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Senator GRAY. You think it was good? Am I to understand you as saying that?
Mr. ALEXANDER. Yes; I think so. He had been on several different sides; he changed sides several times in politics.
The CHAIRMAN. Is there any method of contesting the election in Hawaii for members of the Parliament or Legislature; any way provided by law?
Mr. ALEXANDER. For contesting elections?
Mr. ALEXANDER. Yes.
The CHAIRMAN. Those questions are decided by the House?
Mr. ALEXANDER. Yes.
The CHAIRMAN. By the house to which the man claims to be elected, or by both houses in conjunction?
Mr. ALEXANDER. I do not quite understand you.
The CHAIRMAN. Is the vote as to the qualification of a member, his election to a seat, taken in the house of nobles, if he claim election as a noble, or the house of representatives, if he claim election as a representative?
Mr. ALEXANDER. Both, I think; they act as one chamber.
The CHAIRMAN. Both houses vote in cases of contested elections?
Mr. ALEXANDER. Yes.
Senator CRAY. They vote separately?
Mr. ALEXANDER. No, they sit together.
The CHAIRMAN. Is the vote called separately?
Mr. ALEXANDER. Called separately for the nobles and representatives.
Senator GRAY. But they do not count separately; it is hotch-potch.
Mr. ALEXANDER. That was fixed in the constitution of 1864, and they allowed it to remain. I have verified the statement I made about the supreme court. Hon. Walter Frear was appointed judge of the first circuit of Oahu by the Wilcox-Jones ministry in December, 1892; Hon. S. B. Dole resigned his position on the bench of the supreme court on the morning of January 17, 1893, placing his resignation in the hands of Sam Parker, the then premier.
Adjourned to meet on Wednesday, the 17th instant, at 10 o'clock.
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WASHINGTON, D. C, Wednesday, January 17, 1894.
The subcommittee met pursuant to adjournment.
Present: The chairman (Senator MORGAN) and Senators GRAY, SHERMAN, and FRYE.
Absent: Senator BUTLER.
SWORN STATEMENT OF LIEUT. COMMANDER W. T. SWINBURNE.
The CHAIRMAN. What is your age and rank in the Navy?
Mr. SWINBURNE. I am 46 years of age, and am lieutenant-commander in the U. S. Navy.
The CHAIRMAN. You were attached to the ship Boston at the time of her visit to Honolulu, in 1892?
Mr. SWINBURNE. I was; I was executive officer of the Boston up to the 29th of April, 1893.
The CHAIRMAN. When did the Boston arrive in the harbor?
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Mr. SWINBURNE. I am not precise as to that date; either the 23d or 24th of August, 1892.
The CHAIRMAN. You left her there when you were detached?
Mr. SWINBURNE. Yes.
The CHAIRMAN. Had you been in Hawaii before that?
Mr. SWINBURNE. Many years before. I stopped there in 1870, when returning from a cruise in the Pacific in the Kearsarge.
The CHAIRMAN. Did you spend much time in Hawaii?
Mr. SWINBURNE. Only a week.
The CHAIRMAN. Between your visits did you discover that there was much progress made in Hawaii?
Mr. SWINBURNE. Very great progress; the town had grown enormously; in every way a great change in the place.
The CHAIRMAN. When you got back to Honolulu in 1892 what, in your opinion, was the condition of the people there as to quietude and the peaceful conduct of their industries and enterprises and associations?
Mr. SWINBURNE. Everything seemed to be perfectly quiet. The Legislature was in session, and the principal topic of conversation among the people was the prospective lottery bill. Everybody seemed to be much exercised over the lottery bill, which was a bill about to be presented to the Legislature, granting a charter to certain men to establish a lottery, or, at least, these men had the right to control all lotteries in the islands, and for that right they were to pay, my recollection is, something like $500,000 a year, and lay a cable between the United States and Honolulu. The Legislature, as I say, was in session; the Queen at that time had a ministry in power who were assumed to be favorable to the lottery scheme and some other schemes which she favored, and the majority of the citizens—when I speak of citizens I mean the white citizens or the moneyed interests of the place—opposed. The principal topic of conversation on shore was the necessity of having a responsible ministry, so that foreign capital might be attracted there. Business was very dull.
I remember one interest in particular which people were hoping might be established there—the extension of the railroad around the island of Oahu. Gen. Willey, from San Francisco, during the time I was there and some time before January, visited the island in the interest of a British syndicate. He was favorably and hopefully impressed with the whole situation, but timid on the subject of the insecure— not exactly the insecure, but the want of responsibility in the ministry. The people talked of hard times, and seemed to feel that something was necessary to attract money, to make capital come there and help them. The Legislature dragged on; one ministry was deposed; that is, a vote of want of confidence was brought in against this ministry of the Queen; another was appointed, and a vote of want of confidence was brought against them. Finally, after quite a length of time a ministry in every way favorable to business interests and to all the commercial interests of the place, known as the Wilcox-Jones ministry, was appointed by the Queen. Everybody seemed to be satisfied with it, and everything looked hopeful. In fact, my own personal opinion is that if the Wilcox-Jones ministry had remained in the Queen would have been on the throne to-day. Everybody was satisfied with the Wilcox-Jones ministry. They were opposed to the lottery bill.
The CHAIRMAN. Were they voted out?
Mr. SWINBURNE. Yes. On the 1st of January Capt. Wiltse began to talk about his target practice; we had no target practice for nine