“The 116,000 Devil”

That Hawaiian Hotel, the building and grounds, which costed the government $116,000 which was squandered by a number of Ministers of King Kamehameha V. It stands in front of our eyes this day, a reminder of wasted money of the lahui. Its lease for the year is not enough to cover the interest of 30,000, and the government is losing 7,500 every year, and so forth everyday that the government remains the owner of the hotel which Chief Lunalilo has called, “the 116,000 devil.”

(Ko Hawaii Pae Aina, 5/6/1882, p. 2)