Kuokoa Home Rula, Volume VII, Number 21, 21 May 1909 — The Claim of Liliuokalani, Former Queen of Hawaii. [ARTICLE]

The Claim of Liliuokalani, Former Queen of Hawaii.

Hatch's Stxtement Before 'i he committee. Mr, Chairman and gentlemen, I am very glad to have the opportunity to appear before you to make a statement īn regard to the elaim of the late Queen, especiall> because I was conceinedin the provisional government whieh carried on the contest with her some, tweleve years ago. I may state that I have been a resident of the Hawaiian Itilands for thirty-one years. I was not in Honolulu at the moment of the overthrow of the throne, being in Cahfornia attendtng to some pnvate business. I returned within a few weeks after that event, and from that time to the time of the signing of the treaty of annexation ī had something to do, as an advifior and minister of President Dole, with the revolutionary government Mr. GRAHAM. Andthe former sovereigns who had to do with this land. Mr. Hatch That is what I, am gotng to explain in deuil. The first sovereign of the whole group was Kamehameha I, who reigned a little over a hundred years ago. Pnor to that date the group of islands was divided up among anumber ofpetty kings. Kamehameha I was the fir*st king to reduce these lands to his rule. He reigned as an absolute His son, Kamehameha 11, and Kamehameha 111, who inherited the throne, were asbsolute monarchs. , The title to every bit of land in the kingdom was vested in the sovereign. He could deprive anybody of their oeeupaiion or land by a simple decree. Kamehameha following the advice of lawyers, in whom he had oonfidence concluded that it wou!d be for the benefit of the kingdom to establish a constitutional monarchy, so he voluntanly promulgated a written constitution, contaming a hill al rrghts, and guaranteeing private ho2dings in /and. He also submitted to the legislatuie an aei providing for a commission to pass upon all claims to real estate. Mr. GRAHAM. Who was appeared as a grantor in those titles? Mr. HATCH" The sovereign. And a royal patent, under the great seal, confirming the act of the land commission is the starting point of all Hawaiian titles to thia day. This m<ide aelean start in about 1840. I wish to submit to you my view of the Queen's interest portion of the land m Hawaii known as the "crown Jand." I take itthat she has an equitable liie interesr in the ineome of those crown lands and has never been deprived ol that lile interest by any sort of legal procedure. She was deprived of her throne by act of war. There was a revolution, and an actual state of warfare existmg foi over t u .ree years; practically during the whoie term of Pn jidcnt

C!evehnd's admimstralion Through that st.Uo ot war eame the estabhshmeht ol the Republic ol Hawan Ihis act.on was Eorccd upon the revolutionary paity īn Honolnlu _ in consequence ol thc arLion of Prcsidrnt Clevehmd n attemptuig to rebtore llie Qut~cn to the lluoue As as thegovernmet remained a pio''ibioaal hiu\ a nniem, n \vas comparatively easy for the v Picsident of thc Umted Stat'-s u» elaim that that provisional £ovetnmfcnt h<id no nght to exit>t and that thc Queen was thc lawful whieh woulrl have defeated the whole rtvolution, I\Vl bubnulting to President Cle\eland'E> vievv ol the qucsUou, whiJi hadbeen m dibpute sinee he heeame riesident ot thc Umted Statcs, the provisional eoverameni, actmg wuh the suppott o[ the people, represented the busmess interest of Hawai,, ealleū a constitutional convention, and regLularly proclaimed the Rppubhc ol Hawaii, whieh \vas p;r.inted ieco«nition by ihe leading nations of the wc*rld That was followed b v ,the treaty, theNewland's resolutioi, aad ihe a -iu il iaibin u o( the fl aS b 7 the armed fotces of the Umted undet the command nf AdmirdfMill(>r 1 elaim that from st.irt to hni,h tlvro n * i>roceduro taken against private property, eilhei by the pmmpi- lal govein\nent or by the Umted Sl th,a w™li dtpmtMt parly, fro:n the Queen ilown, u[ uae iuta 0 f pm ,Lo rU)p . lLt . Certain people who conductcd a eonspu ac\ i nec j [, v regularly oon;tituLod inhim ils and tn cv,tim terms oL imprisonmoiil and u> the p.ivnit- n ,>[ (L -ri un (n K .- b«t thera w.is n i-v„ auy inLenUou u, dq„<U' ih-inu[ Lheii prwaL'eu.iu-5 Tl ie (.onstitutioaal nii.ia d. 1.m.11^ | rcsolution LluU ihe ciuu r n-land i,lik vas --.ul.lie piupnlN, . Theri* w. !, r,o deusiun of a eonn, li.,wc\ tTI ..n«l u-. luaiuio given lo the Uueen. It \\as meie!\ a K , Jn unn mn-i.io, without any considerauon ot lvn nneie-L Ji VM - , v , iU ' A state ut w.u wjs sull e>istmAftct the heat ot the contisL pabSud t'l,iu- w. t sa vion t j feelin R that the Queeu shuuld lv m l,>„, wme> in consequence ot having been dcp ( ived of the uieoni,. ut the crown ldiids. A romTmttee l of Lhe Senatc, }> t ,nJ< d!n Sen-i--t°r Mitchell, a repoitthat tk V nt„ Ml ; wu, unu^'aī m Hawaii, Luv nl parly, th it Quecn 'd.uuld icceive somfc conipcnsation for lnr k:,s ],n I,; ( . , lU( a,t , n the crown lands» The> hekl tLat sh ,d „ , k-., ,i 111le * bll \ had a bUuiig equudblt: ehunu Mr PUL'LON. Has the United Suites any eontiol of those lands now? Mr. Kaieil The fte simpk- title is m the Umted es sub,ect to uhe Queen' S h!e mieiest the treaty and the resolution of'annexation thc utle to all pubhc pioperty in Kawan becamc vested in the Umted States. The rerritoiy was given tlie übe and benefit of the Crown Lmds as wiell as the other government lands, to support theterntory These lands aie mostl\ under lease and produce an meome. That ineome ,s a PP hed - 0 thc su PP oit of the territorial government. Resummg the narrative of the histoi j ot the Crown lands: Thete was left a veiy krge area of land, the pubhc domam, after all claims had been met by the knd commission. As to that, the King recognizcd the w ,sdom of this proposition, whieh of course did not onginate in his own bram, but was sugg!sted to him by his le K al advisers who v/ere educated lawyers, that he held that public domain m two capacities to a eeuain extetit as heir of his grandEather that was a private mterest—and that as sowtcirrn there was a pubhc mterest whieh he represented. Now he said 'I will devide these hold,n gs; I W ill heeo as my pr , vale portion o*e-third of the domain, and two-thirds r will decd to the government as Ko\ernment That was r ,r_ actu . al dee L d and approved by act of the lerislature lhcportion whieh he ieserved as fns pnvale fstate » j do ™ ain i5 now in question. It ha 3 been considered to have acqu,red a quasi publ,c characte rj I denvTt it has ever lost ,ts charactcr as a p „v a te «e, pnvaie estale separated by deed from the puhhe domam contend S ft,llalllcd pnVate 031; aU * lhis, «h yj rts I To throw some hght upon the aue&iion whethe! th«o early Sover ej gn S had the nght uf the land Ic,te vou second volume of the Hawauan repotii, P fhe case is entitled īn ihe matter of the Estate of his *Maiesty Kamehameha IV late deceased," and was dccided bv the Hf^° U S m IS ? 4 d w,thout ch,ldren His widow, Queen Lmnia, made a elnim to a share of the" e lands as widow. fhe court hdd she was entitkd to rlnvrr m th,s aUile as v,ue of the K,n t ;. ] ,la,ni di,it tbis o-se ~ !i "r K r conhrmatlon of n>y Posttion—tliat this is pn vate land Nu court would bold that a widow o[ a Kmwas entitled tp dowcr in pubhc lands. The court on to give a history ol thesc lands, -d-v r - .. up to the Lime of ihe decease ol } . ~ , w. t hout qucstion the powe, ot s Ul,„u kmds l e ind moitgaging them c X acLl } as they Ihe eoi ' a g.ves the reason wny the Km K 0 f lliaL day d s t! "'i, arate h„ pnvate interests hom h„ p„bl, c intercstl thft to pr ? vent the poss,b,ht y ol I,„louure ,n 2,7 ] international comphcat,ons. Ai th,u tl,nu il, t huli l' n, °* waß ha vmg;troubJe wiLh tln 7 h'ieieh CWih ment. rhe £rench GqvenimenL n» t do el.um jp unm ihō Lmgdom of Hawan based, oii tl»o fa U tli.it a P K,h,bition law had becn enacled prohib,t,i,g thr impo,taUo,i a 5 Lid w dei)HHistialions, look poi' ■ , ' ii wa.s feia;d fuilh(T acis o| u i ,| mi( ū. ''! '' 1 will ir ad froiu ihe deci,,on aL Uk ' pLICO "