Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VIII.djvu/541

 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS 527 fered to cede the harbor of Pearl river, 6 m. from Honolulu, to the United States, as an in- ducement to grant such a treaty. As a naval station, the islands offer many advantages to any power that should eventually seek the control of the North Pacific. The commerce is at present chiefly with California; the value- of that trade from 1853 to 1873, including freights, passage money, and cargo values inward and outward, exceeded $19,750,000. The American duties on Hawaiian sugar exported amount to $225,000, and on rice and other products $75,- 000, or $300,000 annually. The imports from the United States in 1873 exceeded $1,000,000 ; they consist chiefly of manufactured goods, lumber, shooks, cured meats, breadstuffs, and groceries. Sugar is the chief export ; the amount sent to San Francisco increased from 282,000 Ibs. in 1853 to 15,500,000 Ibs. in 1872. The total export for 1873 was 23,129,101 Ibs. Coffee and cotton are subject to destructive blights. The leading exports in 1873 were : Fungus, Ibs 57,533 Hides, pcs 20,877 Pulu,lbs 412,823 Goatskins, packs.. . 66,702 Tallow, Ibs 495,000 Salt, tons 445* Sugar, Ibs Molasses, galls.. Rice, Ibs Paddy, Ibs Coffee, Ibs Wool. Ibs... 23,129,101 146,459 941,438 . 507,945 2(52,025 829,507 es 111. ^ 1840 gove total value of the exports in 1873 was ,128,055 ; of the imports for the same year, $1,349,448. The number of merchant vessels arriving was 106, with a tonnage of 62,089. The number of cargoes invoiced at above $10,- 000 was 34, of which 28 arrived in American, 3 in British, and 3 in Hawaiian vessels. The whaling fleet has fallen off from 549 visits of ships in 1859 to 63 in 1873, it having sought oth- er ports. Up to the year 1839 the islands were governed as an absolute monarchy and upon feudal principles. In that year Kamehameha III. was induced to sign a bill of rights, and in and 1842 to grant constitutions by vhich surrendered the absolute rule in favor of a vernment by the three estates of king, nobles, and people, with universal suffrage, a biennial parliament, and paid representatives. The con- stitution of 1842 and the civil and penal codes ere mainly prepared by Chief Justice William Lee, an American. Judge Lee rendered great vices to the nation, especially in confirming the common natives a third of the lands the kingdom, which were formerly owned tirely by the king and chiefs. The new stitution remained in force until the ac- ion of Kamehameha V., who abrogated it ug. 13, 18G4, and promulgated in its place a institution imposing qualifications on suffrage and on eligibility to the legislature, and cen- tralizing the government in the hands of the king. A voter must read and write, pay his taxes, and have an income of $75 a year. The executive power is the king, a privy council, of which the four governors of the larger isl- ands are members, and four responsible minis- ters. The legislative power is the king and the parliament, composed of 14 nobles (of whom 6 394 VOL. vni. 34 are whites) and 28 representatives (of whom 7 are whites). Both classes discuss and vote together. The judiciary power is a supreme court, composed of a chief justice, who is also chancellor, and at least two judges, four dis- trict courts, and police and other tribunals. For 1870 and 1871 the entire income of the government was $912,000, or $456,000 per year. The salaries called for amount to half of the income ; the king is paid $22,500 a year. Persons of foreign birth or parentage, chiefly Americans, occupy various positions under the government ; and the constitution is modelled largely after that of the United States. It guar- antees liberty of worship and of the press, free instruction, the right of assembly and of peti- tion, trial by jury, and habeas corpus. There is no army or navy ; the king has a body guard. In 1843 the Hawaiian kingdom was recognized as an independent sovereignty by France and England, and in 1844 by the United States. The Hawaiians form one of the families of the brown Polynesian race (radically distinct from the Malay, and more akin to the Papuan, ac- cording to Wallace), a race which inhabits also the Marquesas, Tonga, Society, Friendly, and Samoan groups, as well as New Zealand. Their similarity of language is so great that the Ha- waiian and the New Zealander, though sepa- rated by a distance of 5,000 m., can readily understand each other. The Hawaiian lan- guage is very pictorial and expressive, with a full vocabulary for all natural objects. Its primitive character is shown by the deficiency of abstract words and general terms ; even generic terms, like insect, color, are wanting ; at the same time it abounds in nice distinc- tions, and is exact in grammatical struc- ture. The American missionaries employed but 12 letters in reducing it to writing, A, E, I, O, U, H, K, L, M, N, P, W; and the num- ber of different sounds is not greatly larger than this. As in all Polynesian languages, every word and syllable must end in a vowel. The ratio of vowel to consonantal sounds is nearly twice as great as in Italian. The Poly- nesian ear marks the slightest distinctions of vowel sound, but is dull in distinguishing con- sonants ; & and jt>, d and, are confounded ; and in Hawaiian I is interchangeable with d, and t with Ic. The language contains no verb whatever to express either being, existence, possession, or duty. The Hawaiians are of a tawny complexion, inclining to olive, without any shade of red ; the hair is black or dark brown, glossy and wavy ; they have large eyes, a somewhat flattened nose, and full lips. They are well made and active, and of good stature ; the chiefs are often larger, and considerably exceed the average height of Europeans. Like other Polynesians, they are expert in swimming and in the use of canoes, by which their war expeditions were often carried on. They are good fishermen and horsemen, and make ser- viceable sailors in the whaling fleets. Their disposition is facile, yielding, and imitative;