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THIRD DAY.
Washington, D.C., January 3, 1894,
The committee met pursuant to adjournment.
Present: The Chairman (Senator Morgan), and Senators Gray and Frye.
Absent: Senators Butler and Sherman.
SWORN STATEMENT OF WILLIAM DE WITT ALEXANDER.
The Chairman. How long have you resided in Hawaii?
Mr. Alexander. I was born there in 1833.
The Chairman. How long had your parents resided there before your birth?
Mr. Alexander. About one year.
The Chairman. Was your father connected with the missionary work of the islands?
Mr. Alexander. Yes.
The Chairman. To what denomination did he belong?
Mr. Alexander. The Presbyterian.
The Chairman. Where did your father locate when he went to the islands?
Mr. Alexander. The first part of the time the northernmost part of the islands—at Kauai.
The Chairman. What is your age?
Mr. Alexander. Sixty.
The Chairman. So you have been fifty-nine years in Hawaii?
Mr. Alexander. I have spent about eight years in this country.
The Chairman. But that has been your place of residence?
Mr. Alexander. Yes, I finished my education in this country.
The Chairman. Where did you get the foundation of your education?
Mr. Alexander. At a school near Honolulu. It was a mission school, and since it has become Oahu College.
The Chairman. Is that now a flourishing institution?
Mr. Alexander. It is on a very good footing; it has a good endowment.
The Chairman. About how much?
Mr. Alexander. About $230,000.
The Chairman. From what sources was that endowment derived?
Mr. Alexander. Mostly given by residents of the islands. The largest doner was Charles B. Bishop.
The Chairman. He married a Hawaiian woman?
Mr. Alexander. Yes. She was a chiefess of very high rank.
The Chairman. How far advanced were you in respect of your education when you came to the United States to complete your studies?
Mr. Alexander. I was nearly fitted for college. I studied one summer at Harrisburg. My mother was a Harrisburger.
The Chairman. What college did you attend in the United States?
Mr. Alexander. Yale College. I graduated there in 1855. I taught at Beloit College, in Wisconsin, for a year and a half, and I taught in the college of Vincennes, Ind., for a time. Then I was persuaded to go back as a professor of languages in the Oahu College.
The Chairman. And that was your first work you did after you grew up—the first work you did in Hawaii?
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Mr. Alexander. Yes.
The Chairman. How long did you remain in that institution?
Mr. Alexander. About fourteen years. The first seven years I was professor, and the last seven years I was president of the college.
The Chairman. Has the attendance in that college been large?
Mr. Alexander. Considering the smallness of the community there, perhaps it would be so regarded.
The Chairman. It has been increasing along from year to year, I suppose?
Mr. Alexander. It has its ups and downs. It has a preparatory department now of one hundred and twenty; the college proper is not much less than that;—perhaps eighty.
The Chairman. Is the tuition in the college free or what?
Mr. Alexander. About $1 a week.
The Chairman. Who are the principal patrons of this college?
Mr. Alexander. Principally the white population. There is a number of scholarships, which scholarships are conditioned on giving the natives the preference.
The Chairman. After you quit that college what was your next occupation?
Mr. Alexander. Surveyor-general.
The Chairman. Surveyor-general of Hawaii under what king?
Mr. Alexander. Kamehameha V. There was made a trigonometrical survey of the kingdom based on a survey like the Coast Survey of the United States, and on that foundation was based the boundary survey of all the landed property.
The Chairman. You first commenced with trigonometry?
Mr. Alexander. Yes. That was my advice. The ministry asked my ideas of how best to go to work, and after I had written my report they asked me if I would undertake it.
The Chairman. You made that survey first. Is that complete?
Mr. Alexander. It is not complete.
The Chairman. It is a thorough trigonometrical survey?
Mr. Alexander. Yes; it is done with the advice of the United States Coast Survey and partly with their instruments. They loaned me their base apparatus, and it was done following their best methods.
The Chairman. In addition to that you have made a survey of the lands of the interior of the islands?
Mr. Alexander. Yes.
The Chairman. Has that survey been completed?
Mr. Alexander. Not complete.
The Chairman. Is it what we call a sectionized survey, in townships and ranges, or by plats?
Mr. Alexander. Not exactly either. The islands have been subdivided from time immemorial. They had a very peculiar landed system.
The Chairman. This subdivision was by the natives?
Mr. Alexander. Yes. The boundaries are traditional. We had to ascertain these boundaries and run them out.
The Chairman. In doing that you had to consult these traditions?
Mr. Alexander. Yes. There was a boundary commissioner for each of the judicial districts.
The Chairman. That was for the purpose of separation, I understand it, of the private holdings of the native Hawaiians from the government lands?
Mr. Alexander. There had been a division of the lands in 1848 and partial surveys. It is a large subject about that land system.