972-973
| Previous Page | Next Page |
|
where all four of the ministers were present, and they showed us the original document signed by Liliuokalani and the ministers.
The Chairman. The four ministers of whom?
Mr. McCandless. The ministers of Liliuokalani.
The Chairman. Was that proclamation scattered around the city?
Mr. McCandless. Yes; broadcast.
The Chairman. Printed?
Mr. McCandless. Yes.
The Chairman. It was by authority, then?
Mr. McCandless. Yes; by authority.
The Chairman. It was a paper printed, called "by authority"?
Mr. McCandless. That is what they put at the head.
The Chairman. To indicate its official character?
Mr. McCandless. Yes.
The Chairman. Notwithstanding that proclamation, your mass-meeting was held when?
Mr. McCandless. About half past 1.
The Chairman. What members assembled?
Mr. McCandless. Just similar to the mass meeting in 1887. There was not a business house in Honolulu that was not closed. All the business houses closed up and the heads of the firms came to the meeting; all factories stopped, all machine shops, all business stopped just as in 1887. There were some events that transpired on Monday morning, the 10th, before the mass meeting. Had we better finish those up?
The Chairman. Yes.
Mr. McCandless. We met first----
The Chairman. You mean the committee?
Mr. McCandless. On Monday morning the committee of safety met in Mr. Thurston's office. Just as I was going in Marshal Wilson came out of the room with Mr. Thurston. He took him into his private office, and they stayed there some minutes, and Mr. Thurston came back and reported what the conversation was between them. The report in regard to that was that Marshal Wilson said to Mr. Thurston, "Can't this thing be stopped?"
Senator Gray. What did he mean; the meeting?
Mr. McCandless. The movement; the revolution.
Senator Gray. Are you sure he meant the movement, or the meeting?
Mr. McCandless. I will state the whole thing and you will see he meant the movement. Thurston said, "I do not think it can." Marshal Wilson said, "Well, I will guarantee that she won't do that any more; if she attempts it I will lock her up before she can attempt anything again." Mr. Thurston said, "We can't stop on any such guarantee as that; it has gone too far now; we can't stop it." That is the substance of Mr. Thurston's statement to the committee of safety as to what occurred at his interview with Marshal Wilson. Of course, I can not give you the exact words now. Then there was a committee of three appointed from the committee of safety to go up and confer with the ministers. They had requested it in writing, the day before, in a letter to Mr. Thurston. They asked for a conference with the committee of safety, and William Wilder, F. W. McChesney, and myself constituted that committee. We were instructed to go and hear what they had to say, and say nothing. We went up to the Government building and the foreign office. They were all there. We were ushered in, and they were on the other side of the room. We were opposite to them. Finally there was a pause—one of the ministers said, "What is it, gentlemen?" And we said, "We have come up here to see you on
|
account of the appointment you asked of Mr. Thurston." One of the ministers said, "We have decided that there is nothing to say, just now; the Queen has just signed a paper that she will not commit an act of this kind again, and agreed to abide by the constitution."
Senator Gray. That was Monday morning?
Mr. McCandless. Monday morning. Of course, we had nothing to say. McChesney said, "What is this mass meeting of yours?" They had gotten out posters late Sunday night.
The Chairman. To whom did he address that question?
Mr. McCandless. To the cabinet.
The Chairman. Name them.
Mr. McCandless. Colburn, Peterson, Parker, and Cornwall.
The Chairman. They were all present?
Mr. McCandless. All present—all four of them. They had gotten out posters calling a mass meeting of the people in Palace Square. McChesney said, "What did you call that meeting for?" Parker said, "To draw the crowd away from your meeting." That, I think, ended the interview. I do not remember anything else being said.
The Chairman. Was that a formal visit of the committee of safety to the Queen's cabinet?
Mr. McCandless. That was a formal visit of a committee of the committee of safety to the cabinet.
The Chairman. Where did it occur?
Mr. McCandless. In the foreign office of the Government building.
Senator Gray. Two members of the cabinet had been before the committee, and said they did not agree with the new constitution, and were at outs with the Queen. That is so?
Mr. McCandless. That is so—down at the public meeting. But there was at that time, as we afterward ascertained—did not know it then—a proclamation drawn up by the ministers, and it was even signed—I think drawn up and in their possession ready to be proclaimed at any time—declaring the Queen deposed and reorganizing the Government. This letter from the cabinet to Thurston, asking for the conference, was in regard to the ministers taking charge of the Government and deposing the Queen entirely, and their entering into the movement with us, we supporting them.
Senator Gray. The first movement was largely initiated by the support of these recalcitrant ministers of the Queen?
Mr. McCandless. I will put it the other way—they were the ones who initiated----
Senator Gray. I say the movement was initiated in support of the recalcitrant ministers against the Queen's proposition to proclaim a new constitution?
The Chairman. At their request.
Mr. McCandless. Yes; at their request.
The Chairman. You spoke of a proclamation drawn up and ready to be signed, or had been signed. What proclamation was that?
Mr. McCandless. That was the proclamation drawn up on Saturday afternoon.
The Chairman. By whom?
Mr. McCandless. I think by Judge Hartwell and Thurston, and probably W. O. Smith and the cabinet.
The Chairman. What cabinet?
Mr. McCandless. Peterson, Colburn, Parker, and Cornwall.
The Chairman. What was included in that proclamation?
| Previous Page | Next Page |