Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 10, Number 4, 1 April 1993 — State mulls whether to rename building in honor of Lili'uokalani supporter President Grover Cleveland [ARTICLE]

State mulls whether to rename building in honor of Lili'uokalani supporter President Grover Cleveland

Should a state government building in Hawai'i be renamed in honor of U.S. President Grover Cleveland? A state govemment task force is now seeking public input on the controversial question of whether to rename a public building after Cleveland, who strongly supported the sovereign rule of Queen Lili'uokalani and called its overthrow by foreign and U.S. business interests with U.S. military backing "an act of war." The task force is considering renaming the building that currently houses the Department of the Attorney General, at 425

Queen St. at Punchbowl. Presently known as Hale Auhau, this name comes from its former function as the government tax office. From the grassy mall beside the building, there is a clear view of 'Iolani Palaee. It is believed that the U.S. Marines that supported the overthrow onee camped on the Hale Auhau lawn. The move to rename a major state facility after President Cleveland originated with a reso-

lution adopted in 1991 by the Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs at its annual convention. The state House followed suit by adopting a resolution to honor the former president and asked that a task force to study the renaming question be appointed by the governor. Members of the Grover Cleveland Commemoration Task Force are: Hoaliku Drake, chairwoman, Department of Hawaiian Home Lands; Clayton Hee, chairman, Office of Hawaiian Affairs; John Dominis Holt; Rex Johnson, director, Department of Transportation; Jalna Keala, past

president, Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs; Keith Ahue, newly-appointed chairman, Department of Land and Natural Resources; and Robert Takushi, comptroller, Department of Accounting and General Services. Task force staff are: Joyce Omine, DOT, Lloyd Unebasami, DAGS, and Donna Hanaike, DLNR. Resource advisors to the task force are: Pat Brandt, Governor's Office of State

Planning; Emmett Cahill; Robert Kamins; Jean King and Craig Tasaka, Office of State Planning State Board on Geographic Names. Keala said it is appropriate to rename Hale Auhau because it is no longer a tax building. More importantly, it would be "poetic justice" to recognize, a century later, the man who fought against the annexation movement in the United States, only to have his efforts defeated in the next presidential election by William McKinley. It was McKinley's administration that annexed Hawai'i to the United States.

Cleveland is relatively unknown by the general public as a prominent figure in Hawaiian history. It was Cleveland who sent the Hon. James H. Blount, a member of the U.S. House of Representatives for 18 years and chair of the House committee on foreign affairs, to Honolulu after the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy took plaee in 1893. After arriving in Honolulu and assessing the situation, Blount reported to Cleveland that the

provisional government existed without popular revolution or suffrage. Despite Cleveland's condemnation of the "Committee of Safety," pro-annexation factions within the U.S. government delayed his efforts to correct the situation until it was too late. Cleveland was succeeded by McKinley as president after losing the 1896 election, and McKinley's administration was able to annex Hawai'i by circumventing established procedures required for annexation.

The task force is seeking comments from the Hawaiian community. They will be meeting at the end of the month and hope to make a recommendation soon to Gov. Waihe'e. Interested persons are asked to send written comments to: Grover Cleveland Commemoration Task Force, care of Office of Hawaiian Affairs, 711 Kapi'olani Blvd., Suite 500, Honolulu, Hawai'i 96813.