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Senator Gray. Is there the same antipathy between the white race and the Hawaiian in Hawaii as between the white and the negro in this country?
Mr. Emerson. I think not. The Hawaiian is to be amalgamated and a new race is to be formed there.
Senator Sherman. Some of the royal family married Englishmen— some of the highest families of Hawaii.
Mr. Emerson. Yes. Queen Emma's father was an Englishman, married to a native princess. Bernice Pauahi married Mr. Bishop, a banker. Likelike, who is dead, married Mr. Cleghorn. Mr. Dominis married the present Queen.
Senator Sherman. He was an Englishman?
Mr. Emerson. I do not know.
Senator Sherman. He was not an Hawaiian?
Mr. Emerson. No; he was a foreigner. There is a little too much mingling between the natives and the foreigners.
Senator Frye. Did not our secretary of legation marry a native?
Mr. Emerson. You mean the secretary of legation, Hastings? No; he married a pure white.
The Chairman. Then, I understand you, it is the belief or expectation that the population in Hawaii will change, so that the Kanaka will disappear ultimately and there will be an intermingling of the native element there of the various nationalities that come from other countries.
Mr. Emerson. Yes; he will disappear, and will take on a little different personality.
The Chairman. Disappear from the pure native?
Mr. Emerson. I think it will ultimately work that way. Of course, for many years to come there will be pure-blooded natives.
The Chairman. I will ask if it is your opinion that the native population of Hawaii, the Kanakas, in view of the facts you have stated, are liable to become so powerful in government as to be able to control the other nationalities that have come into those islands, or have they lost the power to rule them?
Mr. Emerson. I consider that they have lost that control already, and in my opinion they can never regain it.
The Chairman. From your acquaintance with the white element there, European or American, is there a disposition on the part of the white man to sustain whatever is good and virtuous in the native character, or is there a disposition to trample it under foot—crush it out?
Mr. Emerson. There are two classes out there quite distinctly marked. My plea is for the native Hawaiian; we must see to it that he get out of the hands of the man who would make gain of him and use him as his cat's-paw, and let him be governed by those who will work for his best interests, and help him to be all the man he can become.
The Chairman. Suppose such a thing as a Kanakan government, beginning with the Queen and going through all the different offices of the monarchy, where the right of voting would be confined to the natives, and where the right to make laws and execute them would be with them, do you believe that that native population has a political strength and power sufficient to enable it to control those islands under those conditions?
Mr. Emerson. No. There are certainly 36,000 Asiatics that they could not control—36,000 adult male Asiatics. Ten thousand Hawaiians could not control them.
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The Chairman. Would they be received kindly by the white population in the islands?
Mr. Emerson. No, because of the fact that the natives themselves are in two camps, so to speak. There is an element there, making for righteousness and an element making for heathenism.
The Chairman. Is the latter spreading?
Mr. Emerson. Spreading? It is like an ulcer eating right into the vitals. And the court was the center of that influence.
The Chairman. The influence that tends to depravity?
Mr. Emerson. That tends to depravity. Not only Kalakaua with his opium franchises, but the Queen herself with her opium bill. And the best natives in the Legislature felt that she was willing to sell the lives of her people.
Senator Gray. Do you think there are two elements among the white people?
Mr. Emerson. Yes.
Senator Gray. One bends toward gain and the other is for virtue?
Mr. Emerson. Yes.
The Chairman. Which is the better element?
Mr. Emerson. I believe the element that makes for righteousness is represented by the Provisional Government; although I will say that every government gathers around it people who are worthy and some who are not worthy. But I believe the most worthy elements are there. I will say this: I can take up my annual report and read names, and you will hardly find a name on that list that has contributed to the missionary work----
The Chairman. You are speaking of the religious part of the subject?
Mr. Emerson. That indirectly shows the character of the man.
The Chairman. I am not speaking of that; I am speaking more particularly of the political aspect of the question. My questions are directed to that proposition. I understand that much the larger portion of the wealth of Hawaii is owned by white men, Europeans, Americans, and natives who are white, and that that class of people, if I understand you correctly, is in favor of making the Kanakas, the native population, all that can be made of them by moral, religious, and educational training?
Mr. Emerson. I think I can give you an instance. W. O. Smith is the attorney-general, one of the leading men in the Government. His brother has given $12,000 to establish a girl's school—impoverished himself—and his only sister is chief of that school. They had to dismiss the principal. They are giving their lives to the Hawaiians.
The Chairman. There were five Kamehamehas, representing in succession the political government of Hawaii.
Mr. Emerson. There was one, Lunalilo, who was connected with the Kamehameha dynasty. He makes the sixth.
The Chairman. There were five Kamehamehas and Lunalilo, who was of the royal descent?
Mr. Emerson. Not direct royal descent, but collateral.
The Chairman. From another family, and they constitute the six succeeding monarchs in Hawaii?
Mr. Emerson. Yes. And Kalakaua was the last.
The Chairman. And with Lunalilo expired the royal blood?
Mr. Emerson. Yes. And one remains, who is a drunkard, Kumerankea. He can never come to the throne.
The Chairman. During the reign of the Kamehamehas, commencing
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