941-943
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Senator Gray. Did you judge that that was the de facto Government upon the information that came to you that a Provisional Government had been proclaimed?
Mr. Stevens. Only in part. I judged it from the condition of the town and all the circumstances. I knew that the Provisional Government had been talked of for sixty hours, and I had it from many persons. I was living on the principal street, and they would hear it on the street and tell my daughter about it, and would come by in a carriage and tell me.
Senator Gray. Had you any knowledge of any other fact in regard to the transactions of that afternoon that bore upon the question at all, except the fact that the Provisional Government had been proclaimed?
Mr. Stevens. I knew the fact an hour and a half before. You will see how importantly this fact bears on the situation, the efforts of the Provisional Government to transfer the arms from the store, and the abortive attempt of one of Mr. Wilson's policemen to interfere, and that was all the resistance for sixty hours—--
Senator Gray. Who told you that?
Mr. Stevens. I learned it probably from twenty different sources. I heard the shot.
Senator Gray. Tell me the names of some who told you?
Mr. Stevens. I guess my own daughter told me first.
Senator Gray. Who told you afterward?
Mr. Stevens. That I could not tell, because events passing so rapidly like that, and a hundred men calling on me, it would be impossible to remember who the individual was. But there were many.
Senator Gray. Why did you not wait until the next day before you sent the note of recognition ?
Mr. Stevens. For the reason that a half century of the study of government on both continents and 13 years of diplomatic experience would have told me it was right.
Senator Gray. That was the result of your study?
Mr. Stevens. My study and experience would have told me so.
Senator Gray. And your study and experience told you that it was right to recognize that government within an hour or an hour and a half?
Mr. Stevens. I do not accept it in that form.
Senator Gray. I ask you as a matter of fact whether you did recognize it within an hour or an hour and a half?
Mr. Stevens. I do not think that material; probably within an hour and a half or two hours.
Senator Gray. Whether it is material or not, answer the question.
Mr. Stevens. I do not know the precise time by the clock.
Senator Gray. That is sufficient; you do not know the time; you can not say whether it was an hour or an hour and a half?
Mr. Stevens. It was probably inside of two hours.
Senator Gray. Were you well acquainted with Mr. Thurston?
Mr. Stevens. Pretty well acquainted with him, because he was a minister of the Government when I went to Honolulu.
Senator Gray. Are you well acquainted with W. O. Smith?
Mr. Stevens. Passably well. He lived near me, within half a mile. I never had much acquaintance with him; met him occasionally, and, as Americans, we went to the same church. In the course of a year he and his wife called at our house two or three times. Senator Gray. Did any of these gentlemen, Mr. Thurston, Mr.
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Smith—any of them connected with the committee on public safety— call upon you on Sunday?
Mr. Stevens. I have already stated that Mr. Thurston called a few minutes at my house Sunday. I would not know when a gentleman called on me whether he was on the committee of safety or not, because I would not know until I saw the list. On Sunday they had not been appointed.
Senator Gray. I say, not whom you knew were on the committee of safety, but whether any of these gentlemen whom you knew afterward were on the committee of safety.
Mr. Stevens. I have said that I think that Mr. Thurston called; stopped in five minutes, as he passed down, and I think Judge Hartwell called also. Others called of both parties during Sunday.
Senator Gray. Did Mr. Damon call?
Mr. Stevens. I do not recollect Mr. Damon calling.
Senator Gray. What sort of a person is Mr. Damon?
Mr. Stevens. He is a man of the highest respectability.
Senator Gray. What is his business?
Mr. Stevens. He is a banker. Mr. Damon is the son of an American missionary, who went there forty years ago, and whom our Government recognized officially. He became a clerk to banker Bishop, and a great friend of the natives. He is an excellent financial manager, and largely increased the value of the property of two prominent natives. When the natives get into any financial trouble, Damon is the man they go to to get them out. He is a man of the highest character.
Senator Gray. Did Mr. Damon and Mr. Thurston call on Monday?
Mr. Stevens. I have no reliable recollection in that regard. My acquaintance with Mr. Thurston grew out of the fact that he was minister of the interior for the first thirteen months of my residence in Honolulu. I knew him officially and privately, for he lived in the part of the city in which the legation is situated.
AFFIDAVIT OF JAMES F. MORGAN.
Honolulu, Oahu, ss:
My name is James F. Morgan; I am 32 years old; was born in the city of New York of American parents; came here when I was about 2 years old; was educated and have lived here since; have been in business as auctioneer and commission merchant for about six years; I took the business of E. P. Adams, with whom I had been clerk for about ten years.
I have been a member of the advisory council of the Provisional Government from its formation, January 17, 1893. I have been closely interested in Hawaiian political affairs for many years, and have carefully watched the progress of events. I believe the Hawaiian monarchy came to an end at the time when it could no longer exist; it had survived its usefulness, and with the revolutionary acts of the Queen on January 14 matters culminated, and it was impossible to longer endure such a Government.
I was not a member of the committee of public safety, nor was I present at the meetings at W. O. Smith's office on the afternoon of the 14th; but I knew what was going on. After I was requested by the committee of public safety to become a member of the advisory council, and learning that it was the intention to seek annexation to the
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United States, believing that it was the only way to secure permanent and enduring peace and good government, I met with the members of the two councils at the office of W. O. Smith, on Tuesday. Sometime between half past 2 and 3, we went to the Government building, not armed. When we arrived we found only a few people present; our forces were not there when we arrived. Mr. Cooper read the proclamation; while it was being read, armed men commenced to come in, and in a few minutes there was at least a hundred, all armed and prepared.
Mr. C. McCarthy was there and said he was waiting for 100 armed men, who were to come and defend that building; he said if they had been on hand we would have been opposed and all shot down. We afterwards secured several thousand cartridges which had been stored in the building, in a preparation for the defense against us. Shortly after reading the proclamation we went into session for the purpose of immediately assuming the functions of Government. While we were in session Parker and Cormwell came up, and pretty soon the other two ministers. Before I went away Capt. Wiltse came in with his aids. They looked about and he said that Stevens had sent them to see whether we were actually in possession of the Government building, the Treasury, archives, etc. He was shown about the building.
Before I left I heard him say that we could not be recognized till we captured the barracks and station house. Up to that time and thereafter, I never have known anything about the United States troops supporting or assisting us. If there had been any such plan or expectation I am sure I should have heard it. I knew that the troops had landed, and supposed it was for the protection of women and children; I regarded that as necessary on account of the intense excitement which existed and had existed for several days. A very little thing would have caused an explosion. Shortly after the ministers came up from the station house I went off for a lot of arms and ammunition, which I had collected for the use of the Provisional Government.
When I got back to the Government building I believe the Queen's surrender had been received, and I heard a rumor that Stevens had recognized the Provisional Government, and thought it was started by some of our people to bear on the Queen's people in the station house and barracks to cause them to surrender. At any rate, they did surrender quite early in the evening.
After the commission went to Washington we continued to carry on the Government and could have continued so without any assistance, but there were rumors of uprisings, and a great many thought that if the United States flag was raised it would at any rate prevent bloodshed. This view prevailed against considerable opposition, and, the flag having been raised, there certainly has been no bloodshed.
When Blount arrived, the council learned that he had called on President Dole almost immediately and had stated to him that he must take down the flag for he could not continue negotiations while the flag was flying. This was done on the first of April. Shortly after the provisional council called on Commissioner Blount in a body. He received us courteously, and Mr. Damon, who acted as our spokesman, said that he would willingly give him all the information in our power. Mr. Blount replied that when he wanted any information he would send for us. Damon said that he could tell a good deal about the country, whereupon Mr. Blount slapped him on the shoulder and said: "I guess you're my man," and made an appointment for two or three
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days later. I never was called upon for any information, and saw no more of Commissioner Blount.
Mr. Fred Wundenburg said to me a day or two after the revolution, after Ashley's appointment as marshal, that on Saturday, January 14, he was made a committee to get arms and men, and that he ascertained that night that he could get over 200 armed and ready. He appeared to be angry that he was not made marshal, and seemed to think that such service demanded recognition. He said he had no further use for the Provisional Government from that time on.
While the Queen was attempting her revolutionary act on the 14th I met Marshal Wilson near the station house. He was dressed in his uniform. Said he was very much opposed to what she was doing. That if she did not desist he would go and shut her up in a room by herself. He also added that she was wild and angry, and would not listen to him; whereupon I said, thinking to test his sense of sincerity, and knowing that my suggestion, if followed, would probably bring her to terms: "You go right up to the Palace and tell her that if she does not stop at once and abandon that plan about a new constitution you will resign your position as marshal; and if she won't listen to you, resign then and there." Wilson did not appear to like that, and walked off, saying: "I guess I won't do that." One of the deputies standing near me said, very significantly, "Wilson is fooling you; he does not mean anything of that kind."
Jas F. Morgan
Subscribed and sworn to before me this 5th day of December, A. D. 1893.
[SEAL.] Charles F. Peterson, Notary Public.
AFFIDAVIT OF WILLIAM R. CASTLE.
Honolulu, Oahu, ss:
My name is William R. Castle; I was born in Honolulu in March, 1849; my parents were American missionaries. My father arrived here in 1837 and still lives in Honolulu; he is the senior member of the mercantile house of Castle & Cooke. I have always resided in Honolulu, with the exception of two years spent at Oberlin College and five years in New York City, where I studied law and practiced for a short time. I returned to the Islands in 1876, at the request of King Kalakaua, as attorney-general. I have been more or less connected with Island politics ever since, though always unwillingly, as it has interfered with my business. Have been a member of the Legislature five sessions.
Until very recently I have constantly and consistently opposed annexation to the United States; I have a strong regard for the native people and have hoped that the native Government might continue, and it is only recently that I have felt compelled to change my views upon this subject. I do not think that it will ever be possible to have a government of security to person and property in Hawaii under the old forms. This conclusion has been reached very reluctantly, after closely watching political affairs since my return in 1876.
During the latter part of the legislative session of 1892 I felt certain that a climax must very soon be reached, and that some very radical change must take place in the Government, or that the monarchy must come to an end. Aside from conversation upon this subject with a
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