders 15 13
Other foreigners 57 33
===== =====
7,748 6,275
Of the Japanese, 8.5 per cent. were born on the islands; of the
Chinese, percentage born here, 10.3. Of a total of 41,711 Japanese
and Chinese, 36,121 are males and 5,590 females. The figures show
that the Asiatics are not at home.
The sugar industry in our new possessions has had great prominence
agriculturally. The sugar interest of these islands has had a
formidable influence in the United States. Recent events and the
ascertained certainties of the future show that the people of
the United States will soon raise their sugar supply on their own
territory. The annexation of these sugar islands was antagonized
because there was involved the labor contract system. As a matter
of course, the United States will not change the labor laws of the
nation to suit the sugar planters of Hawaii, who have been obtaining
cheap labor through a system of Asiatic servitude. There is but one
solution--labor will be better compensated in Hawaii than it has been,
and yet white men will not be largely employed in the cultivation
of sugar cane in our tropical islands. The beet sugar industry is
another matter. There will be an end of the peculiar institution that
has had strength in our new possessions, that brings, under contract,
to Hawaii a mass of forty thousand Chinese and Japanese men, and turns
over the majority of them to the plantations, whose profits have
displayed an unwholesome aggrandizement. Once it was said cotton
could not be grown in the cotton belt of our country without slave
labor, but the latter trouble is, the cotton producers claim, there is
too much of their product raised. A ten-million bale crop depresses
the market. Already experiments have been tried successfully to pay
labor in the sugar fields by the tons of cane delivered at the mills
for grinding. This is an incident full of auspicious significance. A
general feeling is expressed in the current saying that coffee raising
is "the coming industry." The confidence that there is prosperity
in coffee amounts to enthusiasm. Here are some of the statistics of
coffee growers, showing number of trees and area, trees newly planted
and trees in bearing:
No. of Trees or Area.
Newly 1 to 3 Trees in
Planted. year old. Bearing.
J. C. Lenhart, Kaupo 2,000 trs. 4,000 trs. ....
Mokulau Coffee Co., Kaupo 2,000 trs. 10,000 trs. 2 acres
E. E. Paxton, Kaupo 5,000 trs. 7,000 trs. ....
Native Patches throughout Kaupo 10 acres .... ....
Lahaina Coffee and Fruit Co., Ltd.,
Lahaina 10,000 trs. 100,000 trs. 30,000 trs.
H. P. Baldwin, Honokahua 35,947 trs. 4,669 trs. 2,641 trs.
Waianae Coffee Plantation Co.,
Waianae 7,500 trs. 23,000 trs. 36,000 trs.
C. A. Wideman, Waianae 10,000 trs. 8,500 trs ....
Makaha Coffee Co., Ltd., Waianae 112 acres .... ....
Lanihau Plantation, Kailua 20,700 trs. 25,000 trs. 10,000 trs.
Kona Coffee Co., Ltd., Kailua .... .... 35 acres
Geo. McDougal & Sons, Kailua .... 176 acres 105 acres
H. C. Achi, Holualoa .... .... 10,000 trs.
E. W. Barnard, Laupahoehoe .... .... 30,000 trs.
J. M. Barnard, Laupahoehoe .... 5,000 trs. ....
John Gaspar, Napoopoo .... 33,000 trs. 16,000 trs.
Manuel Sebastian, Kealakekua .... .... 8,000 trs.
J. G. Henriques, Kealakekua .... .... 3,000 trs.
C. Hooper, Kauleoli .... 2 acres 12 acres
J. Keanu, Keei 5 acres 10 acres 16 acres
A. S. Cleghorn 3 acres .... 100 acres
Mrs. E. C. Greenwell .... 8 acres 25 acres
J. M. Monsarrat, Kolo .... 38 acres 40 acres
Queen Emma Plantation .... .... 25,000 trs.
L. M. Staples Plantation .... 25,000 trs. 12,000 trs.
Olaa Coffee Co., Ltd 50 acres 90 acres ....
Grossman Bros 100 acres 30 acres ....
B. H. Brown 2,260 trs. 2,000 trs. 3,225 trs.
Herman Eldart 40,000 trs. 20,000 trs. 7,000 trs.
The list of coffee growers is very long. That which is of greater
interest is the showing made of the immense number of new trees. The
coffee movement steadily gains force and the pace of progress is
accelerated.
Everybody has not been pleased with annexation. The Japanese are
not in a good humor about it. The minister of Japan got his orders
evidently to leave for Japan when the news arrived that the question
had been settled in Washington, and he left for Yokohama by the boat
that brought the intelligence. Japanese journals of importance raise
the question as to the propriety of our establishing a coal station
here. There is some dissatisfaction among the Hawaiians, who are
bewildered. They are children who believe stories in proportion as
they are queer. Many of them feel that they have a grievance. The
young princess who is the representative of the extinguished monarchy
is affable and respected. If the question as to giving her substantial
recognition were left to the Americans here, they would vote for her
by a large majority. It would not be bad policy for the government
to be generous toward her. She is not in the same boat with the
ex-Queen. The Americans who have been steadfast in upholding the
policy that at last has prevailed are happy, but not wildly so,
just happy. Now that they have gained their cause, their unity will
be shaken by discussions on public questions and personal preferments.
There should be no delay in understanding that in this Archipelago the
race questions forbid mankind suffrage, and that our new possessions
are not to become states at once, or hurriedly; that it will take
generations of assimilation to prepare the Hawaiian Islands for
statehood.
The objection to the climate of the marvelous islands of which we
have become possessed is its almost changeless character. There is no
serious variation in the temperature. There is a little more rain in
"winter" than in "summer." There is neither spring nor fall. The trade
winds afford a slight variety, and this seems to be manipulated by
the mountains, that break up the otherwise unsparing monotony of
serene loveliness. The elevations of the craters, and the jagged
peaks are from one thousand to thirteen thousand feet. If you want
a change of climate, climb for cold, and escape the mosquitos,
the pests of this paradise. There are a score of kinds of palms;
the royal, the date, the cocoanut, are of them. The bread fruit and
banana are in competition. The vegetation is voluptuous and the scenery
stupendous. There is a constellation of islands, and they differ like
the stars in their glories and like human beings in their difficulties.