Speeches of His Majesty Kamehameha IV. To the Hawaiian Legislature Part 6

In welcoming you as the Representative of the United States, allow me to say, Mr. Borden, that I antic.i.p.ate nothing but the most satisfactory intercourse between you and my Government.

The country from which you are accredited has afforded too many tokens of good will, and manifested too lively an interest in all that concerns this archipelago, and that for too long a succession of years, to leave any question possible as to its future policy.

So long as such feelings exist on your side, and we retain grat.i.tude enough to remember with acknowledgments the benefits we have already received from the Government and people of the United States, and can appreciate the advantages continually derived from the friendship and countenance of such a nation, there is little chance that the harmony now happily existing will be disturbed. I thank you for the kind terms in which you have alluded to the birth of the Prince, my son--an event which has filled me with the greatest pleasure and gives rise to many hopeful antic.i.p.ations.

MAY 29, 1858.

_Published by Authority in the_ =Polynesian=, _May 29, 1858._

ROYAL LETTERS PATENT.

Know all men that we, Kamehameha, by the Grace of G.o.d, of the Hawaiian Islands King, by virtue of the power and authority in us vested as Sovereign of these realms, and in accordance with Article x.x.xVII, of the Const.i.tution of our Kingdom, have decreed, and do, by these our Royal Letters Patent, const.i.tute, establish and declare the following to be the style and t.i.tle of our infant Son, born on the twentieth day of May, instant, the Hereditary Heir Apparent of Our Throne, viz:

"HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS THE PRINCE OF HAWAII."

He, Our said infant son, from now and henceforth to a.s.sume, and to receive the aforesaid style and t.i.tle for himself, and, in the event of his succeeding Us in the Throne, and having male issue of his body lawfully begotten, then, the said style and t.i.tle shall descend to, and be the style and t.i.tle of his first-born son, as being the nearest hereditary and Const.i.tutional Heir to the Throne of the Hawaiian Islands.

Done at the Palace, in Honolulu, this twentieth day of May, A. D. 1858, and in the 4th year of Our Reign.

(Signed,) KAMEHAMEHA.

JUNE 11, 1858.

_His Majesty's Speech at the Opening of the Session of the Hawaiian Legislature of 1858._

n.o.bLES AND REPRESENTATIVES:--Since the Legislature was last in session, it has pleased Almighty G.o.d to bless me with a son. The birth of an Heir to the Throne is an event which you, now congregated to pa.s.s measures, not for the temporary only, but for the permanent prosperity of the Hawaiian Islands, under a Const.i.tutional Monarchy, cannot but regard with solemn interest. Not only the continuance of his life, but the characteristics which the Prince may develop as he grows to manhood, and the education to be imparted to him, are matters in no small degree inseparable from the future of our country's history--from that distant part of it in which I, and many, if not all of you, will take no share. Gentlemen, the child is yours as well as mine; the circ.u.mstances that attend his birth deprive me of an undivided interest in him, for if such be the will of Divine Providence, he will one day be to your sons what I am to their fathers. Destined as he is to exercise a paramount influence in years to come, I consecrate him to my people, and with G.o.d's help, I will leave unused no faculty with which I am indued to make him worthy of your love and loyalty, and an ornament to the Throne of his great Predecessor who only did battle to establish peace and lay the foundations of order.

I have called you together according to the requirements of the Const.i.tution. Having thus fulfilled the duty imposed upon me, I would suggest to you, n.o.bles and Representatives, the propriety, under existing circ.u.mstances, of confining the business of the present session to providing, by a Joint Resolution, or otherwise, for the financial necessities of the Government, and appointing a Joint Committee to report after an adjournment and as soon as practicable, to their respective Houses, upon the New Code, or such portions of it as may be ready for presentation by the Commission appointed by the Legislature of 1856 to prepare it.

The reasons for such a course will appear in the fact that the Commissioners selected to revise, codify and amend the laws now in force, partly on account of the ill health of one of the members, now deceased, and partly from the laborious nature of the task imposed upon persons whose time was already occupied by the duties of office, have been unable to perfect their work within the time, which before the undertaking was commenced, was deemed sufficient. The Joint Committee could only receive and proceed to review such portions of the Revision as are already prepared, and receive more as the Commissioners progressed. By means of a little inquiry, the time when their report upon the whole would probably be forthcoming might be ascertained, when the two Houses could meet again to review the Report and proceed with the general business of the country.

The suggestion I have made demands further consideration from the fact that a new Treaty, negotiated between me and the Emperor of the French, has lately been returned from Paris, accompanied by the formal ratification of the Emperor. It now awaits a similar concurrence, on my part, to render it effective. In accordance with the provision of our Const.i.tution, this Treaty is now under consideration by me, in my Privy Council of State. The provisional Act, therefore, which a former Legislature pa.s.sed, will become operative or otherwise, according to the result of those deliberations I refer to, and until that result becomes known the Minister of Finance cannot make to you a satisfactory showing of the probable receipts of the Government for this and the next fiscal year; and without such data to go by you will hardly be able to dispose of the strictly financial business of the country.

So, too, in regard to the Civil Acts, the pa.s.sage of which draws so largely upon the time of your two Houses. It would be nothing less than a waste of labor to alter, by separate enactments, those laws which the Revised Code will amend, or to sanction new provisions, in that Compendium already provided for, and which temporary enactments would, therefore, become valueless almost as soon as they should have been promulgated.

Believing, gentlemen, that you will coincide with me in seeing the necessity for a speedy adjournment, after having made the provisions I have pointed out, I forbear to call your attention to the general business and details to which I should otherwise direct your notice.

MARCH 31, 1859.

_Special Message of His Majesty sent to the Legislature of 1859._

n.o.bLES AND REPRESENTATIVES:--I deem it my duty, as Chief Magistrate of the Kingdom, to submit to the Legislature certain points in regard to which the organic law seems to require revision.

Experience has conclusively shown that the Const.i.tution of 1852 does not, in many important respects, meet the expectations of its framers, or of my Predecessor, by whom it was voluntarily conceded.

It is the part of wisdom to derive lessons from experience, and to regulate our future policy in conformity with its suggestions.

The 105th Article of the Const.i.tution prescribes the ordinary mode of amendment. Without reference to a different manner of revision, clearly founded on the inherent rights of the different Estates of my Kingdom, I am, at this time, content to appeal to the Legislature for such action as will provide an adequate remedy for all existing difficulties.

I am satisfied that it would result in great public advantage to allow to my Executive Ministers the privilege of election to the House of Representatives, except when const.i.tuted Members of the House of n.o.bles by Royal Patent. It would also, in my opinion, be politic to permit additions to be made to the House of n.o.bles for a term of years as well as for life.

These changes are earnestly recommended and urged upon your favorable consideration.

I further recommend that the House of Representatives be limited, as to its members, to a number not exceeding twenty; and that a suitable property qualification for eligibility be established. The compensation of such members ought also to be definitely fixed for the entire period of their service, so as to avoid all inducements to protracted sessions beyond the requirement of the public good.

Relying on your wisdom and patriotic disposition, I place these suggestions before you, in the full confidence that they cannot fail to meet your sanction. I entertain no doubt that if the Const.i.tution should be amended in conformity thereto, a beneficial reform of the Legislative Department would be effected, and the general advantage of my Kingdom thereby greatly promoted.

KAMEHAMEHA.

MAY 4, 1859.

_His Majesty's Speech Proroguing the Legislature of 1859._

n.o.bLES AND REPRESENTATIVES:--I congratulate you upon having concluded the labors of a Session protracted beyond my expectation, and, I imagine, that of the country at large. I trust that after all the attention which has been expended on the revised Civil Code, the result will prove a compilation sound in its principles and convenient in its arrangement. If it have no other effect than to encourage a decrease of litigation, by exposing in its proper place the law applicable to every civil regulation which legislation makes the frame-work of our national system, your time, and the expenses of the session, will not have been consumed in vain.

I have heard with satisfaction that the amendments of the Const.i.tution which I suggested and laid open to your consideration, have been acted upon, and I do not doubt that the next session will see them confirmed and made effective. I think they will initiate a more wholesome system of legislation, prevent unnecessary delays and expenses, and place the Executive Government in a position better calculated for giving explanations and receiving instructions from that House which originates every fiscal measure.

I thank you, Representatives, for the provision you have made for myself and those nearest to me; and, while alluding to the Bill of Appropriations, I cheerfully notice the fact, that in making distribution of the revenue, you have, for the first time, proposed for the country a system of expenditure strictly proportioned to the estimated receipts.

I confess that the act of your two Houses which I regard with most complacency, is that in which you commit the public Treasury to the aid of Hospitals. You, Representatives, amongst whose const.i.tuents are those very persons for whom these places of refuge are princ.i.p.ally designed, have expressed a kind and grateful feeling for the personal share which I and the Queen have taken in the labor of securing the necessary means for the establishment of a Hospital in Honolulu. Whilst acknowledging your courtesy, I wish to take this first public occasion to express the almost unspeakable satisfaction with which I have found my efforts successful beyond my hopes. It is due to the subscribers as a body, that I should bear witness to the readiness, not less than the liberality, with which they have met my advances. When you return to your several places, let the fact be made known, that in Honolulu the sick man has a friend in everybody. Nor do I believe that He who made us all, and to whose keeping I commend in now dismissing you, has seen with indifference how the claims of a common humanity have drawn together, in the subscription list, names representative of almost every race of men under the sun.

MAY 20, 1859.

_Replies by His Majesty to the Felicitations of the Commissioners of France and of the United States, and to the Captain of the Honolulu Rifle Corps, on behalf of its Members, on the first Anniversary of the Birth of H. R. H. the Prince of Hawaii._

GENTLEMEN:--I receive with unfeigned satisfaction the congratulations which you offer on this the first anniversary of the birth of the Heir to the Throne. As the Representatives of nations so pre-eminently called upon, by virtue of their physical and intellectual resources, to watch and foster the progress of the human race at large, I rejoice in those aspirations with which you have connected the future career of my infant son. To you, gentlemen, and to the Governments of which you are the honored organs, the best thanks of the Father and Mother of the Prince of Hawaii are cordially tendered.

GENTLEMEN OF THE HONOLULU RIFLES:--For the loyal and generous expressions your Captain has offered in your behalf I thank you in the name of the Prince of Hawaii, who doubtless will one day hear in what manner your good wishes were made known on this occasion. For in families it is not uncommon for certain incidents and expressions to become traditional, and I know that neither I nor the Queen can ever cease to cherish the remembrance of the many tokens of good will and sympathy this day manifested, or fail to tell our Son in time to come how the anniversary of his first birth-day was welcomed by the "Honolulu Rifles."