876-877
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- So far from plotting revolution, the people who are today supporting the Government of Hawaii, and who aided in its establishment, were to a man, as I believe, opposed to the attempts at revolution which were under several discussions in the early part of the year 1892, and for which attempts the arrests for treason were made spring before last.
- For even defending those treason cases in court I found myself the subject of harsh criticism from many persons who are now staunch Government men and annexationists.
- Messrs. Blount and Nordhoff have fallen into the absurd but grave error for which Dr. Trousseau and Mr. Charles T. Gulick have made themselves responsible, of supposing that Mr. Stevens and his friends were trying to bring about the revolutionary results, for attempting which Robert Wilcox, V. V. Ashford, and some 16 other Hawaiians were examined before a judge on a charge of treason.
- Dr. Trousseau's suggestion to Blount that the ex-Queen propose a cession of Hawaii to Grover Cleveland and then abdicate, and that "all of us will assist," such result shows his view of the situation apart from his "point of view,"
- Alfred S. Hartwell
Adjourned to meet to-morrow, the 20th instant, at 10 o'clock a. m.
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Washington, D. C, Saturday, January 20, 1894.
The sub-committee met pursuant to adjournment.
Present: The Chairman (Senator Morgan) and Senators Butler, Gray, Sherman and {{sc|Frye}, and Davis of the full committee.
SWORN STATEMENT OF JOHN A. McCANDLESS.
The Chairman. What is your age?
Mr. McCandless. I am 40 years of age.
The Chairman. What is your occupation?
Mr. McCandless. In the Hawaiian Islands, an artesian-well driller.
The Chairman. What is the place of your nativity?
Mr. McCandless. Pennsylvania.
The Chairman. Are you of American parentage?
Mr. McCandless. Yes.
The Chairman. When did you go to Hawaii?
Mr. McCandless. I went to Hawaii in 1881.
The Chairman. Did you go there to experiment in the boring of artesian wells?
Mr. McCandless. No; at that time it had passed that state, and the fact had been proven that they could get an artesian well. They had half a dozen at the time I arrived there.
The Chairman. To what part of the Islands did you go?
Mr. McCandless. Except seven months I have been on the island of Oahu all the time.
The Chairman. Did you get wells there?
Mr. McCandless. Yes.
The Chairman. Did you get water enough from the wells for sugar planting?
Mr. McCandless. Yes. On the island of Oahu they get water from artesian wells as well as from the mountain streams.
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The Chairman. Are there large plantations on the island?
Mr. McCandless. Yes. In 1890 one plantation had a capitalization of half a million, and they ran in debt another half a million before they got started.
The Chairman. How many hands does that sugar plantation employ?
Mr. McCandless. 600. On the island of Kauai we get artesian wells, but the water does not rise over 6 feet above the sea level. In most cases they have to pump the water.
The Chairman. Can not siphons be run out?
Mr. McCandless. No.
The Chairman. Do you bore in the flats?
Mr. McCandless. Yes; the flats near the sea level.
The Chairman. Is the geological construction of the islands of such a character as would warrant, in your opinion, the belief that that is going to be a valuable source of water supply in the Hawaiian Islands?
Mr. McCandless. There is now invested in artesian wells in the Hawaiian Islands about a half million dollars. We have ourselves done $100,000 worth of the work, and it is quite an industry.
The Chairman. It is on the windward that they have the wells?
Mr. McCandless. On both sides of the island of Oahu. The artesian-water belt extends all around the island of Oahu, with a few exceptions, where we were unable to get water.
The Chairman. Do you find the water in pockets or in the stone?
Mr. McCandless. We find it in the lava formation of the islands.
The Chairman. You drive the well down until you find the percolation of the water of sufficient strength to force an overflow?
Mr. McCandless. It is in the decomposed lava and the washing of centuries, which make a packing to keep it in, and of course we go to the open rock and get the water.
The Chairman. Do you look forward to the artesian system as one that is going to be valuable to that country?
Mr. McCandless. Yes.
The Chairman. Your labors in Hawaii, I suppose, have carried you amongst the people in the country?
Mr. McCandless. Yes.
The Chairman. Have you familiarized yourself with the character and condition of the people of Hawaii?
Mr. McCandless. Yes; our business has taken us all around the island of Oahu.
The Chairman. Have you had occasion to visit other islands also?
Mr. McCandless. The first well we drilled in the Kingdom was on the island of Hawaii. We were there seven months. That was a complete failure. Outside of that I have not been off the island of Oahu.
The Chairman. I will ask you now to state briefly what you found to be the condition of those people as to the comfort of living at their abodes.
Mr. McCandless. They lived in the country there just about as the poor do in any country that I have ever been in, except, perhaps, they are more indolent than the poor of our country.
The Chairman. Does nature furnish a larger supply of food to the natives of the Hawaiian Islands than it does to the natives of most countries, to relieve them of the necessity for labor?
Mr. McCandless. Yes; it does in this way: The taro patch (that is the food there)—I judge an acre of taro land, perhaps a half acre— will keep a large family in food the year round. That is in addition to the fish they catch.
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