Part 4

GENTLEMEN:--The feelings expressed by you on this occasion afford me sincere pleasure. The ports of my islands will always be open to receive the vessels and ships of war of the three nations which you represent--the three greatest maritime powers of the earth--the three greatest supporters of the independence of my kingdom.

JANUARY 16TH, 1855.

Address made by His Majesty to His Ministers and High Officers of State on receiving their Portfolios.

GENTLEMEN:--On calling you to the high posts you respectively fill, I propose to make a few remarks, with the request that you will bear them constantly in mind. First, let me impress upon you the importance of unity of purpose and action, for I consider it impossible for the business of government to be effectively carried out, unless there exist a great unanimity of feeling among its officers. I have chosen you, because, I thought that being actuated by one common policy, your deliberations would be free from suspicious reserve, and your actions all tend to one end. In a Cabinet divided into factions, differing on fundamental points of policy, I could place no confidence; and should I find mine thus divided, I should feel it my duty to reorganize it. I am determined that my Government, if any power vested in me can attain that object, shall be respected for its honesty and efficiency. Unsupported by these two pillars, no kingdom is safe. I desire every part of the machinery of government to move in unison; to subserve the great purposes for which it was intended; and to be conducted with the strictest economy. Though young, with the help of God, I shall endeavor to be firm and faithful in the execution of the high trust devolved upon me, and never let my feelings, as a man, overcome my duties as a King. From all my counsellors I desire frank and faithful advice, and those who advise me honestly, have nothing to fear; while those who may abuse my confidence and advise me more from personal interests than regard for the public good, have nothing to hope.

One word in regard to the nominations for office which according to law it becomes your duty to make, and I have done. Let your subordinates be recommended by at least these qualifications--honesty, temperance, industry and adaptation to the places they are to fill; and let them be men in whom you see good grounds for placing confidence.

May success crown your efforts and after years approve my judgment in calling you to office.

APRIL 7, 1855.

His Majesty's Speech in English and Hawaiian at the Opening of the Legislature, April 7, 1855.

NOBLES AND REPRESENTATIVES:--It has pleased the Almighty to gather to his forefathers my beloved Predecessor. This bereavement has been to me the source of the deepest sorrow; but my grief has been assuaged by the sympathy of this whole nation, in whom I see innumerable and ever-gathering proofs of the love and gratitude they bore their departed Chief.

You meet this day in conformity with the Constitution he gave you. Had his suggestions, on the many occasions he addressed you from the place I now occupy, been matured by your deliberations, and carried into effect, there would, perhaps, be little for me to recommend, or for you to perform. The measures he initiated reflect lustre upon his name, and if by any endeavor of mine those measures shall be perfected, I shall consider it indeed an honor.

In the exercise of my prerogative, I have availed myself of an Act passed during your last session, and since approved by me, by virtue of which I have separated the offices of Kuhina Nui and Minister of the Interior. To the former post I have called her Royal Highness, Princess Victoria Kamamalu. The Ministry of the Interior remains in the same hands as heretofore, as do the other portfolios of my Government; for, young and newly come to this responsible position, I have gladly availed myself of the wisdom and experience of the counsellors of our deceased King.

I have instructed the high officers of my government to lay before you reports of their several departments.

For a history of the Judiciary Department during the last year, and for certain changes proposed in our laws, I would refer you to the report of my Chancellor. His recommendations, especially those suggesting remedies for the great evils which are so speedily destroying our race, meet my most hearty approval, and are worthy of your serious consideration.

I trust you will be able to devise such wise and salutary measures as shall effectually check licentiousness and intemperance.

The doors of Justice are open to all, and so far as I am informed, its administration in the higher courts has been prompt, efficient and satisfactory. Of the inferior magistrates, there has been some complaint, no doubt in many instances with reason; but the character of district justices has greatly improved within the past few years, and it is to be hoped it will continue to improve. Weak as we are, and imperfect as our Government may be, it will not be doubted, I think, that there is no country in which there is more entire security for life, liberty, person and property.

His Royal Highness, Prince Kamehameha, on whom has devolved the chief military command, will exhibit to you in his report, which is embodied in that of the Secretary at War, the plans he has in contemplation to render efficient the important service intrusted to his care. I have to request that you will give this subject the grave attention it deserves. His late Majesty urged the matter upon you frequently, but the appropriations have hitherto been insufficient for any permanent or efficient organization of that important department. I indulge a strong hope that you will remedy this deficiency, and place the Department of War upon a firm and better footing.

Deeply imbued with a sense of the responsibility that rests upon my Government, not only to foster, but to lead the way in all that tends to the general good, I would invite your earnest attention to the recommendations that will be laid before you by my Minister of the Interior, and particularly to that portion of his report relating to the proposed improvements in the harbor of Honolulu. The facilities that would be afforded in the loading and unloading of vessels, native as well as foreign; the extra inducements that these new accommodations would hold out to those parties who contemplate making this port a place where ocean steamers may seek refreshments, and take in coal and water; the general impetus that would be given to trade by providing, at the water's edge, a site for the erection of warehouses; and the hundred other conveniences proper to a maritime city;--all these considerations prove to my mind the propriety of proceeding energetically with a work so national in its character that no part of the islands can fail to share in many of its advantages. To your wisdom it belongs to consider in what way the funds necessary to effect this great improvement may be best procured.

It is gratifying to me, on commencing my reign, to be able to inform you, that my relations with all the great Powers, between whom and myself exist treaties of amity, are of the most satisfactory nature. I have received from all of them, assurances that leave no room to doubt that my rights and sovereignty will be respected. My policy, as regards all foreign nations, being that of peace, impartiality and neutrality, in the spirit of the Proclamation by the late King, of the 16th May last, and of the Resolutions of the Privy Council of the 15th June and 17th July, I have given to the President of the United States, at his request, my solemn adhesion to the rule, and to the principles establishing the rights of neutrals during war, contained in the Convention between his Majesty the Emperor of all the Russias, and the United States, concluded in Washington on the 22d July last.

I have exchanged my ratification for that, by my great and good friend, His Majesty Oscar, King of Sweden and Norway, of the treaty concluded at my Court on the 1st day of July, 1852.

I have ordered my Minister of Foreign Relations to inform you of all treaties with foreign nations negotiated under the late reign, of the progressive steps by which the sovereignty and independence of this Kingdom have become so generally acknowledged, and of the transactions generally of the Department under his charge.

I have committed an important mission to the Honorable William L. Lee, Chancellor of the Kingdom and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, and have accredited him as my Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, from which mission I anticipate important results for the benefit of you all, which will be made known to you hereafter. In the meanwhile, I recommend you to vote such a sum as, in your wisdom, you may deem adequate for the expenses of that mission.

My Minister of Finance will submit, for your considerations, certain important measures relating to the National finances; and you cannot fail to be impressed with the necessity of devising some means of enlarging them. Without more extended means we must remain in the position of having the will, without the power, to stimulate agriculture and commerce, and to provide generally for the physical, mental and moral improvement of the nation. As a preparatory step towards increasing the sources of revenue, we must increase the revenue to be drawn from such sources as already exist. But, restricted as we are, by treaty, from exercising a right common to all free communities, we are unable to impose discriminating duties on foreign imports, which, whilst supplying the Treasury with additional means, would enhance the price of articles of luxury only. To regain the right of which we have, for the present, divested ourselves, it may be necessary that you reconsider the act by which the duty on spirituous liquors is now regulated. The Minister of Finance laid this subject before you last year in a clear and able manner, and his views have been confirmed by the experience of another year. Whether it would be wise to assist the revenue by a tax on property, is for you to determine.

To foster education and widen every channel that leads to knowledge, is one of our most imperative duties. It will be for you to determine what obstacles, if any, exist, to the general enlightenment of my people. On this subject there will be submitted for your consideration, certain proposed changes in the Department of Public Instruction. It is of the highest importance, in my opinion, that education in the English language should become more general, for it is my firm conviction that unless my subjects become educated in this tongue, their hope of intellectual progress, and of meeting the foreigners on terms of equality, is a vain one.

It is a melancholy fact that agriculture, as now practiced, is not a business of so prosperous and lucrative a nature as to induce men of means to engage in it; and capital is absolutely necessary to the successful production of our great staples, sugar, coffee and tobacco. I beg you, therefore, to consider whether there exist any restrictions, the removal of which would give new life to this important source of national prosperity, and tend to create a juster balance between our imports and exports. I need hardly mention the obligation that weighs upon you, to open wide our ports to commerce. Without commerce our agricultural produce might moulder in our warehouses; roads, and interisland communication almost cease to exist; the making of wharves become a work of supererogation, and the opening and closing of stores an idle ceremony. As the legislators of a young commercial nation, we should be liberal in our measures, and far-sighted in our views.

A subject of deeper importance, in my opinion, than any I have hitherto mentioned, is that of the decrease of our population. It is a subject, in comparison with which all others sink into insignificance; for, our first and great duty is that of self-preservation. Our acts are in vain unless we can stay the wasting hand that is destroying our people. I feel a heavy, and special responsibility resting upon me in this matter; but it is one in which you all must share; nor shall we be acquitted by man, or our Maker, of a neglect of duty, if we fail to act speedily and effectually in the cause of those who are every day dying before our eyes.

I think this decrease in our numbers may be stayed; and happy should I be if, during the first year of my reign, such laws should be passed as to effect this result. I would commend to your special consideration the subject of establishing public Hospitals; and it might, at first, perhaps, be wise to confine these hospitals to diseases of one class; and that the most fatal with which our population is afflicted.

Intimately connected with this subject is that of preventing the introduction of fatal diseases and epidemics from abroad. Visited as we are by vessels from all parts of the world, this is no easy matter; but I trust your wisdom will devise some simple and practical remedy.

It affords me unfeigned pleasure to be able to state that, according to the returns from most of the districts, the births during the past year have exceeded the deaths.