No. 25.
Interview with Fred. H. Hayselden, Lanai, April 11, 1893

Q. What is your occupation?

A. I am a stock raiser.

Q. How much land have you?

A. I control about 100,000 acres.

Q. What do you mean by that?

A. It is my wife’s property left in trust to my children.

Q. How many whites on that island?

A. Only my family and four white men.

Q. How many natives?

A. About 250.

Q. What is the disposition down there towards the revolution—towards the new Government?

A. The natives are entirely opposed to it.

Q. What is the reason of that opposition?

A. Simply personal, I believe.

Q. Don’t like the people?

A. No; because they feel that they are shut out in everything.

Q. Are you well acquainted in Honolulu?

A. Yes.

Q. What is the feeling here towards the present Government?

A. I should imagine among a majority of the whites it is in favor of the Provisional Government, for the sake of business.

Q. Are there any whites here opposed to the existing Government?

A. A great many.

Q. How many would you suppose?

A. I should suppose there are one-third of the whites.

Q. Do you include in that estimate Portuguese or Japanese?

A. No.

Q. You mean people of American descent?

A. American, English, German, and French.

Q. What type of people are they—people of education and means?

A. Yes; all of them.

Q. What does their opposition consist in?

A. They are opposed because they think they are run by a coterie. That is one reason.

Q. Any other?

A. The other reason is that they want to force annexation on this country and to put them down to the position of serfs.

Q. Do you mean by that that they meant to deprive them of suffrage?

A. Yes.

Q. Are there many of the natives here who have signed petitions for annexation?

A. I have heard that there are quite a considerable number of those who have been forced to do so by storekeepers and others—for bread and butter. I have asked them why they signed. They said: “On account of our food.” I said: “Do you really mean that?” They said: “Heart is here—mouth is there.”

Q. You were not here at the time of the revolution?

A. No. I was in Lanai; was sheriff there at the time. I had the honor of being the first one selected for dismissal.

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Q. They dismissed you on account of your political views?

A. Yes. I came down to W. O. Smith’s office and asked why I was dismissed. He said: “Simply because you are a friend of the Queen. You and the circuit judge are looked upon as enemies to our arrangement and we do not think it right to have two prominent officials against us.” I asked him: “Do you want a republic here?” He said: “No.” I said: “Are you quite sure of what you are saying? I have heard it reported on the street that you do.” He said: “I give you my word of honor I do not.” He said: “We want annexation.” I said: “Do you want it pure and simple?” He asked what I meant. I said: “To give the natives franchise.” He said: “Oh, no; we could not do that.” I said: “You will never get it unless you do. I could go out and get 1,000 signatures for annexation if I could guarantee the franchise. You could not get one.”

Q. As a matter of fact are they not getting signatures?

A. There is no question about that. My personal interests would be advanced 100 per cent by annexation.

Q. How?

A. Because we only get 10 cents a pound for our wool. If we had annexation we would get 20 in California. We have to send it to London and ship it through the United States.

Q. What do you think were the causes of the revolution?

A. Simply 2 cents a pound on sugar—to get some treaty or some arrangement with America. They did not see their way clear to get it in the face of the McKinley bill. They thought Harrison would be reelected and the Republican policy would be continued.

Q. But at the time of the revolution Harrison had been defeated?

A. Yes; but this thing was marked up long before that. They wanted to force it upon the Harrison administration, if they could, before the inauguration of Mr. Cleveland.

I have carefully read the foregoing and pronounce it an accurate report of my interview with Col. Blount.

(Mr. Blount didn’t care to have this certified.—E. M.)