cpt. 13 REPORT OF SUBCOMMITTEE ON PACIFIC ISLANDS AND PORTO RICO ON GENERAL CONDITIONS IN HAWAII. JOHN H. MITCHELL, ADDISON G. FOSTER, JOSEPH C. S. BLACKBURN, SUBCOMMITTEE. WASHINGTON: GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. 1903. REPORT. On June 13, 1902, the following resolution was introduced into the United States Senate by Mr. Mitchell, of Oregon, and on his motion referred for consideration to the Committee on Pacific Islands and Porto Rico: Resolved, That the Committee on Pacific Islands and Porto Rico be, and is hereby, authorized and directed to investigate, inquire into, and ascertain the general condition of the islands of Hawaii, the administration of the affairs thereof, the area, condition, quality, and value of the public lands, the leasing, selling, or disposing thereof, and to make such recommendations as may be deemed necessary; to investigate and ascertain the area, condition, quality, and value of the crown lands, the rents, issues, or other revenues or proceeds received therefrom since January seventeenth, eighteen nundred and ninety-three, whether or not the former Queen of said islands now possesses any legal or equitable right, title, or interest in or to the same, or whether said Queen has any claim against the United States, legal or equitable, by reason of having parted heretofore with her title therein; the granting of franchises or other privileges; the question of immigration; the condition of labor therein, and to inquire into and report upon all other necessary matters pertaining to the executive, legislative, judicial, educational, tax, school, financial, and other systems thereof. For the purposes aforesaid said committee, or a subcommittee thereof, appointed by the chairman, shall have power to send for persons and papers, to visit the islands, to administer oaths, to sit during the recess of Congress, and said committee shall report at the beginning of the next session of Congress the result of its investigations; the expenses of said investigation to be paid out of the contingent fund of the Senate. On June 23, 1902, this resolution was reported back to the Senate by Senator Foraker, chairman of the Committee on Pacific Islands and Porto Rico, without amendment, and was referred to the Committee to Audit and Control the Contingent Expenses of the Senate. On June 25, 1902, the same was reported back to the Senate by Senator Jones, of Nevada, chairman of that committee, without amend ment. On June 28, 1902, the resolution was taken up by the Senate for consideration and, on the suggestion of Senator Aldrich, of Rhode Island, the resolution as originally introduced was modified by Mr. Mitchell, and on that day passed the Senate in the following form: Resolved, That the Committee on Pacific Islands and Porto Rico be, and is hereby, authorized and directed to investigate the general condition of the islands of Hawaii, and the administration of the affairs thereof, and for the purposes aforesaid said committee, or a subcommittee thereof appointed by the chairman, shall have power to send for persons and papers, to visit the islands, to administer oaths, to sit during the recess of Congress, and said committee shall report at the beginning of the next session of Congress the result of its investigations, the expenses of such investigations to be paid out of the contingent fund of the Senate. Subsequently Senator Foraker, chairman of the Committee on Pacific Islands and Porto Rico, in pursuance of such resolution, appointed the following subcommittee to make the investigations covered by it: Senators Mitchell, of Oregon, chairman; Burton, of Kansas; Foster, of Washington; Cockrell, of Missouri, and Blackburn, of Kentucky. Of these, Senators Cockrell and Blackburn found it impossible to accompany the committee to the islands. On Thursday, July 3, 1902, at 2 o'clock, the subcommittee, all being present except Senator Cockrell, met at Washington, D. C., and organized by the selection of Harry C. Robertson as secretary and Thomas Sammons as sergeant-at-arms, and adjourned to meet in the islands. Your committee, consisting of the three Senators first named, met in Honolulu, Hawaii, on the 6th day of September, 1902, and then and there proceeded immediately with its investigations. Inasmuch as the modification of the resolution as originally introduced eliminated all of the specific subjects of investigation named in the resolution, and authorized a general investigation of "the general condition of the islands of Hawaii and the administration of the affairs thereof," as prescribed by the resolution as passed, your committee concluded the authority vested in it was not confined to an investigation of any one of the subjects, but embraced and included not only all the subjects mentioned in the original resolution, but also any other not named in the original resolution which the committee might deem of material inquiry bearing upon the general subject of the "general condition of the islands of Hawaii and the administration of the affairs thereof." In other words, the construction to be placed on the resolu tion should be quite different from that had the modifications simply stricken out one or more of the subjects named in the original resolution, leaving one or more specified in the modified resolution as passed. Your committee remained in the islands twenty-five days, during which time it held 43 sessions for the purpose of taking testimony and gathering information. These sessions were held mainly in Honolulu, island of Oahu; but sessions were also held and much testimony taken at the city of Hilo and at Mountain View, on the island of Hawaii; also at the port of Wailuku, island of Maui. All sessions of the committee were held with open doors, the representatives of the press and the public generally, including government officials, being present. Your committee visited five of the seven inhabited islands, namely, Oahu, Hawaii, Maui, Lanai, and Molokai. Your committee also visited ten of the principal sugar plantations on the islands of Oahu and Hawaii. We also made diligent inquiry into a number of subjects, as will hereafter be made to appear, and examined in all 176 witnesses, representing all classes in the islands, the testimony of all of whom was given under oath. In visiting these plantations, your committee made careful inquiry into the character of the operations of each, the wages of the employees, the character of their tenement houses, their mode of living, and their general condition and that of their families. Your committee was very generously proffered the use of suitable and convenient rooms in the naval station by Capt. W. H. Whiting, commandant in charge of the naval station at Honolulu, where the principal sessions of your committee were held, and during which numerous courtesies were extended by Captain Whiting. Your committee also made a careful investigation of the harbors, including Honolulu and Pearl harbors, on the island of Oahu, and at Hilo, on the island of Hawaii, and also of a number of other minor harbors on the different islands, with the view of ascertaining what improvements in the way of deepening, widening, and protecting them are necessary, and also what light-houses, buoys, and other improvements are demanded in the interest of coast and intercoastal commerce. Your committee, after making a thorough survey of the whole situation, viewed in the light of the authority under which your committee was proceeding, and in response to numerous requests from various organized bodies, Federal and Territorial officials, and many private persons, deemed it its duty to consider and carefully inquire into the following subjects: SUBJECTS INVESTIGATED. The political status of Government and people, arising from character and operation of Federal and local laws. The labor question. Public lands: Crown. Public. Surveys of. Valuations of. Homesteads. Sales and leases of. Laws: Penal and civil. Federal and local. Their practical operation. Plantations: The sugar, rice, banana, pineapple, and other industries. Administration by executive officers. Municipal, city, and county government, necessity for. Taxation; Federal and local revenues and local appropriations. Coffee industry. Territorial government, expenses of. Different departments, expenses of. The judiciary, Federal and Territorial. Charges of incompetency and corruption preferred against circuit judge on island of Maui. 2 The punchbowl lands; Portuguese claimants. Schools, public and private. Leprosy; the leper settlement, its condition and management. Stock raising and several other minor matters. Before proceeding with the investigation, your committee addressed two letters, one to Hon. Sanford B. Dole, governor of the Territory, |