932-933
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about all they did. The courts went right on, stopping only a few days in the excitement.
The Chairman. Have you heard of any effort on the part of the Provisional Government or the Queen's Government, or the followers of the Queen or her cabinet, to deny the power and authority of the supreme court of Hawaii since the revolution?
Mr. Stevens. No.
The Chairman. Or any change in it?
Mr. Stevens. I have not. I know the constitution which it was intended to proclaim was intended to change the supreme court. I learned that when we had the conversation with Kalakaua before, and from other sources in the later case.
The Chairman. To hold for six years.
Mr. Stevens. And a final appeal from their judgment to the Queen.
The Chairman. I understand you to say, as a matter of fact, that since the Provisional Government was instituted there has been no one who has made any question of the authority of the supreme court and its power to go on and administer justice?
Mr. Stevens. I am not aware of anybody. There may be some lawyer.
The Chairman. The number of judges was reduced from five to three by an act of the Legislature ?
Mr. Stevens. Yes.
The Chairman. So that as their terms expired there would be no reappointment until below the number of three?
Mr. Stevens. Yes; as one died they were able to reduce to three quite promptly.
The Chairman. Who took Judge Dole's place?
Mr. Stevens. Judge Frear.
The Chairman. Who appointed him?
Mr. Stevens. He was appointed since the Provisional Government was established. Mr. Dole resigned to take the place of President of the Provisional Government, and they filled his place by the appointment of Judge Frear.
Senator Frye. In the testimony of Mr. Sam Parker, pages 439 and 440, or in an interview with him, he produced a statement signed by A.B. Peterson, in which Mr. Peterson says: "On Sunday evening, January 15, at half past 7 o'clock, Samuel Parker, Her Majesty's minister of foreign affairs, and myself as attorney-general, called upon J. L. Stevens, American minister, at his residence, to talk over the situation." Did they call?
Mr. Stevens. They called Sunday evening. They did all the talking.
Senator Frye. He says, "Mr. Stevens stated that he desired to protect the Government and advised Her Majesty's Government not to resign, but said, in answer to a direct question put to him by me, that in case the Government called upon him for assistance he did not see how he could assist them as long as C. R. Wilson remained marshal of the Kingdom, terming Mr. Wilson a scoundrel."
Mr. Stevens. That is not true. I think there was some conversation that they made as to the embarrassment that Wilson was making as to the Queen's rule, because some of the Queen's supporters were as anxious to get rid of Mr. Wilson as were her opponents.
Senator Gray. Did you say that Wilson was a scoundrel?
Mr. Stevens. I do not remember that I did.
Senator Frye. Did you give them as the cause of your opposition to Wilson that he had caused the arrest of your Chinese coachman?
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Mr. Stevens. No. Let me tell the truth about that Chinese story. I had three Chinese servants. The man who drove my carriage was a Chinaman, as you have to have all the servants of one nationality. This coachman was a faithful fellow. His friends had lost money by lottery gambling, which Wilson allowed to go on, and he complained without my knowledge, and Wilson's police arrested him for having in his possession a knife which cost 15 cents. All I did was to telephone to the police station. I never had any conversation with Wilson, and he was never in my house. I telephoned to the police station to send back my servant and send back the money which they had taken from him when they arrested him, which was promptly done.
Senator Frye. Peterson says he and Parker called on you again on Tuesday, January 17.
Mr. Stevens. That was in the afternoon.
Senator Frye. And that you promised that if a proclamation declaring a provisional government was issued, you, on behalf of your Government, would immediately recognize it and support it with the United States forces at your command.
Mr. Stevens. That is pure fiction. That is the afternoon I was sick upon the couch.
Senator Frye. He says that he asked you what action you would take if he called upon you for assistance, and that you said that in that case you could not come to the assistance of the Government; that he then asked what your action would be if they replaced the Government, and you replied that in that case you would interfere with the forces at your command.
Mr. Stevens. That is all fiction. His argument was that I could legally and properly use the force to sustain the Queen. I replied that the troops were landed for a pacific purpose, and could not interfere. Nothing was said about the other side. They did not have the impudence to ask me that, because they were courteous in their manner.
Senator Gray. Do you know Mr. Waterhouse?
Mr. Stevens. Mr. Henry Waterhouse? There are several Waterhouses.
Senator Gray. The one who is a member of the Provisional Government.
Mr. Stevens. That is Henry Waterhouse.
Senator Gray. He lived near you?
Mr. Stevens. Near me.
Senator Gray. Did you see him after you came ashore from the Boston on Monday?
Mr. Stevens. I do not recollect that I did.
Senator Gray. At any time that Saturday, Monday, or Tuesday?
Mr. Stevens. I have no remembrance; but if you want me to be more specific as to Mr. Waterhouse I would say in this way, not officially. It is rarely that we ever talked about politics at all. He was a gentleman who would not embarrass me, and he knew how cautious I was. He never conversed with me at all about the formation of the Provisional Government, and the first news that I had that any meeting was held in his house, the first hint, I found in Mr. Blount's report. Henry Waterhouse was a man of character; he respected me, and would not insult me by any such proposition as aiding the overthrow of the Queen.
Senator Gray. Did you ever during those four days, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday, see at your house or elsewhere any of these gentlemen who were in the committee of safety, or were afterward in the Provisional Government?
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