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June 2, 2023 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Tahitian Village – A Texas Subdivision With Hawaiian Street Names

At the end of April 1970, WW McAllister, once the Mayor of San Antonio and founder of San Antonio Building and Loan Association, sold his 3,700-acre cattle ranch to Time Wealth Corp.

Time Wealth was a business partnership that included Jack and Welcome Wilson, Jack Valenti, Bob Smith, John Goyen and Bob Marlowe. They set out to subdivide the property.

“Marlowe (an engineer) … had spent some quality time in Hawaii and was enamored of that experience that it inspired him to model this snazzy new urban development … with a Polynesian motif”. (Bastrop Advertiser, Sept 3, 2008)

Marlowe “‘had fond memories of his time in Hawaii. He used to carry a tourist’s map around with him’ in his reshaping of a central Texas cattle ranch of Loblolly pine trees and brambles into his determined vision of a South Pacific Shangri-la.” (son Robert Marlow; Bastrop Advertiser, Sep 3, 2008)

A large section of the McAllister ranch became officially called “Tahitian Village” and was platted into 7,000 or so quarter-acre lots.

One of Marlowe’s tasks was planning and naming the roads on a swath of former ranchland thirty miles southeast of Austin. “Dad came home with Hawaiian maps and guidebooks and dictionaries. He was really into it, and loved the Islands.”

Marlowe wanted to create a golf resort community along the Colorado River with a relaxed atmosphere similar to what he’d experienced in Hawai’i.

“I remember all of us sitting at the dining room table as he walked through the developer’s map, figuring where the streets would go and what he could call them.” (Robert Marlowe; Lieberman, Hana Hou)

The subdivision has more than two hundred streets with Hawaiian names. With some as long as seven syllables, the developers definitely went big, even for Texas. (Lieberman, Hana Hou)

Not long after clearing some land and grading some roads, Time Wealth sold out to the next visionary developer, Property Investments, Inc (a company out of Houston).

“In the 1970s if you had a pulse and a Texas address, you had a good chance of being chosen by land developers like Property Investments as one of the lucky winners of a swell prize.”

“They’d get these letters in the mail saying that they’d won a prize, and most of them came down here to collect their $10,000 or a new car or whatever it was.” You could claim your prize by coming out to visit a development site. People came in the hundreds.

“But almost everybody won themselves a free stay somewhere. All they had to do was get there.” (George Reinemund; Bastrop Advertiser, Sep 5, 2009)

Those who arrived to consider the opportunity and claim their prize were driven around in Broncos, Tahoes, and Suburbans; whatever could navigate the landscape over no road at all.

Despite that the actual prize awarded to prospects was unlikely to be worth the trip, each visitor got the pitch. Each was asked to imagine how Tahitian Village would look after the installation of all the amenities of a plush resort.

“On the original maps,” says Reinemund, “there were lakes. There were meant to be some 23-acre lakes and some 5-acre lakes.” Visitors with the best imaginations visualized an enviable hot spot with massive profit potential.

Sometimes prospects were enticed with a special taste of the local culture to convince them to make the investment opportunity of a lifetime.

“The Castle” was a popular eatery that was housed in the building that is now Cedar’s Mediterranean Grill.” For about $2.50, Reinemund and TC Hoffman (another Property Investments staffer) confirm, patrons could get a memorable chicken fried steak that seemed about twice the size of its platter and provided a perfect platform for a thick smothering of very tasty cream gravy.

This left prospects with a feeling of abundance and helped encouraged similar feelings toward the potential for the Tahitian Village project. (Bastrop Advertiser, Sep 5, 2009)

About 300 people a week visited the property, mostly to claim their free prizes. Then, a number of lawsuits were filed against Property Investments and Tahitian Village Corporation through the 1970s and 1980s. A Grand Jury was assembled, but there were no indictments. (Bastrop Advertiser, Sep 10, 2009)

“The fullest ·expression of Tahitian’s bright future is still down the road a ways – literally. You can’t talk about Tahitian, today or for the future, without a thorough discussion about roads.”

“They are on everyone’s mind, mainly because the water faucets work fine and road conditions are much more apparent than wastewater and fire hazards.”

“Tahitian has 70 miles of roads. Some 30-plus years after Tahitian Drive was completed, only about half are paved. That’s about a mile a year so far. At that rate, the roads should be completed around the year 2044.”

“The city and county appropriately declined to assume responsibility for maintaining poorly built roads. To residents it must have seemed like developers just whistled at the sky as they wandered off.”

“Today Tahitian homeowners want better roads, but roads require money. Money for roads comes from homeowner’s property taxes, but with 7,000 lots and only about 1,400 homes so far, there aren’t enough homes to generate the necessary taxes. New homes will continue to be built only very slowly until they can be built on nicely paved streets.” (Bastrop Advertiser, Sep 17, 2009)

“Despite myriad challenges and issues, many Tahitian Village residents say they would not change a thing. They’ve adapted to the Hawaiian street names that are so foreign to many Central Texans’ ears.”

“‘Keanahalululu,’ for example, is a warrior of legend whose name can be translated as “the-cave of roaring; as wind travelling through a cave,” according to Honolulu archaeologists T. S. Dye & Colleagues.”

“It is probably more pertinent that Keanahalululu’s name was given to a gulch on the northwest slopes of the Big Island where a tropical garden, “Pua Mau Place,” is an active tourist attraction.” (Bastrop Advertiser, Sep 17, 2009)

“Challenging names and confusion among similar-sounding streets like Upola and Upolu or Kukui and Kuikui have caused headaches for emergency responders and GPS systems for years.

A handful of street names have had to be changed to mitigate navigation problems, but most of the people in Tahitian Village appreciate the uniqueness of their community and like the street names just the way they are. (Lieberman, Hana Hou)

June 1, 2023 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Coercive (Intolerable) Acts

By 1774, there had been almost a decade of revolutionary fervor in Boston. British taxation policies, such as the Stamp Act of 1765, had sparked a debate in the North American colonies over the constitutional meaning of representation.

Leading radicals like Samuel Adams, Patrick Henry, and John Hancock argued that because the colonists weren’t represented in Parliament, that legislative body had no right to tax them.

The stationing of British troops in Boston had infuriated townspeople, setting the stage for the Boston Massacre in 1770. On December 17, 1773 Boston radicals led by the Sons of Liberty boarded British ships filled with thousands of pounds of East India Company tea. They dumped nearly 350 crates into the harbor.

After the Boston Tea Party, the British adopted a divide-and-conquer strategy that sought to isolate troublemaking Boston from the other colonies, which leaders in Parliament believed were merely tagging along with Boston’s radicals. (Khan Academy)

After news of the Boston Tea Party in December 1773 reached England, the members of Parliament passed several acts designed to punish the misbehaving colonists and force them to submit to the government’s authority. (Cal State Long Beach)

In London, response to the destruction of the tea was swift and strong. The violent destruction of property infuriated King George III and the prime minister, Lord North, who insisted the loss be repaid. Though some American merchants put forward a proposal for restitution, the Massachusetts Assembly refused to make payments.

Massachusetts’s resistance to British authority united different factions in Great Britain against the colonies. North had lost patience with the unruly British subjects in Boston.

Lord North declared: “The Americans have tarred and feathered your subjects, plundered your merchants, burnt your ships, denied all obedience to your laws and authority;”

“yet so clement and so long forbearing has our conduct been that it is incumbent on us now to take a different course. Whatever may be the consequences, we must risk something; if we do not, all is over.”

The cumulative effect of the reports of colonial resistance to British rule during the winter of 1773–74 was to make Parliament more determined than ever to assert its authority in America. The main force of its actions fell on Boston, which seemed to be the center of colonial hostility. (Britannica)

Both Parliament and the king agreed that Massachusetts should be forced to both pay for the tea and yield to British authority.

In early 1774, leaders in Parliament responded with a set of four measures designed to punish Massachusetts, commonly known at the Coercive Acts.

The Boston Port Bill (March 31, 1774) shut down Boston Harbor until the East India Company was repaid. The act authorized the Royal Navy to blockade Boston Harbor because “the commerce of his Majesty’s subjects cannot be safely carried on there.” The blockade commenced on June 1, 1774, effectively closing Boston’s port to commercial traffic. Additionally, it forbade any exports to foreign ports or provinces. The only imports allowed were provisions for the British Army and necessary goods, such as fuel and wheat.

The Massachusetts Government Act (May 20, 1774) abolished the colony’s charter of 1691, reducing it to the level of a crown colony, replacing the elective local council with an appointive one, enhancing the powers of the military governor, Gen. Thomas Gage, and forbidding town meetings without approval.

The Administration of Justice Act (May 20, 1774) was aimed at protecting British officials charged with capital offenses during law enforcement. It allowed the royal governor to unilaterally move any trial of a crown officer out of Massachusetts, a change designed to prevent hostile Massachusetts juries from deciding these cases.

The Quartering Act (June 2, 1774) revived the indignation that surrounded the earlier Quartering Act, which had been allowed to expire in 1770. The new Quartering Act applied to all of British America and gave colonial governors the right to requisition unoccupied buildings to house British troops. However, in Massachusetts the British troops were forced to remain camped on the Boston Common until the following November because the Boston patriots refused to allow workmen to repair the vacant buildings General Gage had obtained for quarters.

The most important of them was the first passed, the Boston Port Act, because it was news of its passage that led to the call for the First Continental Congress. Within a year, the British government’s attempt to enforce the bundle of legislation tipped a constitutional crisis into the Revolutionary War. (Colonial Williamsburg Foundation)

Rather than isolating rebellious colonists in Boston from the rest of the American populace, acts which closed the port to commerce and undercut representative government inspired colonists outside of Massachusetts to support the beleaguered Bostonians. (Cal State Long Beach)

The Coercive Acts closed the port of Boston, unilaterally changed the government of the Massachusetts Bay Colony to centralize British authority, permitted colonial leaders accused of crimes to be tried in another colony or in England, and sanctioned the billeting of British troops in unused buildings.

First Continental Congress

Word of the Intolerable Acts led to an unprecedented outbreak of public dismay and disaffection throughout British America (including the Caribbean) and directly resulted in the creation of the First Continental Congress in September 1774, compromised of delegates from 13 of the mainland colonies. (Colonial Williamsburg Foundation)

Instead of isolating Boston from the other North American colonies, the Intolerable Acts had the opposite result. Delegates from all of the colonies except Georgia gathered in Philadelphia for the First Continental Congress in the autumn of 1774.

The purpose of the Congress was to show support for Boston and to work out a unified approach to the British.

On October 14, 1774, the First Continental Congress issued the Declaration of Colonial Rights and Grievances. The declaration denied Parliament’s right to tax the colonies and lambasted the British for stationing troops in Boston.

It characterized the Intolerable Acts as an assault on colonial liberties, rejected British attempts to circumscribe representative government, and requested that the colonies prepare their militias. Despite its harsh tone, the declaration did affirm Parliament’s right to regulate trade, and did not challenge colonial loyalty to the British monarch, King George III.

Although some of the more radical delegates, particularly Samuel Adams, already believed that war was inevitable, the congress did not seek or declare independence from Britain at this time. The delegates agreed to meet again the following May if relations did not improve. (Khan Academy)

Click the following link to a general summary about the Coercive (Intolerable) Acts:

Click to access Coercive-Intolerable-Acts.pdf

May 31, 2023 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Symbolism of Central Union Church

“We have built this building so that everyone who looks upon it will say, not: ‘Is that a library, or a club house, or a school, or city hall?’ but, promptly and without question, ‘That is a church!’”

“And we have built it after the colonial style of architecture so that all might say with equal assurance, ‘And it is a church with a New England background!’- for we wanted this church to be a fitting tribute to the missionaries who came to these Islands from New England over a century ago bringing Christian civilization with them.”

“We were greatly pleased when Ralph Adams Cram, our artist-architect, assured us that the colonial style was fitting for our climate because its essential elements had grown up in the semi-tropic lands around the Mediterranean and it had been used successfully in the extreme South as well as in New England.”

“We have put this building not on some noisy dusty corner but in a beautiful eight acre garden. One comes back from Japan deeply impressed by the beautiful setting of the temples of that beautiful land.”

“Why not, in Hawaii also where things grow so wonderfully, why not a Christian Church surrounded by the beauty of nature? And so the garden around the church is a symbol of natural religion. We come to worship through the beauty of nature and we say with the poet, as we approach the sanctuary,

‘A garden is a lovesome thing, God wot!
Rose plot, fringed pool,
Ferned grot! The veriest school
Of peace. And yet the fool
Contends that God is not—
Not God? In gardens? When the eve is cool?
Nay, but I have a sign
‘Tis very sure God walks in mind!’

“For a long time we were uncertain as to whether or not we could afford a spire. Now that it is built we all realize how incomplete would have been the picture without the spire like ‘a sacrament of hope,’ as Dr. Ross called it, pointing above the trees of the garden. How wonderfully Mrs. Frear has caught the symbolism of it in her poem!

‘Lo here among the palm-trees
Our isle has flung a spire—
A slender bud of beauty
Pointing higher, higher—
A lifted torch awaiting light
From Heaven’s altar fire.”

“At the entrance to the church is a broad and simple porch of welcome – yet only one door, with a cross above the grille work. That door stands open every day and is the symbol of Christ who says, ‘I am the door, by me if any man shall enter in, he shall be saved; and shall go in and out, and shall find pasture!’”

“But the approach to the door is through four columns and lighted by three great lanterns. The columns are the four gospels through which we come to know the character of Christ and hear his voice and, as to the three lanterns, they may symbolize the mystery of the Trinity – one God, one light, yet revealed as Father, Son and Holy Spirit, or …”

“… if you are practically minded rather than theological, let them stand for the three Christian graces of faith and hope and love which, seen from afar and shining upon the church, shall draw men unto the door.”

“High in the lantern of the spire is another light shining out over land and sea as though One said, ‘I am the Light of the world – he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness.’ “And above the spire flies the dove as a weather-vane – the dove of peace and symbol of the Holy Spirit.”

“Once inside, each man can make his own interpretation for this is a church of freedom in the quest of truth, but, if you are interested, I will give you mine. I find a symbolism of world fellowship in the different countries represented in the wonderfully beautiful interior.”

“The general design is clearly English, yet the chaste white beauty of it all reminds me of churches in Holland. The basilica form and vaulted ceiling are Roman but the columns speak of Greece and, back of that, of Egypt. Corinthian are the capitals, yet the details are copied not from the acanthus but from the pineapples and coconut palm fronds of Hawaii.”

“New England contributed the small paned, round topped windows but the redwood pews and chancel are from California and the lighting fixtures are old Italian sanctuary lamps, slightly modified to burn electricity in place of oil.”

“‘What a mixture!’ one might say who reads this in cold type. But look about you – all is harmonious, all fits together as a symbol of the unity of all men and races in Christ Jesus.”

“To continue the symbolism may I suggest that the twelve great columns shall stand here as long as the church shall last calling to mind the twelve apostles and that the thirteen lamps represent thirteen churches – the lamp has ever been a symbol of the church.”

“You can make up your thirteen any way you choose. Take the seven churches of Asia and add those others which figure so largely in Paul’s letters – Philippi, Berea, Thessalonica, Athens, Corinth, Rome. Think of their light shining down upon us through the centuries!”

“Or take thirteen churches of today – the Baptists, Congregationalists, Methodists, Quakers, Presbyterians, Disciples, Lutherans, Unitarians, Christian Scientists, Episcopalians, Dutch Reformed, Greek Orthodox, and Roman Catholic. Let them all shine with the light of a common love of Jesus Christ.”

“Even though we may not follow them in all details of liturgy or doctrine we will welcome their light upon the world – ‘Many are the lamps, but the light is one.’”

“There are four plain panels at the rear of the church. It might be perilous to paint pictures on them in reality but let us paint them there in our imagination. On one will be Buddha, meditating on the sorrows of life beneath the sacred Bo tree, on another Confucius writing down the wisdom of China, on a third Moses coming down from Sinai and on another Mohammed kneeling in prayer. All to remind us that there is a kinship and a common aspiration in all religions.”

“You may notice that there are ten glass doors opening directly out into the garden – five on either side. They are the ten commandments – we look out into life through the clear and transparent doors of the moral law.

“‘Oh,’ someone says, ‘But here is another door at the mauka end of the aisle upon the right.’ Yes and over that door the eyes of faith see written: ‘A new commandment I give you, that ye love one another even as I have loved you!’”

“Above the doors are fourteen windows through whose clear glass we look up to the blue sky and flying clouds of heaven. They are for the saints and heroes of the faith who served their day and generation and are now delivered from the labors and struggles of this life. Let us put them there, not in colored glass, but in the fairer colors of our imagination.”

“Here above the choir is St. Paul and around the corner, still to the left of the pulpit, St. Augustine. Looking directly down into the pulpit, to remind the preacher of all humility and tenderness, is St. Francis of Assisi and just beyond, to make him brave and fearless, come Joan of Arc, Savonarola, Wyclif and John Huss.”

“On the other side of the church stand Luther, John Robinson, the pastor of the Pilgrims, David Livingstone, the representative of all missionaries, Florence Nightingale and General Booth.”

“Above the gallery is a triple window reserved for the saints of our own land. Just now we will place in the center panel Abraham

Lincoln and on either side Booker Washington and Alice Freeman Palmer.”

“But these are not all the windows. High in the clerestory are twelve more. We will put no names upon them. They are reserved for the future! New saints and heroes must arise in the new days that lie ahead.”

“We reserve one for some American Pasteur who shall win the battle against cancer and tuberculosis. One for some prison reformer who shall make our jails true hospitals for moral disease. One for some social leader who shall solve the conflict of capital and labor and bring justice and good-will to industry.”

“Another shall yet be dedicated to some President or Senator who shall lead America out into fellowship with an organized world. Another is reserved for some Saint who shall so reveal the awfulness of the city slums that the conscience of the people shall be aroused to abolish them, and yet another window awaits the great prophet who shall burn into the souls of his generation the folly and impiety of race-prejudice and make humanity to be a real brotherhood at last.“

“Do not forget, young men and women of the future, these unnamed windows high above you. They set the goal for

tasks yet unaccomplished and challenge you with unattained ideals.”

“As one approaches the chancel in this beautiful church home of ours the symbolism deepens. Here is the lectern with the Bible on it, reminding us of what we owe to the inspiration of the past. Here is the pulpit – for the prophetic message looking toward the future. And here in the center and focus of it all is the Communion Table ever reminding us of the mystic presence of the Christ who says, ‘Lo, I am with you alway.’”

“High above all is the cross, the supreme symbol of our holy religion – a symbol of suffering, yet a symbol of hope. It is not a crucifix with a dead Christ upon it. Our cross is empty.”

“Our Christ is not holden of death- He is risen and triumphant. Our cross has trefoil ends that touch it with a beauty that was not present at Calvary because for us the cross is not a symbol of defeat but of victory – Even as the text says, high above it, we hold the sublime faith that, even though crucified, ‘Love never faileth.’”

“One word more! It says in Acts, ‘God dwelleth not in temples made by hands’ and again in First Corinthians, ‘Ye are a temple of God.’”

“It is not the buildings that make the city but the people in it and no church can serve apart from the men and women who gather beneath its over-arching roof. Not only the church must stand in friendly welcome in its garden in the midst of the city – its members must have the friendly heart as well.”

“It is not enough to write ‘Love never faileth’ upon its walls – we who worship here must believe it and practice it. Even the uplifted cross may be mute to men who do not find its power changing the lives of those who look upon it.”

“‘Ah, friend, we never choose the better part

Until we set the cross up in the heart.’”

“How long will this church endure and speak its magic unto men? Only so long as the people who use it are themselves first of all temples of the living God!” (All here is, in part from a sermon preached by Albert W. Palmer, D.D., LL.D., Litt.D. Central Union Church, Honolulu, Hawaii, June 1, 1924.)

May 30, 2023 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Waikiki Toboggan

In the late 19th century, Waikiki’s shoreline was mostly a day-use beach; overnight accommodations were scarce. Visitors were usually residents of Honolulu who would arrive via horse-drawn carriage, on horseback of in a canoe.

They came to enjoy gazing at the surf or taking a ‘sea bath’. As ‘sea bathing’ gained popularity in coastal areas of the US, as well and England, private bathhouses began to appear, there, as well as at Waikiki.

Bathhouses served customers with bathing suits and towel rentals, dressing rooms and each access to the beach. Initially, bathhouses served only day-use recreation of visitors, but eventually some of them began to offer overnight rooms.

At the Long Branch Bathhouse (named after a popular New Jersey resort) another form of recreation was established …

“Our reporter visited Long Branch Waikiki Tuesday and saw the working of the toboggan slide at that place. The following particulars regarding this inovation in bathing tactics were gathered on the spot and may be of interest to our readers.”

“The platform of the arrangement is reached by a flight of steps and the chute or slide is twenty inches wide. This narrow width gives a great momentum to the toboggan as it slides over the rollers for about 200 feet until the water is reached.”

“Only one toboggan starts at a time and it is placed level on the platform and afterwards its forepart is depressed by a lever to the angle of incline when it starts toward the water.”

“The toboggan itself is a wooden frame with a turn up end upon which the bather reclines and the pleasure is in the swiftness of motion over the chute.”

“When the bather reaches the water his toboggan skips on the surface for some distance from fifty to one hundred feet in proportion to the momentum acquired in the descent and then he has to swim ashore and propel his toboggan to a landing.”

“To a young person either male or female this pastime cannot be otherwise than delightful and it gives an excitement which ordinary bathing lacks. It is almost impossible that any accidents should occur on the chute as there is no chance to topple over nor is there any fear of the construction giving way.”

“Originally the toboggan is a Canadian Indian invention and was first brought into public notice at the Chaudiere Falls Province of Quebec where an ice slide forms every winter below the cataract.”

“Of late years the pastime has undergone many changes and improvements and from being an exclusively winter sport the same idea has been extended to summer and to any clime.”

“Mr Sherwood the proprietor of the Waikiki bathing establishment and chute informs us that the work of perfecting tho constructions of his unique slide and the neccessary buildings will cost him nearly 5000 and that he intends to make still more accommodations.

“There are now forty two dressing rooms for gentlemen and eighteen boudoirs for ladies. To these accommodations will be added a bathing platform 100 feet along the beach by 80 feet wide and a trapeze and spring board attached.”

“There will also be a restaurant and when the whole is finished we may expect to have occasionally to report aquatic feats of considerable magnitude.”

“It may be expected that pastimes of this nature will be enjoyed chiefly by young persons but there is no reason why the seniors should not participate in what is really an enjoyable and sanitary sport.”

“The price of each scoot on the toboggan is the remarkably low figure of five cents.” (Hawaiian Gazette, May 28, 1889)

May 28, 2023 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Luau Diplomacy

From royal prince to revolutionary to Hawaiian Delegate, Jonah Kūhiō Kalaniana‘ole traveled a unique route to the United States Congress. Known primarily as “Kuhio” or by his childhood nickname “Prince Cupid,” he remains the only Member of Congress born into royalty.

Kuhio was born on March 26, 1871, in the village of Kukuiula in the Koloa District of the island of Kauai. Kuhio was the youngest of three sons of High Chief David Kahalepouli Piikoi and Princess Victoria Kinoiki Kekaulike. Princess Victoria’s sister, Kapiolani Napelakapuokakae, married into the royal line of Hawaii in 1863 when she wed King David Kalakaua.

In 1880 Kuhio’s father, David Piikoi, died and King Kalakaua appointed Kuhio’s mother governor of the island of Hawaii. The king issued a royal proclamation making Kuhio and his two brothers princes in 1883 and made them wards following their mother’s death a year later. He then incorporated Princess Kekaulike’s line into the Kalakaua dynasty.

King Kalakaua provided the best education available for his sister-in-law’s sons. After St. Alban’s School (forerunner of Iolani) and Oahu College (Punahou School), Kuhio joined his brothers at St. Matthew’s Military Academy in San Mateo, California.

In 1888 King Kalakaua sent Kuhio to Japan with the hope of setting up a marriage with the Japanese royal family. Kuhio spent nearly a year as the guest of the Japanese government, learning the art of diplomacy, but he made no effort to secure a marriage. Upon returning home, Kuhio briefly took up a position in the Ministry of Interior and Customs.

Continuing to groom Kuhio and his brother, David, to be potential heirs, Kalakaua sent them to study business in Gloucestershire, England, at the Royal Agricultural College. The pair toured Europe, greeted as equals in royal courts across the continent.

The brothers returned from England in early 1891; King Kalakaua died in January while visiting San Francisco. His sister, Liliuokalani, succeeded to the throne and set Princess Kaiulani, daughter of Kalakaua’s youngest sister, Miriam Likelike, as her heir apparent, cementing Kawananakoa and Kuhio, respectively, as presumptive heirs behind the princess.

His former ally Robert Wilcox defeated Kuhio’s brother David to become the first Hawaiian Delegate in the US Congress. Kuhio then joined Wilcox’s Home Rule Party. However, Kuhio grew disenchanted with the Home Rule Party after witnessing some of its racially charged politics firsthand.

In July 1902, the party tapped Kuhio to lead a reorganization committee. Kuhio’s proposals prioritized attracting younger moderates, but Wilcox preferred the status quo. However, a speech at the opening of the territory’s Republican convention cemented Kuhio’s choice to run as a Republican.

Former Nebraska Senator John M. Thurston declared, “You might as well send a frog to chipper at the doors of the Court of St. James for what you want as send to Washington a Delegate who is not one of or in harmony with either of the two great political parties.”

Kuhio joined the convention as a nominee for Delegate, announcing, “I am a Republican from the top of my head to the bottom of my feet.” Republicans nominated him by acclamation.

Kuhio’s campaign developed around embracing Americanism, saying at stump speeches, “Monarchy had accomplished a useful means, and democracy arises to carry on the work.” Ultimately, Republicans swept both the legislature and the delegacy. Kuhio’s victory fatally weakened the Home Rule Party.

Kuhio arrived in Washington, DC, with much exuberance, though the reality of his isolated position rapidly set in. Most Washingtonians simply referred to him as “Kuhio” or “Prince Cupid,” after his childhood nickname.

As a statutory representative – Kuhio’s Delegate position was created by federal statute rather than articulated in the Constitution – Kuhio had little influence in the House but he developed non-traditional ways to push his legislative interests.

After settling into his position, Kuhio wrestled with mainland ignorance of Hawaii. He was appointed to the traditional seats on the Territories Committee and the Post Office and Post Roads Committee, but often found himself testifying before the Merchant Marine and Fisheries or Naval Affairs panels instead.

He struggled to pass bills approving a franchise grant to expand the installation of electric lights in Hawaii. Afterward in the 59th Congress (1905–1907), he concentrated on getting money to build, repair, and maintain lighthouses on the islands and encouraging greater trade.

No one seemed to know whether funding existed for the project, so Kuhio shuffled back and forth between the Navy Department’s Lighthouse Board, Speaker Joe Cannon, and a clerk of the Appropriations Committee before discovering the funds had been suspended under the belief that Hawaii was an insular possession, like Puerto Rico or the Philippines.

Over and over the Kuhio became aware that neither congressional colleagues nor federal bureaucrats knew much about Hawaii. So he dedicated himself to educating American administrators about the islands. Much of this process happened off the House Floor. (US House)

In 1905, Hawaii served as a pit stop for congressional delegation on its way to Japan and the Philippines. Members were eager to travel abroad, though most viewed that particular delegation trip as a vacation. Still, the trip drew considerable press attention.

Shortly thereafter, Kuhio noticed the level of interest and in 1907 he began arranging delegations of his own – some referenced this as Luau Diplomacy.

For one notable excursion, Kuhio wrote to every Member of Congress, inviting them to be guests of the territory ahead of the 64th Congress (1915–1917) scheduled to open later that December. (This was the third Congressional Party to visit Hawaii as official guests; similar delegations toured the Islands in 1907 and 1909.)

The nearly 50-man 1915 delegation (27 Representatives, 10 Senators, congressional family members, staff, and a group of press), using a $15,000 disbursement from the Hawaiian territorial legislature, represented the largest group of Congressmen to visit the islands at that time.

The Islands’ welcoming committee had planned a three-week tour of the Hawaiian Islands for the Members with the hope of securing from Congress various economic support for the territory.

The party featured some of the most powerful men in the House of Representatives, including Republican Leader James Mann who, like former Speaker Cannon, hailed from Illinois.

Politicos buzzed on the mainland that Republicans had a good shot at taking back the House in the upcoming 1916 elections, and Kuhio – a Republican himself – was eager to make good with the potential new House leadership.

Mann gave Kuhio every reason to be encouraged, saying, “These islands may be assured of a continuance of prosperity.”

Laden with lei, regaled with patriotic music, and awash in florid greetings, the congressional guests at one point gave three cheers for Kuhio and sang a rousing rendition of “For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow.”

A fleet of cars whisked some Members off to their hotels to prepare for the evening’s Governor’s Ball at ‘Iolani Palace. Other Members and their families donned bathing suits and enjoyed the sand and surf at Waikiki Beach.

Member, Clarence Miller of Minnesota, brought a massive moving picture machine to record the trip. “This tour is a great idea,” Miller enthused. “They know something about Hawaii in Congress, but not nearly as much as they should know. Everybody’ll learn something this time. Something they won’t forget, either.”

Kuhio and the territorial legislature set an exhausting schedule for the congressional visitors. A ferry ride to the island of Maui featured a tour of the harbor, the lighthouse, and a cannery.

The itinerary also included stops at schools, public utilities, clubs, and private residences – places the organizers hoped would help the island secure funding for harbor and infrastructure improvements and lead to the repeal of a sugar tariff they felt had hamstrung Hawaii’s economy.

Members gradually absorbed their island education. Representative Albert Johnson of Washington met with the inspector in charge of immigration to the island, claiming the issue was of “keen interest” given his strong stance against immigration from Asian nations.

Virginia Representative Carter Glass and North Carolina Senator Lee S. Overman voiced their hopes for a thorough education in the Hawaiian sugar trade. Representative Joshua Alexander of Missouri spoke at length about his hopes for a resolution to the Islands’ transportation woes with the mainland.

Representative Swagar Sherley of Kentucky, a prominent member of the Appropriations Committee, however, had a different focus in mind. “The military and naval end of congressional appropriations will occupy much of my visit to Hawaii,” he said, specifically referencing Pearl Harbor and the installations on the island of Oahu.

The firsthand experience often helped grease the skids for legislative action afterward. “I have a few things to take up with the prince about the merchant marine and transportation facilities that come within the jurisdiction of my committee,” wrote Representative William Wilson of Illinois after one tour, “and I intend to help rectify those unreasonable sailing conditions when we get together.” (US House)

Faced with repeated stonewalling in committees, particularly on the issue of harbor improvements, Kuhio changed his tactics. In a period of increasing tensions between the US and Japan, his new idea was to tie the federal government tighter to Hawaiian infrastructure through renewed focus on military and naval bases on the islands.

He took his case before the House Naval Affairs Committee in 1908. “Gentlemen of the committee, this Government has for ten years neglected the safeguard of preparing a naval base in the mid-Pacific,” Kuhio declared. It amounted to an “inexcusable neglect” not of a special Hawaiian interest, but of a national security necessity.

Kuhio’s persistent lobbying on the issue over the course of a decade paid dividends after he led a 1919 tour for Navy Secretary Josephus Daniels and the navy board to visit Pearl Harbor. Daniels agreed with Kuhio’s assessment, and Congress responded to the secretary’s report with an appropriation of $27 million for recommended improvements and expansions.

Kuhio spent much of his time protecting Hawaii from federal policy changes that conflicted with its interests. In 1917 he testified against the passage of a bill introduced by Missouri Democrat Joshua Alexander, which would have sharply regulated wireless radio usage and traffic within the United States.

Laden with communications from Hawaiian businessmen, Kuhio argued that radio was essential to the growth and development of the islands and that new federal regulations would hurt Hawaiian economic expansion and the ability of its people to assimilate into American culture. The committee accordingly scuttled the bill.

After World War I, Kuhio pressured Congress to continue the suspension of coastwise laws that forbade foreign ships from serving as passenger steamers between Honolulu and San Francisco without the payment of a hefty fine per passenger.

Members on the House Merchant Marine and Fisheries Committee, however, were eager to roll back the wartime suspensions. But with American ships still pressed into service as military transports, Hawaiians relied primarily on foreign ships to travel to and from the mainland. (US House)

The luaus for the Congressional members worked; by the 1920s and 1930s, these Hawaiian-style parties flourished across the mainland, and even made it to the US Capitol.

Speakers of the House Nicholas Longworth and William Bankhead agreed with the Los Angeles Times: “We don’t need an excuse to enjoy the relaxed, romantic pleasure of a Hawaiian party.”