SATURDAY, MARCH 4.

REPOPULATION.

The following is the text of the memorial of citizens which was presented to His Majesty on Tuesday last, by a committee of signers:

To His Majesty the King,

Sire:—We, the undersigned, subjects and residents of this kingdom and friends of your Royal Person, in view of what we deem a grave condition of public affairs, take the liberty to address you in a spirit of frankness and loyalty in order to point out the danger that threatens the state, and at the same time the necessary measures to avoid the national peril.

We desire to say at the outset, that we are prompted to take part in this address not only on account of a loyal and friendly regard for Your Majestyʻs person, but also by reason of our strong desire to see maintained, with ample honor and prosperity, the Independence of the Hawaiian Kingdom.

The propriety of according the privileges of independent sovereignty to a state so much reduced in people as Your Majestyʻs dominions is very much questioned, and the discussion is most detrimental to the dignity and permanence of the throne. This question was even raised in past years, when Hawaii numbered far more souls than at this time within her borders. When the commissioners of Kamehameha III presented the claims of this archipelago for recognition as an independent state to the Government of Great Britain in 1843, they were met at first with a peremptory refusal from Lord Aberdeen, the British foreign minister, on the ground that the state of Hawaii was a mere chieftaincy under foreign influences, and too small to be entitled to diplomatic courtesies and treaty making powers. And if such a view could be taken of our state thirty-three years ago, when we numbered about one hundred thousand people, what must be thought of our capability for independence now when perhaps we number barely fifty thousand souls, natives and foreigners all told? Continue reading →