Difference between revisions of "Template:Nhsc-v1-276"

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frankly asked my opinion, I thought it was better for many reasons to heed the voice of the people especially those who were paying the taxes, had accumulated wealth in the country and were directly interested.

In fact, I conversed with him for about one hour upon the foregoing and kindred subjects to which he listened with much apparent interest and when I rose to leave he remarked that it was now about 11 o'clock and that I would hear of changes in the Cabinet within 12 hours.

On the following morning, June 28th I received information that Mr. Gibson and all the cabinet had resigned. 81/

From the above it can be seen that Kalakaua specifically called for the meeting with American Minister Merrill to ask for his advice. Nothing in the dispatch would indicate that Kalakaua asked for more than this, or that the American minister had demanded that Kalakaua change his cabinet officials.

Of this change in the cabinet, Kuykendall writes that: "Apparently the king and Gibson believed, or at least hoped, that a change of ministry, including the latter's removal from the government, would be enough of a concession to quiet the clamor for reform." 82/ However, this belief was not correct, a Hawaiian newspaper wrote:

...We are not in the humor to accept any compromise that will allow an opening for a reproduction in the future of what we have had too much of in the past. A real, complete, thorough change...is what the intelligence and respectability of the country want...Moreover, there must be a positive and undeniable guarantee of its continuance. The king must be prepared to take his own proper place, and be content to reign without ruling. We want capable, responsible Ministers, not irresponsible clerks. 83/

Reports that the king was attempting to form a coalition cabinet with W. L. Green and had called out the Honolulu Rifles to protect government buildings, generated still more opposition against him. The result was a public meeting of the king's opponents on June 30. L. A. Thurston read a set of resolutions prepared by the Committee of Thirteen of the Hawaiian League that included the commitment "to the policy of securing a new constitution," as well as calling for the dismissal of Gibson and the cabinet. 84/ The Committee of Thirteen presented these resolutions to the king, requesting a reply within 24 hours. 85/

On the morning of July 1st, Colonel Ashford and the Honolulu Rifles seized a shipment of arms sent to Hawaii, thinking they were intended for the king. Later that same morning, "after the firearms seizure, Lieutenant Colonel Volney Ashford, with a squad of the Honolulu Rifles, went to Gibson's residence, took him and his son-in-law Fred Hayselden into custody...[and] threats to hang Gibson were made by Lieutenant Ashford and other noisy radicals, but any such purpose was promptly vetoed by the executive committee of the Hawaiian League." 86/ These actions by the Honolulu Rifles indicate that during the evening of June 30 and the morning of July 1, 1887, the "control of the city of Honolulu was in the hands of the Honolulu Rifles who were acting theoretically, but not always in fact, under the direction of the executive committee of the Hawaiian League." 87/