630	HAWAIIAN  ISLANDS.
Extract from, an address delivered by Judge Lee before the Royal Hawaiian Agricultural
Society in August, 1860.
Until within the last year the Hawaiian held his land as a mere tenant at sufferance subject to be dispossessed at any time it 
might suit the will or caprice of his chief or that of his oppressive luna. Of what avail was it to the common people to raise 
more than enough to supply the immediate wants of their subsistence 1 Would the surplus belong to them, or furnish the means 
of future independence? Far from it.
It would go to add to the stores of their despotic lords, who claimed an absolute right in all their property, and who 
periodically sent forth their hordes of lunas to scour the country and plunder the people, without the shadow of right or mercy. 
Often did these ravagers, these land-pirates, leave the poor makaainana (peasant) with little else than his maro (breechcloth), 
his digger, and his calabash. I thank God that these things are now at an end, and that the poor Kanaka may now stand on the 
border of his little taro patch, and, holding his fee-simple title in his hand, bid defiance to the world. Yes, I thank God that He 
has moved the hearts of the King and chiefs of these islands to let the oppressed go free.
[Personal.]
Mr. Blount to Mr. Gresham.
HONOLULU, HAWAIIAN ISLANDS, July 31,1893.
DEAR SIR : The condition of parties in the islands is one of quiescence. The action of the United States is awaited by all as a 
matter of necessity. This condition, it can be assumed, will remain until the proposition to annex is accepted or rejected. In the 
latter contingency no sudden movement is likely to occur. The present Government can only rest on the use of military force, 
possessed of most of the arms in the islands, with a small white population to draw from to strengthen it. Ultimately it will fall 
without fail. It may preserve its existence for a year or two, but not longer.
My own private affairs make it necessary for me to return home. The distance between us, and consequent difficulty of 
communication, is too great for me to wait for any further correspondence. It is not pleasant to reveal one's private affairs, nor 
do I intend to do so now. I assume that neither you nor the President under existing circumstances could urge my further 
continuance here.
I have discharged my duty the best I could considering I was surrounded by persons interested in misleading me, and in my 
inability to compel answers from witnesses. I am, etc.,
JAMES H. BLOUNT.

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