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Mr. Ludlow. Yes; when called upon.
The Chairman. Very good. When you go ashore do you take your flag?
Mr. Ludlow. Yes.
The Chairman. For what purpose?
Mr. Ludlow. As an insignia of who we are.
The Chairman. As an emblem of authority?
Mr. Ludlow. Yes.
The Chairman. Is there any difference between holding it on a pole in your hand, or hoisting it at a post?
Mr. Ludlow. Yes; there is a difference.
The Chairman. What is the difference?
Mr. Ludlow. The difference in this case is that there was no post established where that flag was.
The Chairman. Where was it?
Mr. Ludlow. Over the Government building.
The Chairman. But the Hawaiian flag was with our flag?
Mr. Ludlow. No; the American flag was not hoisted until the Hawaiian flag was hauled down.
The Chairman. In that particular your testimony is different from that of other witnesses who have appeared here.
Mr. Ludlow. There was but one flag flying there. It was visible from the harbor. It was flying from the cupola-the steeple.
The Chairman. Was there a Hawaiian flag displayed about the Government building at the time the United States flag was there?
Mr. Ludlow. I did not see any.
The Chairman. Are you certain it was not so? A number of witnesses have testified it was so.
Mr. Ludlow. Then they had it hidden somewhere. It was not in a prominent place-that is, a prominent place, similar to the flag that is flying over the Senate wing of the Capitol.
The Chairman. Can you tell how many flags are flying on this Capitol now?
Mr. Ludlow. I suppose there are two.
The Chairman. Suppose you were told that there were four, would you not be surprised?
Mr. Ludlow. Two are all that I have noticed.
The Chairman. There are four, and you have noticed only two. When you were there in the Hawaiian Islands did you make the acquaintance, socially, of Mr. Wilson, the commander in chief of the police?
Mr. Ludlow. Mr. Wilson is out of office. I do not think I ever saw him.
The Chairman. You did not have any conversation with him about the state of affairs in Hawaii?
Mr. Ludlow. No. That was all in the hands of the United States diplomatic agents on shore. We had nothing whatever to do with that; we had to mind our own business.
Senator Frye. I desire to call attention to a very important communication from Mr. S.M. Castle, whom we all know as one of the best men in the Hawaiian Islands. It gives a brief history of the French and English attempts to take possession of those islands, and of the English hoisting a flag and its being lowered again. It is a very interesting document, and I think it ought to be incorporated in our record.
The Chairman. That order will be made.
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The document is as follows:
MEMORANDA AND REMINISCENCES OF INCIDENTS IN HAWAIIAN HISTORY, BY S.N. CASTLE.
As some of the incidents which I may mention are entirely personal, and the inquiry will naturally arise as to their credibility, it will not be thought egotistical or indelicate for me to speak first of myself, so that any person reading these memoranda can judge of their credibility. My circumstances have been favorable both for hearing and seeing and for acquiring information generally upon matters spoken of. In July, 1836, I received the appointment of secular or financial agent of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions for these islands. Sailing from Boston December, 1830, and arriving April 9, 1837, I was identified with the mission, whose temporal necessities I came to provide for, of course, and the nature of my work also identified me at once with the business community.
For fourteen years I was devoted solely to the work of my agency. At the end of this time, at the suggestion and by the wish of the American board, Mr. Cooke, my assistant in the agency, and myself established the mercantile house of Castle & Cooke, which has now been in operation for thirty-two years. I continued to act as agent for thirty-two years from the date of my appointment. Thus I have been identified with this business community for forty-six years. I think there are none remaining but myself of those who were prominent in business. One house remains, but with no original partner. I have been honored by my fellow residents with various honorary positions, as president of the Chamber of Commerce, etc., and also in other than business relations in the political, religious, and other organizations. The institutions of the country when I came here were in a formative state, and as I came in a responsible and fiduciary character it was natural that I should be sometimes consulted and my counsel sought in matters in which I was supposed to be more fully informed than those who, from their circumstances, had not had so good opportunities of information as I have enjoyed.
I was invited to honorable positions in the Government service which I declined, but did not hesitate to give my opinion when it was sought upon political, religious, or civil topics, and thus I became acquainted with many things of which I should have known nothing in other circumstances. My position as a privy counselor and noble has added to my opportunities of learning the political status of the country.
In forming my opinion of the purposes of France and Great Britain respecting these islands in the past, I have been influenced by the tendency of events as well as utterances, either oral or written, of both France and Great Britain for the last forty years. They have been particularly active in extending their colonial system among the islands of the Pacific, and their dealings with these islands as well as some utterances, have looked to the same result; while the relations of the United States have seemed to be more those of a guardian for its ward, though not unmingled with interest, for the great body of its commerce has always been American. But, aside from this, citizens of the United States have spent millions of money as well as years of weary labor in Christianizing and civilizing the people; in giving them a written language, and books, and schools, and churches, and laws, as well as a civil polity, in making them what they are; and her military and naval
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