ROME, ITALY, Mar. 29, 1881.

TO THE LAHUI HAWAII:—

We saw in the newspaper “Hawaiian Gazette” of February 2, 1881, where it states, that the Hawaiian Government constantly sends money to Mr. Moreno for us, and from within this sum, he supports himself.

Without counting the $800 that the Government sent for us by way of Mr. Martin of Paris, that was soon spent on our many expenses—for the trains, steamships, hotels, and so forth; while being careful with our spending; Mr. Moreno took care of the remainder with his own money, from the day we left Paris until this day here in Rome. This is the truth, for we saw this with our own eyes.

Therefore, what the “Hawaiian Gazette” said was plain deception.

To attest to the truth, we affix our names.

Your children in foreign lands,

Robert W. Wilcox,
James K. Booth,
Robert N. Boyd.

(Ko Hawaii Pae Aina, 5/14/1881, p. 3)

Ko Hawaii Pae Aina, Buke IV, Helu 20, Aoao 3. Mei 14, 1881.