Ali’i / Chiefs / Governance | Page 41

January 17, 2023 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Overthrow

Some suggest the overthrow of the Hawai‘i constitutional monarchy was neither unexpected nor sudden.

Dissatisfaction with the rule of Kalākaua and Lili‘uokalani initially led to the ‘Bayonet Constitution,’ then, the overthrow. “(M)ounting dissatisfaction with government policies and private acts of officials led to the formation of the Hawaiian League, a group of Honolulu businessmen.” (Forbes)

Challenges with Kalākaua
• Polynesian Confederacy
• “(Gibson) discerned but little difficulty in the way of organizing such a political union, over which Kalākaua would be the logical emperor, and the Premier of an almost boundless empire of Polynesian archipelagoes.” (Daggett; Pacific Commercial Advertiser, February 6, 1900)

Opium License Bribery Case
• Initially the king, through his minister of foreign affairs, disclaimed any involvement. However, “To cap the climax of the opium matter, the Attorney General proceeds to acknowledge that the money was paid over by the Chinese … (H)e informed the gentlemen interested in getting the money back that he would never accomplish his object so long as he allowed the newspaper to speak of the affair.” (Hawaiian Gazette, May 17, 1887)

Extravagance/Debt
• Although Kalākaua had been elected and serving as King since 1874, upon returning from a trip around the world (1881), it was determined that Hawaiʻi’s King should also be properly crowned.
• “ʻIolani Palace, the new building of that name, had been completed the previous year (1882), and a large pavilion had been erected immediately in front of it for the celebration of the coronation. This was exclusively for the accommodation of the royal family; but there was adjacent thereto a sort of amphitheatre, capable of holding ten thousand persons, intended for the occupation of the people.” (Liliʻuokalani)

Bayonet Constitution (1887)
• In 1887, the struggle for control of Hawaiʻi was at its height with David Kalākaua on the throne. But some of the businessmen were distrustful of him. “So the mercantile element, as embodied in the Chamber of Commerce, the sugar planters, and the proprietors of the ‘missionary’ stores, formed a distinct political party, called the ‘down-town’ party, whose purpose was to minimize or entirely subvert other interests, and especially the prerogatives of the crown, which, based upon ancient custom and the authority of the island chiefs, were the sole guaranty of our nationality.” (Liliʻuokalani)

Concern with Lili‘uokalani’s Attempt to Rewrite the Constitution
• “When Lili‘uokalani became Queen, she took the following oath: ‘I solemnly swear in the presence of Almighty God, to maintain the Constitution of the Kingdom whole and inviolate, and to govern in conformity therewith.’” (UH Law School)
• “On January 14, 1893, Lili‘uokalani was prepared to ignore the constitutionally mandated approval-by-two-successive Legislatures process for amending the 1887 Constitution by announcing a new constitution in place of Kalākaua’s 1887 Constitution.” (UH Law School)
• “She did not do so because the Cabinet she appointed on January 13, 1893, refused her authorization request. The members of that Cabinet were Samuel Parker, William Henry Cornwell, Jr,, Arthur P. Peterson and John Colburn. Parker was a Native Hawaiian.” (UH Law School)

Some Native Hawaiian Dissatisfaction with the Acts of Kalākaua and Lili‘uokalani
• Robert W Wilcox – the man who figured so prominently & conspicuously in the revolution of 1889 (All quotes from Wilcox, Morgan Report)
o “Queen Lili‘uokalani brought these evils upon herself and the country both by her personal corruption, and that of her Government.”
o “I believe that if we can be annexed to the United States, the rights of all of our citizens, and especially those of the native Hawaiians, will be protected more carefully than they have ever been under the monarchy.”
o “They are naturally somewhat prejudiced against (the Provisional Government), as monarchy is the only form of Government with which they are familiar, but this feeling will quickly wear away as the Hawaiians are led to see that the Government is friendly to them and their interests. They already have confidence in the integrity and patriotism of President Dole.
o “I have repeatedly (advocated annexation to the United States) in public meetings held in this city. … but I am compelled to move cautiously or I shall lose my influence over them. I believe I am doing a good work by constantly conversing with them on the subject.”
o “I have told my countrymen that the monarchy is gone forever, and when they ask me what is the best thing to follow it I tell them annexation, and I firmly believe that in a very short time every Hawaiian will be in favor of that step.” (Robert W Wilcox – the man who figured so prominently & conspicuously in the revolution of 1889; Morgan Report)

Repeated Changes in Cabinet Ministers in the Kalākaua and Lili‘uokalani Reigns
• “Under every constitution prior to 1887 the ministers were appointed by the King and removed by him; but until Kalākaua’s reign it was a very rare thing that any King changed his ministry. They had a pretty long lease of political life.” (Judd; Blount Report)
• “It was a very rare political occurrence, and made a great sensation when a change was made.” (Judd; Blount Report) if

January 14, 1893 Lili‘uokalani’s Ministers Refused to Support Her Constitution – Threats of Bloodshed were Made Against Her Cabinet Ministers
• “The Queen retired to the blue room and summoned the ministers (Samuel Parker – Minister of Foreign Affairs; John F Colburn – Minister of Interior; William H Crowell – Minister of Finance; Arthur P Peterson – Attorney General) who repaired at once to the palace. The Queen was at a table, still dressed in the magnificent costume of the morning, and sparkling in a coronet of diamonds.”
• “She at once presented them with the draft of the new constitution, demanded their signatures, and declared her intention to promulgate the same at once.”
• “Attorney-general Peterson and Minister of Interior Colburn decidedly refused to do so, and Ministers Cornwell and Parker, though more hesitatingly, joined their colleagues in this refusal.”

The Provisional Government (and subsequent Republic, Territory & State) did not steal the land from the Hawaiian people – Crown Lands Remain in the Public Trust
• Crown and Government Lands, though under the control of changing sovereigns and governments (Kingdom to Provisional Government to Republic to Territory to State,) were in and continue to remain in the ‘public domain’ for the public good.
• US Court of Claims concluded, “The constitution of the Republic of Hawai‘i, as respects the crown lands, provided as follows: ‘That portion of the public domain heretofore known as crown land is hereby declared to have been heretofore, and now to be, the property of the Hawaiian Government …” (Lili‘uokalani v The United States, 1910)
• We now generally refer to the Crown and Government Lands as ‘ceded’ lands. Under the Admission Act, about 1.2-million acres are to “be held by (the) State as a public trust” to promote one or more of five purposes:
o support of the public schools and other public educational institutions
o betterment of the conditions of native Hawaiians (per the Hawaiian Homes Act, 1920)
o development of farm and home ownership on as widespread a basis as possible
o making of public improvements
o provision of lands for public use

The United States does not have to acquire property only through a Treaty of Annexation with a concurring vote by the US Senate.
• Annexation of Hawai‘i to the US was not a hostile takeover, it was something the Republic of Hawai‘i sought. “There was no ‘conquest’ by force in the annexation of the Hawaiian Islands nor ‘holding as conquered territory;’ they (Republic of Hawai‘i) came to the United States in the same way that Florida did, to wit, by voluntary cession”. (Territorial Supreme Court; Albany Law Journal)
• “There is no provision in the Constitution by which the national government is specifically authorized to acquire territory; and only by a great effort of the imagination can the substantive power to do so be found in the terms of any or all of the enumerated powers.” (Legal Issues Raised by Proposed Presidential Proclamation To Extend the Territorial Sea, October 4, 1988)

Here is the URL: https://imagesofoldhawaii.com/wp-content/uploads/Overthrow.pdf

One more correction to the many misconceptions … on January 17, 1893, the Hawai‘i constitutional monarchy was overthrown, not the Hawaiian race.

Commenters, please focus on the facts and if referring to the linked document. Please note the page and line number you are referring to (please include your source reference, as well).

Raising_of_American_flag_at_Iolani_Palace-1898

January 9, 2023 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Henry Poor

Henry French Poor was the eldest son of Henry Francis Poor and Caroline Paakaiulaula Bush; he was born here June 8, [1857].

“Poor received his early education under Mr. Gulick, Sr., father of the late Charles T. Gulick of Honolulu. He afterwards attended Punahou College, at that time under the direction of Professor Church.”

“He left school, however, at the age of 13 and entered the banking house of Bishop & Co. as a clerk, where he remained about eight years.”

“At that time, owing to ill health, Mr. Poor first visited the United States, where he spent some three months. When he returned to Honolulu he entered the mercantile house of Castle & Cooke.”

“At this time he was selected by the Government to act as secretary to Hon. C P. Iaukea, the head of the Hawaiian Embassy to the coronation of Alexander III of Russia.”

“Continuing from there he made a tour of the world, visiting the greater part of Europe, India, Japan, Egypt, the United States and England and meeting many great personages there. His visit to India was immediately connected with the question of securing a labor supply for the plantations of Hawaii.” (PCA, Nov 29, 1899)

“Henry F Poor was one of the most brilliant Hawaiians whose cradle ever rocked in these beautiful Islands. … He possessed the generous spirit of his race and the keen intelligence of his New England’s forebears.”

“As secretary to Colonel Iaukea on the Kalakaua embassy to the rulers of the world he covered himself with honors and his bright letters were published in the local papers.” (The Independent, Nov 29, 1899)

“While abroad Mr. Poor received several foreign decorations, among which were the Order of the Rising Sun of Japan, the Order of Simon Bolivar of South America, an Austrian and a Russian order and several others. He also held the Hawaiian Order of Crown of Hawaii and Order of Kapiolani.” (PCA, Nov 29, 1899)

“Later on he went to Samoa with Governor Bush and to his tact and gentlemanly action was due the fact that the Kaimiloa incident did not end in an international scandal.” (The Independent, Nov 29, 1899)

“In 1887 [Kaimiloa] was purchased by King Kalakaua, and after being fitted up as a man-of-war, was sent on a mission to Samoa. This mission was a failure …”

“King Kalakaua had just returned from a trip around the world. Sundry people, at all the places he stopped filled him with hot air, and he wanted to be emperor of the Pacific. On his return to Honolulu he promptly set about the work of trying to get control of all the islands which had not yet been seized by European rulers.”

“[Kalakaua’s] Prime Minister, Gibson, induced him to fit out the Kaimiloa as a war ship and send it on a diplomatic mission to Samoa, where Ambassador ‘Ned’ Bush was instructed to either annex the place or induce the King of Samoa to make a treaty acknowledging that Kalakaua was the supreme ruler of a Pacific Island confederacy.”

“On board the warship was ‘Admiral’ Jackson, Ambassador Bush, Henry Poor, secretary of the legation, a big crew, an enormous quantity of gin, a band, and plenty of the King’s dreamy ideas of a Pacific confederacy.”

“To this day the mystery of how the vessel ever reached Samoa has not been solved, and it is a wonder that she ever got there at all, for gin and other drink never flowed freer on a private craft than it did on the Kaimiloa. …”

“Then wild with the dissipation or the voyage, the crew mutinied, and capturing Secretary Poor, chained him to the deck.” (PCA Aug 8, 1902)

“The officers and crew of the Kaimiloa began to go ashore almost nightly to carouse in the streets of Apia. One night gunner William Cox, on returning to the ship, got into a fight with other officers.”

“He rushed the powder magazine, threatening to blow up the ship. Lt. Frank J. Waiau and ship’s carpenter John Galway stopped him, but the brawling went on. Lt. Sam I. Maikai, nominally in command, went ashore with Waiau to report to the Hawaiian legation.”

“They wanted to resign but Bush would not hear of it. He ordered them back on board and sent along his secretary, H. F. Poor. Jackson also went along with them. He and Poor, revolvers in hand, found the mutineers trying to take over the armory.

“They drove the mutineers out on deck. Waiau over-powered Cox and put him in irons on the bridge.” (Adler)

“The German warship Olga was in the harbor at the time, and her captain, noticing the row on the Hawaiian vessel, sent a longboat over … and threatened to tow the whole outfit bark to Hawaii unless the trouble subsided. …”

“On arrival [back in Honolulu] here [Kaimiloa] was dismantled, and never again used for war purposes. No one knows how many sins were committed aboard the vessel while trading in the South Seas, but many people have heard something of the story of her remarkable cruise as a man-of-war to Samoa.” (PCA Aug 8, 1902)

Poor hosted Robert Louis Stevenson on his visit to the Islands. On January 24, 1889, Stevenson arrived in Honolulu and spent the first six months of that year in the Hawaiian Islands (he later settled and lived in Samoa.)

“For the first few days the Stevenson party stayed with Henry Poor and his mother Mrs Caroline Bush, at 40 Queen Emma Street, Honolulu (24-27 January).”

“Then on 27 January 1889 they moved to Poor’s bungalow, Manuia Lanai, at Waikiki, three miles east of Honolulu. In early February Stevenson decided to send the Casco back to San Francisco and stay on to work in Hawaii.”

“As a result he rented the house next to Henry Poor’s. This too was a one-storey ‘rambling house or set of houses’ in a garden, centred on a lanai, ‘an open room or summer parlour, partly surrounded with venetian shutters, in part quite open, which is the living room’”. (RLS Website)

Henry French Poor died in Honolulu on November 28, 1899 and is buried at O‘ahu Cemetery.

January 8, 2023 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Ni‘ihau Lei Pūpū

Privately-owned by the Robinsons, with strict limited access, Ni‘ihau is the island that is least known and visited, and as such has the most intrigue (and thus referred to as the Forbidden Isle.)

In 1863, King Kamehameha IV put Ni‘ihau up for sale. A purchase price of $10,000 was agreed to with buyers James and Francis Sinclair. But Kamehameha IV died on November 30 before the closing, so Royal Patent No. 2944 shows his brother, Kamehameha V, completed the transaction in 1864. Ownership was subsequently passed down through the family.

The 70-square-mile island (about half the size of Lāna‘i and twice as large as Kaho‘olawe) is the smallest inhabited island in Hawai‘i with 84 residents (mostly Native Hawaiian) and 35 houses (DBEDT & Census.)

The island lacks basic municipal infrastructure. There are no paved roads (walking, horseback or bicycle are the only transportation options on Ni‘ihau.) No water and wastewater systems. No stores. No restaurants. No doctors. No police. No fire department. (Ni‘ihau Cultural Heritage Foundation)

“‘Ni‘ihau shells’ means seashells harvested from the island of Ni‘ihau, its waters, or its beaches. [N]o person shall offer, display, expose for sale, or solicit for sale any product or jewelry item fabricated, processed, or manufactured with seashells …”

“… that is described, labeled, or identified using the term ‘Ni‘ihau’ or ‘Niihau’, either alone or in conjunction with other words, or in a trade or brand name …”

“… unless: (1) One hundred per cent of all shells in the product or jewelry item are Ni‘ihau shells; and (2) The product or jewelry item is fabricated, processed, or manufactured entirely within this State.” (Hawai‘i Revised Statutes, §486-118.5)

Pu‘uwai village, on the western (leeward) side of the island, is the population center of Ni‘ihau. On this side of the island are the main beaches where Ni‘ihau shells are collected that make the famous and collectible Ni‘ihau lei pūpū.

The origin of the Ni‘ihau shell lei is lost in antiquity, but it is clear that at the time of Captain James Cook first contact in 1778, shell lei were in existence.

A Ni‘ihau shell lei is in the British Museum and was most likely collected by Cook during one of his several visits to the island of Ni‘ihau.

Although ‘shell ornaments’ described by early visitors were primarily made of seashells, some were also made of land shells which were once common throughout the Islands. In the mid-1800s, hula dancers were described as wearing necklaces of shells as well as flower garlands and feather ornamentation.

There are three different shells primarily used to make Ni‘ihau shell lei: kahelelani, momi and laiki. The color of the shells range from bright pink to pale yellow, and can have various types of markings on them.

Fabricating shell lei was not limited to Ni‘ihau, but it was there that this Hawaiian art flourished, most likely due to the abundance of shells available on the island’s beaches and the scarcity of flowers because of the arid climate.

In 1887, Queen Kapi‘olani had a formal portrait taken in New York on her way to attend Queen Victoria’s Jubilee. In the portrait, she wore a multi-strand lei of ivory-colored Ni‘ihau shells which complemented her formal Victorian dress.

Queen Emma, who showed more appreciation of Hawaiian crafts than any other of the Hawaiian royalty, also wore Ni‘ihau shell lei for formal portraits as well as when she was presented to Her Britannic Majesty.

It should be noted that during this time the shell lei was adapted to Victorian jewelry styles which included adding a clasp, thus elevating the traditional lei to the status of a piece of fine jewelry which was worn with the most elegant Western dress.

It is also interesting to note that later, particularly during the early- and mid-1900s, shell lei were more commonly reserved for occasions when Hawaiian attire was worn.

January 6, 2023 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Kaua Kūloko (Civil War 1895)

Following the overthrow of Queen Liliʻuokalani in 1893, the Committee of Safety established the Provisional Government of Hawaiʻi as a temporary government until an assumed annexation by the United States.

The Provisional Government convened a constitutional convention and established the Republic of Hawaiʻi on July 4, 1894. The Republic continued to govern the Islands.

From January 6 to January 9, 1895, patriots of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi and the forces that had overthrown the constitutional Hawaiian monarchy were engaged in a war that consisted of three battles on the island of Oʻahu, Hawaiʻi.

This has frequently been referred to as the “Counter-revolution”. It has also been called the Second Wilcox Rebellion of 1895, the Revolution of 1895, the Hawaiian Counter-revolution of 1895, the 1895 Uprising in Hawaiʻi, the Hawaiian Civil War, the 1895 Uprising Against the Provisional Government or the Uprising of 1895.

In their attempt to return Queen Liliʻuokalani to the throne, it was the last major military operation by royalists who opposed the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi. The goal of the rebellion failed.

The chief conspirators who conducted the planning were four: CT Gulick, a former Cabinet Minister of Kalākaua, an American; Samuel Nowlein, a hapa haole, former Captain of the Queen’s Guard; WH Rickard, an Englishman long resident in Hawaiʻi; and Major Seward, an American long domiciled with John A Cummins, a wealthy hapa haole.

For three months, these four held frequent meetings at Gulick’s house and settled upon a plan for the capture of the city and public buildings.

Capt. Nowlein was to be commander of the rebel forces. Major Seward was to procure arms, Rickard was generally useful and Gulick was the statesman of the party.

Gulick, with the others, drew up a new Constitution, wrote a Proclamation restoring the Queen’s Government and prepared written Commissions for a number of chief officials.

On December 20th, after several days watching by five of Seward and Cummins’ men on Mānana (Rabbit Island, near Waimānalo,) the schooner signaled and was answered. The men gave the pass word “Missionary.”

They received two cases containing eighty pistols and ammunition which they first buried on the islet, but afterwards carried to Honolulu. The schooner then lay off outside for twelve days.

On the 28th, the little steamer Waimānalo was chartered by Seward and Rickard, and on New Year’s Day intercepted the schooner about thirty miles NE of Oʻahu, and received from her 288-Winchester carbines and 50,000-cartridges.

Captain Nowlein had secretly enlisted Hawaiians in squads of thirty-eight. About 210 of them assembled at Waimānalo during Saturday night and Sunday, the 6th. They captured and detained all persons passing or residing beyond Diamond Head.

Robert Wilcox, of former insurgent fame, had joined the rebels, and was placed in command under Nowlein.

Beginning on the night of January 6, 1895, several skirmishes ensued, with slight victory for the Royalists. However, their benefit of surprise was now lost and they were out-numbered and out-gunned.

On January 7, 1895 martial law was declared in Hawaiʻi by Sanford B Dole.

Three major battle grounds were involved. First, Wilcox and about 40 of his men were on the rim and summit of Diamond Head firing down on the soldiers.

Seeing no tactical importance in remaining on Diamond Head, Wilcox ordered his men to retreat to Waiʻalae. The new strategy was to move north into Koʻolau mountains then west, avoiding the Government forces in the south.

On January 7, the Royalists moved into Mōʻiliʻili where they were involved with additional skirmishes. Then, on January 8, Wilcox and his men were discovered crossing into Mānoa Valley (they were hoping to get above the city, as well as rouse more supporters.)

Wilcox and his men then escaped up a trail on the precipice to the ridge separating Mānoa from Nuʻuanu. On that ridge his men dispersed into the mountain above; Wilcox and a few others crossed Nuʻuanu that night, eluding the guards.

Some 400 of the Government forces guarded the valleys from Nuʻuanu to Pālolo for more than a week, and scoured the mountain ridges clear to the eastern Makapuʻu point.

This resulted in the capture of all the leading rebels.

As evidence against conspirators accumulated, some forty whites and 120 Hawaiians were arrested. Four foreigners and 140 Hawaiians were taken prisoners of war. The prisons were supplemented by the use of the old Barracks.

Liliʻuokalani was put under arrest on the 16th, and confined in a chamber of ʻIolani Palace.

A tribunal was formed and evidence began to be taken on the 18th. Nowlein, Wilcox, Bertelmann and TB Walker all pleaded guilty, and subsequently gave evidence for the prosecution.

On January 24, 1895, in an effort to prevent further bloodshed, Liliʻuokalani executed a document addressed to President Sanford B Dole, in which she renounced all her former rights and privileges as Queen and swore allegiance to the Republic. The president pardoned the royalists after serving part of their prison sentence.

Convicted of having knowledge of a royalist plot, Liliʻuokalani was fined $5,000 and sentenced to five-years in prison at hard labor. The sentence was commuted to imprisonment in an upstairs bedroom of ʻIolani Palace.

After her release from ʻIolani Palace, the Queen remained under house arrest for five-months at her private home, Washington Place. For another eight-months, she was forbidden to leave Oʻahu, before all restrictions were lifted.

Lots of the information here comes from an article in The Friend, February, 1895.

January 4, 2023 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Jonah in The Jug

Robert Wilcox defeated Kūhiō’s brother David to become the first Hawaiian Delegate in the US Congress. Kūhiō initially joined Wilcox’s Home Rule Party but grew disenchanted and eventually joined the Republican Party and ran and in 1902, Kūhiō won a landslide victory and unseated Robert Wilcox .

When President Theodore Roosevelt greeted Kūhiō in 1903, he balked at the name Kalaniana‘ole. “I shall not call him Prince Cupid, and I cannot pronounce his last name. I never would be able to remember it, anyhow,” the President complained. From then on, most Washingtonians simply referred to him as “Kūhiō” or “Prince Cupid,” after his childhood nickname.

On January 4, 1904, Kūhiō gained some unwanted notoriety when he was arrested for disorderly conduct after scuffling outside a DC bar. (House-gov)

“According to the police of the first precinct he had a misunderstanding with Charles Clarke, forty-five years old, a collector, near the corner of 13^th street and Pennsylvania avenue northwest, about 11 o’clock last night and refused to accept the kindly offices of Policeman Wolf, who attempted to smooth matters over.”

“The conduct of both men was such, the police state, that it was necessary for the officer to take both men into custody and escort them to the first precinct police station but he only suceeded in doing so by using force after he had exhausted every other means.” (Hawaiian Star, Jan 22, 1904)

He refused to pay a fine or to alert friends to his predicament and stayed overnight in jail, incorrectly claiming that, as a Member of Congress, he was exempt from arrest. The next morning the court notified friends, who bailed him out. (House-gov)

In a letter to his brother, Kūhiō explained, “On the way down from the billiard parlor, I stopped at the Stand to purchase cigarettes (this is on the ground floor and the entrance to the build On the way down from the billiard parlor …”

“… I stopped at the Stand to purchase cigarettes (this is on the ground floor and the entrance to the building), when I heard cursing coming from the rear of the building, where there is a bar, and then an order by the proprietor to his bartenders to put a man out.”

“In the rush-out the crowd did not seem to know who was being put out, and I suppose I got a bit curious, too, to see the row. The first I knew some one brushed against me and another ran into me from the rear and then was rushed out by the mob.”

“Staggering forward through the entrance I felt somebody hit me from the back and a second blow knocked me down to the sidewalk. It all happened so quickly I had not the opportunity to strike back and, upon rising. I asked for an explanation.”

“Two fellows, one turned out to be an officer in citizen’s clothes, said something to this effect, ‘You shut up, you drunken nigger!’ and then made a lunge at me.”

“Three or four others, who undoubtedly knew the officer and, probably thinking they were assisting him, all jumped on me and I resisted with but little effect, however.”

“I was protesting against this men roughly took hold of me, when I again protested to the arrest being unjustified, and asked who had placed me under arrest. The officer in citizen clothes replied, he did, and showed his authority, the badge, upon my demand.”

“I requested of the uniformed officers that the fellow who struck me and also the officer that placed ‘me under arrest be taken along too; but the latter told them, ‘Never mind him; take the damned drunken nigger!’”

“On arrival at the station with the two ‘cops’ I was charged with disorderly conduct, when I then again protested and demanded the arrest of the other two without avail.”

“Then I told the clerk that I am a Congressman and that I thought a Congressman had some privileges exempting him from arrest while he is in attendance at the Capitol.”

“He replied he thought there was no help unless I put up $5 collateral, which I refused to do unless it be upon my own recognizance. The clerk again replied that I had one of two things to chose, either put up the collateral up or be locked up.”

“I had become enraged at the perpetrated outrage and I chose the latter.’” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, Jan 23, 1904)

In the morning, “prince Cupid drank out of a tin cup along with persons who had been arrested for being drunk.” (Los Angeles Times, Jan 6, 1904) (The LA Times headlined their story of this experience as “Jonah in ‘The Jug.’”)

“The charge of disorderly conduct against Prince Kūhiō Kalaniana’ole, Delegate from Hawaii, was nolle prossed [dropped, abandoned or dismissed] in the police court today. The Delegate had been arrested in connection with an encounter with a Honolulu attorney named Charles Clarke.”

“A number of friends of Prince Kūhiō were present in the court room and they warmly congratulated him over the satisfactory outcome of the case.” (Hilo Tribune, Jan 22, 1904)

“The law in question is found in Section 6, Article I, of the Constitution, and reads as follows: ‘The Senators and Representatives … shall, in all cases, except treason, felony, and breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest during their attendance at the session of their respective houses, and in going to and returning from the same.’”

“Commenting on this, Paschal, in his ‘Constitution of the United States,’ says: ‘This would seem to extend to all indictable offenses, as well as those which are attended with force and violence.”

“The privilege from arrest commences from the election, and before the member takes his seat or is sworn. One who goes to Washington duly commissioned to represent a State in Congress is privileged from arrest …”

“… and though it be subsequently decided by Congress that he is not entitled to a seat there, he is protected until he reaches home, if he return there as soon as possible.’” (Hawaiian Gazette, Feb 12, 1904)

This wasn’t the first time Kūhiō had been jailed. In 1895, following the overthrow of Queen Lili‘uokalani, Kūhiō took part in a counterrevolution led by Robert Wilcox against the Republic of Hawai‘i.

The prince was charged with misprision of treason and served his sentence of one year in prison. During his imprisonment, a Kauai chiefess, Elizabeth Kahanu Ka‘auwai, visited him each day, and after his release, the two married on October 8, 1896.

Kūhiō and his princess left Hawai‘i on a self-imposed exile and traveled extensively through Europe. In 1899, the prince served in the British Army in the Second Boer War against the independent Boer (Dutch-settled) republics of Transvaal and Oranje Vrijstaain in southeast Africa. (DHHL)

Then, Kūhiō returned home and engaged in the politics of post-annexation Hawai‘i. (The image shows Kūhiō in his initial imprisonment in Hawai‘i.)