Governance | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

A_Missionary_Preaching_to_the_Natives,_under_a_Skreen_of_platted_Cocoa-nut_leaves_at_Kairua_by_William_Ellis-1823

December 20, 2018 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Religious Freedom

“(T)hough the system of government in the Sandwich Islands has, since the commencement of Liholiho, been greatly improved, through the influence of Christianity and the introduction of written and printed laws, and the salutary agency of Christian chiefs has proved a great blessing to the people …”

“… still, the system is so very imperfect for the management of the affairs of a civilized and virtuous nation as to render it of great importance that correct views of the rights and duties of rulers and subjects …”

“… and of the principles of jurisprudence and political economy, should be held up before the king and members of the national council.” (Mission General Meeting, 1837)

“Whatever faults may attach to the government (and I would not deny that it may have many) the experience of the last thirty-two years shows that it possesses within itself means of self-improvement …”

“… and that in the abolition of idolatry; the reformation of immoral and superstitious usages; the extinction of feudal privileges, oppressive to the poor; the diffusion of religion and education …”

“… the establishment of a free religious toleration; the consolidation of a free constitution of King, nobles and representatives of the people; and the codification of useful laws …”

“…the Hawaiian people have made more progress, as a nation, than what ancient or modern history records of any people beginning their career in absolute barbarism.” (Wyllie, May 12, 1851)

“In all probability, the genius of the Constitution is the best comment on national progress. Those sections which relate to liberty of conscience are worthy of the most enlightened nation.”

“The first Constitution of the Hawaiian kingdom was adopted on the 8th of October, 1840. The second article solemnly declares that ‘all men, of every religion, shall be protected in worshiping Jehovah, …’”

“‘… and serving him according to their own understanding, but no man shall ever be punished for neglect of God, unless he injures his neighbor or brings evil on the kingdom.’” (Bates)

The new laws of Kamehameha III provided as follows: “The religion of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ shall continue to be the established national religion of the Hawaiian Islands.”

“The laws of Kamehameha III., orally proclaimed, abolishing all idol worship and ancient heathenish customs are hereby continued in force, and said worship and customs are forbidden to be practised in this kingdom upon the pains and penalties to be prescribed in the criminal code.”

“Although the Protestant religion is the religion of the government as heretofore proclaimed, nothing in the last preceding section contained shall be construed as requiring any particular form of worship, neither is anything therein contained to be construed as connecting the ecclesiastical with the body politic.”

“All men residing in this kingdom shall be allowed freely to worship the God of the Christian Bible according to the dictates of their own consciences, and this sacred privilege shall never be infringed upon.”

“Any disturbance of religious assemblies, or hinderance of the free and unconstrained worship of God, unless such worship be connected with indecent or improper conduct, shall be considered a misdemeanor, and punished as in and by the Criminal code prescribed.”

“It shall not be lawful to violate the christian Sabbath by the transactions of worldly business. The Sabbath shall be considered no day in law.”

“All documents and other evidences of worldly transactions dated on the Sabbath shall be deemed in law to have no date, and to be void for not having legal existence. It shall not on that day be lawful to entertain any civil cause in the courts of this kingdom.”

“Every attempt to serve civil process on that day shall be deemed a trespass by the officer attempting it, and shall subject such officer to the private civil suit of the party aggrieved: …”

“… Provided, however, that it shall, in criminal, fraudulent and tortuous cases be lawful to issue compulsory process for the arrest of wrong doers …”

“… and it shall, without such process, be lawful on that day for any conservator of the public peace and morality, to arrest, commit and detain for examination a wrong doer.” (Statute Laws of His Majesty Kamehameha III)

Religious-Freedom

July 3, 2017 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Learning Western Governance

The Reverend William Richards came to Hawai‘i in 1823 as a member of the second company of missionaries sent to the Islands by the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. He was stationed at Lahaina. where he engaged in the usual multitudinous duties of the missionary of the day.

It was a time of transition. when the Hawaiian people were faced with the difficult task of adjusting themselves to changing conditions. They turned to their teachers, the American missionaries, for guidance along this intricate path.

They asked Mr. Richards to become their teacher. chaplain and interpreter. Richards accepted this appointment, beginning his service on July 3, 1838. His resignation from the Mission as of that date was accepted by the American Board.

The classes in political economy held by Mr. Richards for the chiefs must have laid the foundation for the political reforms started soon after. Indeed. it can be said that Mr. Richards exercised a profound, though somewhat intangible, influence on Hawaii’s evolution towards a constitution form of government.

William Richards prepared a report to the mission following his first year in government service (1838-1839). Portions of the report follows:

“According to those engagements, l was to devote my time at my discretion to the instruction of the King & chiefs, as far as l could and remain at Lahaina, and do the public preaching. l was also to accompany the King to Oahu if important public business called him there.”

“As soon as the arrangements were completed, l commenced the compilation and translation of a work on political economy, following the general plan of Wayland, but consulting Lay, Newman and others, and translating considerable portions from the 1st mentioned work.”

“l also met [the] king & chiefs daily when other public business did not prevent, and as fast as l could prepare matter read it to them in the form of lectures. l endeavored to make the lectures as familiar as possible, by repeating them, and drawing the chiefs into free conversation on the subject of the Lecture.”

“They uniformly manifested a becoming interest in the school thus conducted, and took an active part in the discussion of the various topics introduced in the Lectures.”

“The Lectures themselves were mere outlines of general principles of political economy, which of course could not have been understood except by full illustration drawn from Hawaiian custom and Hawaiian circumstances.”

“l have often felt that it is much easier to point out the defects of an old system than it is to devise a new one, suitable to take its place.”

“The Chiefs proposed themselves to publish the work which I have compiled, & they are to have the Copy Right & defray the expense of the publication.” (The book was known as No ke Kalaiaina.)

“All my intercourse with the king and chiefs has been of the most pleasant character, at least, I have found them uniformly ready to listen to instructions, and they have manifested a becoming wish to reform the government in those particulars where it is inconsistent with true Political Economy.”

“I have far greater fears at present that there is not sufficient skill to devise a truly wise policy than I have that the chiefs will not sanction it when devised.”

As part of this initial process, a system of laws had been written out by Boaz Mahune, who was directed by the King to conform them to the principles of Political Economy which they had learned.

(Mahune was a member of the first class at Lahainaluna Seminary, graduating in 1835 after four years there. He was considered one of the school’s most brilliant scholar and was one of the ten chosen to remain as monitors, teachers in the children’s school and assistants in translating.)

The laws were signed by Kamehameha III on June 7, 1839 and referred to as He kumu kanawai, a me ke kanawai hooponopono Waiawi, no ko Hawaii nei pae aina. 1839 (Declaration of Rights (1839). All of the above came from Richards’ report, dated May 1, 1839; HHS, 1943.

No Ke Kalaiaina

June 10, 2017 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Prior to the Hawaiian Constitution

Collaboration between Ali‘i and the American Protestant missionaries resulted in, among other things, the introduction of Christianity, the creation of the Hawaiian written language, widespread literacy, making Western medicine available, and the evolution of a new and distinctive musical tradition with harmony and choral singing.

In addition, the missionaries collaborated with the Chiefs on the promulgation of a constitutional government. William Richards, a member of the Second Company of American Protestant missionaries was instrumental in transforming Hawaiian governance, through a constitution with individual rights.

In a March 15, 1841 letter from Richards to Captain Charles Wilkes, he gives his general observations on Hawaiian culture and description of economic and political conditions leading up to Declaration of Rights (1839) and Hawai‘i’s first constitution (1840.) The following are excerpts from that letter:

“As far as there was a regular government it was mainly of a feodal character and vested in the various ranks of landlords from the king down. The power of each particular lord was generally supreme or nearly so, over his own vassals, nor was that power entirely confined to personal dependants.”

“There was so much politeness, or respect, or fear, whatever it might be called, existing between the different chiefs, that any one chief might call on the dependants without much danger of giving offence.”

“Thus the people were often compelled to serve many masters, and often too out of the regular line of landlords landholders &c …. As a general thing however each chief had his particular lands, & tenants, and agents and servants, and ruled his own little kingdom according to his own laws, being himself however entirely subject to his superior, as his own agents were to him.”

“Civil rights were very little respected, nor were they scarcely known to exist. There were some general rules however a kind of common law, which when violated, the offender was often and perhaps generally punished, particularly if the crime was of an aggravated kind.”

“Kamehameha I in repeated instances punished murder by death. Grand larceny was a capitol offence if the injured person had power to execute what was considered to be law, and the chiefs and even the king not unfrequently espoused the cause of the injured party, and inflicted punishment for flagrant crimes.”

“As far as there was any real system to the government, it was deeply interwoven with their religious tabus, as well as with their feodal tenures, and a full account of the government therefore, would embrace an entire history of the tabu & also of the feudal system.”

“From the earliest periods of Hawaiian history, it appears that the tenure by which the lands have been held has in most respects been feodal, and the origin of the feuds was nearly the same as among the Goths, the Huns, the Vandals, and other northern nations of Europe.”

“A chieftain who could collect a sufficient number of followers to conquer a district or an Island, as soon as he had accomplished his object collected his victorious army about him for the purpose of dividing the spoil, or what they called ‘Cutting up the lands.’”

“The leader or king took his choice among the best of the lands, and on these lands placed some of his own particular servants, as agents to superintend the cultivation for himself.”

“The originall tenants who were on the farms at the time they were seized by the invading army usually remained under the new conquerers, at least many or most of them, and by these the land was cultivated for the king under such new agents as he saw fit to appoint.”

“After the king had taken his choice, he then divided out the whole conquered territory among the leaders of his army, giving the most valuable portions to those who had acted the most distinguished part.”

“In doing this, the king had full opportunity to show his skill & wisdom, for it was no easy task to give satisfaction in the division of the lands. Before the work was finished, difficulties often arose, and not unfrequently rebellions and new wars.”

“Every receiver of lands or feudatory was bound to his particular benefactor in the same manner as the first ranks were to the king, and thus a perfect feodal connexion was established between the king and his lowest subject through the various ranks of lords and tenants.”

“By this means, the chiefs secured and retained their authority over the people—and the rich over the poor. The authority and controll was almost perfect. It was the only system of governing with which the Hawaiians have been acquainted, and even to the present day, it is next to impossible to convince the elder chiefs that authority and subordinations can be maintained by any other means.”

“An old chief said to me, ‘If we can not take away their lands, what will they care for us? They will be as rich as we.’”

“The consequence of this system was that the common laborers did not themselves receive probably on an average more than one third of the avails of their labors, while the different orders of chiefs received the remaining two thirds.”

“The great amount however taken by the superiors was not the worst feature of this oppressive system. The remaining one third was not safe. Or rather there was no distinct dividing line by which the tenent might know and hold his own.”

“If a man by uncommon industry, brought his farm to a higher state of cultivation than his neighbor, he was not thereby sure of having more for his own use, and he could not distinctly lay his hand on any article of value and say that was his own.”

“But notwithstanding all these advantages which the superiors enjoyed over their inferiors, yet favoritism, jealousy, but more than all natural fickleness of character were so universal, that no landholder considered himself safe in his possessions, and therefore even ridiculed the idea of making extensive improvements.”

“So insecure did the people feel themselves to be in the possession of their lands, that the more reflecting class always tried to obtain and often did obtain a small division under different chiefs, so that when they were dispossessed of one, they might be saved from starvation by the produce of the other.”

“There were however customs, rules, and an acknowledged propriety of conduct in relation to taxation and dispossessions of lands. But there being no fixed law, nor courts of justice, or source of appeal, the people were in effect tenants at will, each particular class to their direct landlords.”

“And what was more, it was usually the case that when a man was dispossessed of his lands, he was usually dispossessed of most, if not all of his personal estate which had been acquired either directly or indirectly from the lands he had possessed.”

“The greatest changes took place at the death of the landlords, when the right to the feuds descended to their heirs. These heirs almost as a matter of course would have a different class of favorites from their predecessors, and therefore would dispossess the old tenants, and put their personal favorites in their places.”

“When the king deceased, great changes in every part of his dominions was the consequence. If a chief either of higher or lower rank deceased, then all the estates in his particular feoffment, and those only, were affected.”

“But among all the better classes it was considered improper to eject the direct cultivaters of the land and hence it was often the case that all the different ranks of chiefs were dispossessed, while the last dependants, the cultivaters of the soil, were continued in their possessions. Had this always been the case it would have greatly mitigated the evils of the system.”

“This feodal tenure under the present system of government has not entirely ceased to exist, but it is greatly modified. Indeed in principle it has nearly ceased, but in practice it continues to a very considerable extent.”

“The new laws define the rights of the different classes, and prescribe the rules by which each class shall be governed. Officers are also appointed to see that the rules are observed, and assess damages according (to) law where the rights of one class are invaded by the people of another class.”

“No tax whatever can be laid and no property seized, not even by the king, except by express provision of law. No landlord can disposs(ess) his tenants of their fiefs for the right of the tenants is declared perpetual.”

“The tenure therefore by which the lands are now held may be considered that of perpetual lease, subject to forfeiture for non payment of rent, the amount of which is regulated by laws in which the people have a voice and no new tax can be laid without the assent of their representatives.”

“The principle evils which no[w] remain to weaken the tenure by which lands are held, are the ignorance of the officers of the new system, and their fear of acting against the interests of chiefs and persons of rank. These evils however are fast diminishing.”