Statehood | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

August 21, 2024 by Peter T Young 3 Comments

Admission Day

The Hawaiʻi Admission Act was signed into law on March 18, 1959; Hawaiʻi became the 50th State on August 21, 1959.

Statehood is celebrated annually on the third Friday in August to commemorate the anniversary of the 1959 admission of Hawaiʻi into the Union.

On June 27, 1959, Hawaiʻi registered voters voted on three propositions related to Statehood (there was a 93.6% voter turnout for the General election:)

Shall the following propositions, as set forth in Public Law 86-3 entitled “An Act to provide for the admission of the State of Hawaii into the Union” be adopted?

1. Shall Hawaii immediately be admitted into the Union as a State?
Yes – 132,773 (94.3%)
No – 7,971 (5.7%)

2. The boundaries of the State of Hawaii shall be as prescribed in the Act of Congress approved March 18, 1959, and all claims of this State to any areas of land or sea outside the boundaries so prescribed are hereby irrevocably relinquished to the United States.
Yes – 132,194 (94.5%)
No – 7,654 (5.5%)

3. All provisions of the Act of Congress approved March 18, 1959, reserving rights or powers to the United States, as well as those prescribing the terms or conditions of the grants of lands or other property therein made to the State of Hawaii are consented by said State and its people.
Yes – 132,281 (94.6%)
No – 7,582 (5.4%)

President Eisenhower called it “truly an historic occasion” because for the second time within a year a new state had been admitted.

“All forty-nine states will join in welcoming the new one – Hawaii – to this Union,” he said. “We will wish for her prosperity, security, happiness and a growing closer relationship with all of the other states.”

“We know that she is ready to do her part to make this Union a stronger nation – a stronger people than it was before because of her presence as a full sister to the other forty-nine states. So all of us say to her, ‘good luck.'” (nytimes-com)

“(A)n unplanned service (was) held at Kawaiahaʻo Church. This church is the denomination of the missionaries who came to Hawaii in 1820. A crowd of more than 1,000 people, including the Honorable Neal Blaisdell, mayor of the city and county of Honolulu, gathered and paid respect to the Divine Providence within minutes of the news being received that the bill was passed by the House.”

“The next morning, thanksgiving services were held at this same church. The Reverend Dr. Abraham Akaka, pastor of Kawaiahaʻo Church, gave the sermon, which is included here.” (John A Burns, Delegate to US House of Representatives))

“‘One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all’ – these words have a fuller meaning for us this morning in Hawaii. And we have gathered here at Kawaiahaʻo Church to give thanks to God, and to pray for his guidance and protection in the years ahead.” (Reverend Abraham K Akaka; Given on: Friday, March 13, 1959)

Contrary to comments by some, the Crown and Government lands were not ‘stolen’ from the people with Territorial status, Statehood or any other change in governance. Those lands have been consistently recognized as part of the public domain or government property, as decided by the Hawai‘i Supreme Court.

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:

support of the public schools and other public educational institutions
betterment of the conditions of native Hawaiians (per the Hawaiian Homes Act, 1920)
development of farm and home ownership on as widespread a basis as possible
making of public improvements
provision of lands for public use

So, as Statehood is celebrated in the Islands, the lands that were in the public domain over the changing levels and entities of government and governance continue to be held in public trust, for all citizens (just as in the times of the constitutional monarchy.)

“Today, one of the deepest needs of mankind is the need to feel a sense of kinship one with another. Truly all mankind belongs together; from the beginning all mankind has been called into being, nourished, watched over by the love of God.”

“So that the real Golden Rule is Aloha. This is the way of life we shall affirm.”

“Let us affirm ever what we really are – for Aloha is the spirit of God at work in you and in me and in the world, uniting what is separated, overcoming darkness and death, bringing new light and life to all who sit in the darkness of fear, guiding the feet of mankind into the way of peace.”

“Thus may our becoming a State mean to our nation and the world, and may it reaffirm that which was planted in us one hundred and thirty-nine years ago: ‘Fear not, for behold I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.’” (Reverend Abraham K Akaka; Given on: Friday, March 13, 1959)

Admission Day - Statehood Day - August 21, 1959

Statehood - AP-Honolulu Star-Bulletin photo by Albert Yamauchi of newspaper boy Chester Kahapea on Aug. 21, 1959

Statehood-celebration-Iolani_Palace-(HSA)

Statehood-cranes in the background hoisted the American and Hawaii flags-(HSA)

Statehood-Marching band at the Iolani Palace on Statehood Day-(HSA)

Statehood-Statehood Day at Kawaihao Church near Iolani Palace-(HSA)

Statehood-Statehood day procession at Iolani Palace-(HSA)

March 26, 2022 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Prince Jonah Kūhiō Kalanianaʻole Piʻikoi

Prince Kūhiō was born in Kōloa on the island of Kauai on March 26, 1871. His father, Kahalepouli, was a high chief and the son of Kaumualiʻi, the last King of Kauai; his mother was Princess Kinoiki Kekaulike, sister of Queen Kapiʻolani (wife of King Kalākaua.) He had two brothers, David Kawananakoa and Edward Keliʻiahonui.

Orphaned after his father died in 1880 and mother in 1884, Prince Kūhiō was adopted by King David Kalākaua’s wife, Queen Kapi‘olani, who was his maternal aunt.

His early education was at the Royal School and Punahou. He studied four years at St. Mathews College of California. Later, he was a student at the Royal Agricultural College in England, finishing his formal education in a business college there.

Upon the assumption of the Kalākaua dynasty to the throne of the Hawaiian Kingdom, a proclamation ending the Kamehameha Dynasty also declared Kūhiō a royal prince. King David Kalākaua, also Kūhiō’s uncle, then appointed him to a seat in the royal Cabinet administering the Department of the Interior. (Prince Kuhio Hawaiian Civic Club)

The overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy in 1893 and establishment of the Republic of Hawaiʻi brought about abrupt changes. Kūhiō was then about 21 years of age.

Two-years later, there was a counter-revolution attempting to reinstate Liliʻuokalani as Queen. Prince Kūhiō took part in the revolution. He was arrested and sentenced to imprisonment for a year. While he was in prison he became engaged to Elizabeth Kahanu Kaʻauwai and, after his release, married her on October 8, 1896.

In 1900, Robert Wilcox (an Independent) defeated Republican Samuel Parker and Democrat Prince David Kawānanakoa (Kūhiō’s older brother) as Hawaiʻi’s first delegate to Congress Wilcox ran for re-election, but Prince Kūhiō (a Republican) defeated him and served as Hawaiʻi’s delegate from 1903 until his death in 1922.

“Prince Kalanianaʻole was a prince indeed – a prince of good fellows and a man among men; a man of sterling sincerity and strong convictions – he always stood for what he deemed right-yielding to no weakness, and manly always.” (Congressional Record, 1923) Prince Kūhiō restored the Royal Order of Kamehameha I and established the Hawaiian Civic Club.

The Order of Kamehameha I was established on April 11, 1865 by King Kamehameha V (Lot Kapuāiwa) to honor the legacy of his grandfather, the unifier of the islands, Kamehameha the Great. The Order was reorganized by Prince Kūhiō in 1902.

The Hawaiian Civic Clubs were organized in 1918 and were formed to provide scholarship aid for the education of Hawaiian students; preserve and promote the Hawaiian heritage, traditions, language and culture; improve the conditions of the Hawaiian people and community at large; and perpetuate the values that dignify all human life.

Kūhiō was often called Ke Ali‘i Maka‘āinana (Prince of the People) and is well known for his efforts to preserve and strengthen the Hawaiian people.

“A pure-blooded Hawaiian, a member of a diminishing race, it was natural and greatly to his credit that he devoted much serious thought and energy to their rehabilitation – it was a work of love on his part.”

“He saw the tendency of his people to flock to the larger cities where their life in crowded tenements, learning the vices of the white man, was leading to racial extinction, and he devoted himself to getting them back to the land.” (Congressional Record)

“His efforts in this line culminated in the passage in 1921 by this Congress of the Hawaiian Homes Commission act, a measure to provide homesteads for native Hawaiians for an indefinite term at a nominal rental and for government loans to the settlers.”

“The Prince was made one of the commissioners and took great interest in the practical carrying out of his dream.” (Congressional Record)

“Kuhio on February 11 introduced a resolution in congress providing for statehood for Hawaiʻi under qualifications to be fixed by congress, and giving Hawaii half of the federal revenues derived from here for territory’s public works for a period of 20 years.” (Maui News, February 28, 1919)

This first bill in Congress calling for Hawaiʻi statehood didn’t pass. (After several other related bills by others, Hawaiʻi achieved statehood on August 21, 1959.)

“Prince Kalanianaole was an unusual man. There was much of the magnetic about him. He possessed a kindliness and a courtliness that instinctively attracted people to him and made him a most welcome guest at every gathering.”

“While his was the philosophy of optimism and he always looked with confidence toward the future, still it seemed to me that there was ever present the element of pathos in his fine character.” (Congressional Record)

“At Pualeilanl through the night of vigil, while the Prince was sitting in his armchair, himself knowing that death could not long be barred from entrance to his chamber, he sat with his face toward the open door facing Kalākaua Avenue …”

“… his lessening vision drinking in deeply of the green verdure across the way in what was formerly the great acres of his aunt the Queen Dowager Kapiʻolani, in whose home he had spent so many happy days of his boyhood and young manhood.”

“Sitting by his side was Princess Kalanianaʻole. She held his hand closely. The Prince smiled often as his eyes met those of his sweetheart Princess and he appeared to be hoping that her last view of him would be a memory of him still smiling.” (Congressional Record, 1923)

Jonah Kūhiō Kalanianaʻole Piʻikoi died on January 7, 1922 of heart disease. He was given the last state funeral for an Ali‘i; he is buried at Mauna ‘Ala, the Royal Mausoleum.

The territorial Legislature passed a resolution in 1949, establishing March 26 as a territorial holiday in honor of Prince Kūhiō; Prince Kūhiō Day continues as an official holiday in the State of Hawaiʻi. It is celebrated annually on March 26, to mark the birth of Prince Kūhiō.

December 17, 2019 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

49th State Fair

During the First World War the Chamber of Commerce sponsored the first Territorial Fair, with the idea that an event held every 2-3 years could draw from across the Territory to “display the results of their efforts along agricultural lines.”

The Hawaiʻi Territorial Fair was largely focused on “a demonstration in intensive cultivation of staple and special field products and also as a demonstration in food conservation … it was found (that) the islands depended too largely on the mainland for food supplies”.

A site was selected and “set aside for territorial fair and amusement park purposes that portion of the government lands lying mauka of the proposed Waikiki drainage canal (Ala Wai) and adjacent to Kapahulu road.”

The Territorial Fair continued for a number of years. Starting in 1923, golf started at the Fair Grounds, when someone placed a salmon can down as its first hole; by 1931, more holes were built and the fairgrounds were converted to a golf course, instead. The place was renamed the Ala Wai Golf Course.

The United States Junior Chamber of Commerce (the Jaycees) were formed on the continent in 1920. The Jaycees first appeared in Hawaiʻi in 1930 with the chartering of the Honolulu Junior Chamber of Commerce.

In 1939, Jaycee chapters sprouted up in Hilo, Maui, Kauaʻi and Wahiawa. In 1943, an umbrella organization ‘Hawaiʻi Junior Chamber of Commerce’ was formed.

Coinciding with these timeframes, the (senior) Honolulu Chamber and Commerce was conducting the Hawaiian Products Exhibit, first held in 1930.

Hawaiʻi was suffering from the effects of the Depression; the Chamber launched the Hawaiian products exhibit at the old National Guard Armory downtown to boost interest in local goods, 33,000 attended.

For seven years the senior Chamber ran the Show, until 1937, when the Jaycees were looking for a signature fundraising event for their organization. The Chamber passed the responsibilities to the Jaycees; from then, it was a Jaycees event.

A decision was made to include mainland manufactures and agricultural products in 1940, resulting in a significantly larger event. It was held under tents in Kapiʻolani Park.

The next year the Show moved to the corner of Kalākaua Avenue and Kapiʻolani Boulevard. During the war years, the shows were not held. After the war, the first post-war show was held at McKinley High School.

The 1948 show was the first to be named “The 49th State Fair” (the Honolulu Jaycees copyrighted the name;) it was held at Kapiʻolani Park. (The Jaycees were anticipating that Hawai’i would become the 49th state.)

“By this time the country was actively debating the issue of Statehood for Hawaii and Alaska. Most people thought Statehood would be granted first to Hawaii and then to Alaska … we had the 49th State Fair, businesses called 49th State such-and-such …” (George Ariyoshi)

“Statehood was in the air, and everyone expected Hawaii to become the 49th state; hence there was a 49th State record label and a 49th State fair at the old Honolulu stadium.” (Tom Moffatt, Star Revue)

Hawaiʻi’s 1948 “State Fair” won a national award from the National Jaycees who rated it the best project in the field of profit-making conducted by a Jaycee entity in a city of 100,000 or more.

The next year event also won a national Jaycee award (in the field of trade promotion.) The 1949 State Fair was held in warehouses on the Ala Moana Boulevard, EK Fernandez furnished the entertainment.

Then, again, in 1950 the 49th State Fair was selected as the “Outstanding Project of the Year” conducted by Jaycees throughout the nation in cities with populations of 250,000 and more.

In 1952, the 49th State Fair moved to Sand Island.

On January 3, 1959, Alaska became the 49th state – Hawaiʻi’s Fair name changed, again.

Hawaiʻi joined the union on August 21, 1959 – since then it hosts the 50th State Fair.

(“The Territorial Savings and Loan Association said its name would be continued to denote the firm’s ‘age, stability and pre-Statehood background.’” (star-bulletin))

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49th_State_Fair_elephant-(vic&becky-1954)

49th_State_Fair_Under_the_Big_Top-(vic&becky-1954)

49th_State_Fair-Sand_Island-(vic&becky-1954)

49th_State_Fair-History-(vic&becky-1954)

49th_State_Fair-2nd_Annual-(Billboard, May 21, 1949)

January 27, 2019 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Robert Wilcox Supported Annexation and Statehood

Robert Randall Hoes “reached Honolulu on the USS Pensacola September 20, 1891, and remained there until March 9, 1893.” (Hoes)

As stated by Hoes, “I went there as chaplain of the Pensacola, and, having considerable leisure, apart from my professional duties, I commenced a study of the history of the country, pursuing it as carefully and critically as the books and pamphlets at my command would permit.” (Hoes)

“I was officially attached to the Pensacola while she remained in Hawaiian waters, and performed my duties accordingly; but, having considerable leisure at my disposal …”

“… as already said, I engaged in historical studies, and was instrumental, with Prof. Alexander, JS Emerson, and others, in organizing the Hawaiian Historical Society, and was officially connected with that organization until I left Honolulu.” (Hoes)

“The Queen, subsequently hearing that I was so deeply interested in historical research, applied to Secretary Blaine, through Minister Stevens, for permission for me to remain in Honolulu after the Pensacola left …”

“… to prepare a bibliography of Hawaii, and also to examine and arrange the early archives of the Government, which were in a state of disgraceful confusion. I was subsequently detached and remained in Honolulu until the time stated.” (Hoes)

Hoes was “studying the people for historical purposes … (and) also to learn contemporary opinion.”

In doing so, he interviewed Robert Wilcox, “the man who figured so prominently and conspicuously in the revolution of 1887, and has mingled in politics more or less ever since, and was a member of the last Hawaiian Legislature.” (Hoes)

The following is an interview between Hoes and Robert Wilcox, January 27, 1893, shortly after the overthrow:

”What are your views, Mr. Wilcox, in regard to the present situation in general?” (Hoes)

“Queen Liliuokalani brought these evils upon herself and the country both by her personal corruption, and that of her Government. She surrounded herself with bad advisers, and seemed determined to drive the nation to destruction.” (Wilcox)

“Good people had no influence over her whatever, for she indignantly refused to listen to them. 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.” (Wilcox)

“What, in your opinion, is the personal feeling of the native Hawaiian element in this community?” (Hoes)

“My countrymen, with the exception of the most intelligent among them, do not understand much about these things.- They need to be educated. They have so often been told by designing men that the United States was their enemy that they are naturally suspicious.” (Wilcox)

“Politicians who have sought to use the natives simply as so many tools have deceived them. When they understand from the lips of disinterested men and patriots what annexation means, and become acquainted with the benefits that it will bring them, they will be as much in favor of the movement as any of our other classes of citizens.” (Wilcox)

“Does the present Provisional Government command the respect of the native Hawaiians?” (Hoes)

“They are naturally somewhat prejudiced against it, 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.” (Wilcox)

“You advocated annexation to the United States, I believe, several months ago, in your newspaper, ‘The Liberal?’” (Hoes)

“Yes, and I have repeatedly done so in public meetings held in this city.” (Wilcox)

“How long do you think it would be after hoisting the American flag before the natives would be entirely reconciled?” (Hoes)

“Almost immediately.” (Wilcox)

“Are you doing anything to instruct the natives so that they may have correct views in regard to these matters?” (Hoes)

“Yes; 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.” (Wilcox)

“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.” (Wilcox)

“The great thing is to keep them from being influenced by the arguments of designing men who pretend to be their friends, but who are really their enemies – men who will try and use them as tools to accomplish their own corrupt and selfish plans. We have had too much of this and it is high time to call for a halt.” (Wilcox)

“Have you confidence in the integrity and patriotic intentions of the commission that has just been sent to Washington by the Provisional Government?” (Hoes)

“It is made up of good men, and I believe they will endeavor to do what is for the best interests of the country.” (Wilcox)

“The above is correctly reported. RW Wilcox.” (Hoes; Reports of Committees of the Senate of the United States, 1893-1894)

With the establishment of Territorial status in the Islands, Hawaiʻi was eligible to have a non-voting delegate in the US House of Representatives.

Wilcox and others formed the Independent ‘Home Rule’ Party and Wilcox ran as a candidate for the Delegate position (against Republican Samuel Parker and Democrat Prince David Kawānanakoa.) Wilcox won, and served as the first delegate and representative of Hawaiʻi in the US Congress.

Then, “Washington. July 3 (1901). Delegate Wilcox, of Hawaii, announces here that at the very opening of the next session of Congress in December he will introduce a bill granting statehood to the territory of Hawaii. Mr. Wilcox says that he does not fully expect that the bill will become a law next winter, but he predicts early statehood for the territory.”

“‘Of course I realize,’ says Mr. Wilcox, ‘that this proposition will meet with opposition on the ground that we have but recently been incorporated Into a territory and that we should wait, but I shall Introduce the bill just the same and commence working upon it.’”

However, others felt, “The statehood bill that Mr. Wilcox says he is going to bring forward will result In nothing but a discussion of the political conditions In Hawaii. There is no chance whatever that during the term for which Mr. Wilcox has been elected to sit in Congress he can get a statehood bill through for the territory.” (Honolulu Republican, July 17, 1901)

Wiclox ran for re-election, but lost to Republican Prince Jonah Kūhiō Kalanianaʻole Piʻikoi (Prince Kūhiō served from 1903 until his death in 1922.)

Wilcox returned to Washington to finish out his term (November 6, 1900 to March 3, 1903,) but was very ill. He came back to Hawaiʻi in 1903, and died October 26, 1903. He is buried in the Catholic cemetery on King Street.

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August 21, 2018 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Hawaii State Constitution of 1950

“In January 1948, the Senate Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs directed Senator Cordon of Oregon to make an investigation of Hawaii’s statehood qualifications.”

“The investigation was made in January, 1948. Senator Cordon supported the recommendations of previous congressional committees and himself recommended that the United States Senate take immediate action favorable to statehood.”

“His report stated in part. ‘Any other recommendations would be inconsistent with the facts and evidence disclosed during the investigation, the desires of Hawaii’s people and the conclusions reached by the last two Congressional Investigating Committees.’”

“Additional hearings were held by the Senate SubCommittee on Interior and Insular Affairs on April 15, 1948, but no report was issued.”

“An effort was made by Senator Knowland of California, by resolution, to discharge the committee and to have the statehood issue come to the floor directly. On May 20, 1948, the Senate voted 21 to 50 against Senator Knowland’s resolution discharging the committee.”

“In anticipation of statehood, and prior to the passage of Act 334 by the 1949 territorial legislature, authorizing a constitutional convention, the Hawaii Statehood Commission in 1948 established a number of subcommittees to prepare general materials dealing with the problems involved in the drafting of a constitution.”

“These subcommittees met and submitted reports dealing with major constitutional areas, which were discussed with various groups. The Legislative Reference Bureau of the University of Hawaii prepared a number of reports in connection with the work of the subcommittees.”

“These reports, drafted by the Bureau from 1948 to early 1950, became part of a 400-page publication, which was later made available to members of the constitutional convention, entitled Manual of State Constitutional Provisions.”

“The work of the subcommittees established by the Hawaii Statehood Commission served to create a great deal of interest in the convening of a constitutional convention. It also resulted in many of the committee members seeking election as delegates to the Constitutional convention.”

“Act 334 provided for the election of 63 delegates from all of the islands which constitute the Territory of Hawaii. The delegates were to be elected at a primary and then general elections, similar to the normal political elections in Hawaii.”

“The elections were to be held throughout the islands and all qualified voters of the islands were eligible to run for office. The use of the election procedure adopted by the legislature indicated a desire to provide broad representation from the community and for opportunity for full discussion, particularly important since this was to be the first State Constitution for Hawaii.”

“The delegates first met on April 4, 1950, and the document which they agreed upon was signed on July 22, 1950. More than 110 days elapsed during the period of the deliberation of the delegates to the convention.”

“Of this period 78 days were devoted to actual working sessions, which included the debates and other formal actions leading to the formulation and adoption of the constitution.”

“The convention kept a complete verbatim transcript by means of electronic tape recordings of all of the plenary and Committee of the Whole sessions after April 9, 1950. More than 365 reels of recording tape were used. This is about 87 miles of electronic tape.”

“It was estimated by the engineers that approximately 5 million words were spoken during the floor debates, apart from those spoken in the various committee meetings. (During the 15 weeks of the convention, there were an average of some 20 to 30 committee meetings per week.)

“Only some 14,000 words, however, are to be found in the constitution and of these approximately 4,000 are in the “schedule” which describes the political districts to be used in the initial elections and for subsequent reapportionment every ten years. The constitution proper, therefore, is only about 10,000 words in length, a measure of brevity achieved by only eight other state constitutions.”

“The document signed by 62 of the 63 delegates (one delegate refrained from signing the document on the grounds that it improperly ‘constitutionalized’ the provisions of the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act of 1920) reflects the thinking of the community as expressed by the elected delegates.”

“The constitution is substantially ahead of its time (recall that it was prepared in 1950) in reducing the voting age from 21 to 20 – only one other state, the State of Georgia, then had a voting age of less than 21.”

“It includes a provision guaranteeing the right to organize for the purpose of collective bargaining, a constitutional protection which had been included in only three states prior to 1950, in New York, Missouri, and New Jersey.”

“The constitution of the State of Hawaii was signed by the delegates in a public ceremony at lolani Palace, Honolulu, on July 22, 1950. The document then went before the territorial legislature under the terms of the 1940 act which had established the constitutional convention.”

“(W)hen the legislature met in special session on September 29, 1950, it found (in joint Resolution 1) that the constitution was ‘acceptable in its entirety to the Legislature of the Territory of Hawaii,’ and proposed no changes or alternatives.”

“This joint resolution set forth the form of the plebiscite ballot on the proposed constitution, submitted to the voters at the general election of November 7, 1950. At that election, 82,788 ballots were cast in favor of adopting the proposed constitution, against 27,109 ‘no’ votes, a favorable ratio of approximately three to one.”

It was a little over eight year later, “in the wake of Alaska, Hawaii was admitted into the Union, under Public Law 3 of the 86th Congress, signed by President Eisenhower on March 18, 1959.”

“Public Law 86-3 made three relatively minor changes in the provisions of the Hawaii constitution. One was the deletion from the boundaries of the state (Article XIII, Section 1) of Palmyra, a small atoll lying some 960 nautical miles south of Honolulu.”

“Second, the article on Hawaiian Homes lands was ‘deemed to include’ a section of Public Law 86-3, which listed the provisions of the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act which could be amended only with the consent of the United States.”

“The third change was to reduce from two to one the number of Representatives in Congress to which Hawaii the state was initially to be entitled (Article XVI, Section 10), subject to increase at the next reapportionment of the House of Representatives.”

“The admission act also required that the people of Hawaii again vote on statehood. A three-question plebiscite was prescribed, each requiring an affirmative majority vote if Hawaii were to be admitted to the Union: (1) Shall Hawaii be admitted? (2) Are the state boundaries set by the act approved? (3) Are the provisions of the act with respect to the disposition of public lands in Hawaii approved?”

“The three-fold proposition was submitted to the Hawaii electorate at the primary election of June 27, 1959, at which time the people also balloted on the first state officers. Some 140,000 persons cast valid ballots on each portion of the plebiscite. In each case the result was approximately identical: a 17 to 1 vote in the affirmative.”

“On July 28, 1959, the voters of Hawaii elected their first state governor, lieutenant governor, members of the state legislature, two federal senators and a representative in Congress.”

“The results of the election were certified to the President of the United States, as required by Public Law 86-3. On August 21, 1959, President Eisenhower signed the proclamation admitting Hawaii as the 50th state of the American Union of states. Thereupon, this constitution became effective.” (Roberts, Proceedings of the Constitutional Convention of Hawaii 1950)

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