“STREET RIOTS IN HONOLULU – The PORTUGUESE in an ANGRY & TROUBLESOME MOOD – President Dole Has a Narrow Escape from Personal Violence, The Mob Finally Dispersed – Indications of a Conspiracy Looking to the Restoration of the Hawaiian ex-Queen (Lili’uokalani) – “There is a feeling of unrest and uncertainty in this city at present, which arose from the recent Portuguese demonstration to the Legislature, and which has been aggravated by occurrence since that time, the principal one of which was a regular PORTUGUESE RIOT on Sunday evening last.
On the corner of Punchbowl & Emma Streets a drunken ex-Policeman took away a bicycle from a Portuguese boy, and his cries brought a lot of Portuguese women to his assistance. This portion of the city marks the commencement of the Portuguese quarter, while a few doors below, on Emma St., is the residence of President Dole. A fight ensued in which the drunken former policeman was roughly handled by a number of Portuguese. He was, however, arrested by one of the mounted Police Patrol who was attracted to the scene by the disturbance, and taken to the station-house.
In the meantime the crowd of Portuguese had been swelled to two or three hundred, and two or three Police had arrived on the scene. The Portuguese began abusing the policemen and calling them all manner of vile names. President Dole (i.e. Sanford B. Dole, who in January of 1893 had led a coup over the native Hawaiian monarchy and pressed the U.S. government to [illegally!] annex the islands) heard the disturbance and came out to the street, where he warned a number of excited Portuguese to go home, but they paid no attention to him.
A Police lieutenant came up at this juncture and asked the President for orders. He was told to ‘clear the streets and arrest any who opposed the order.’ By this time 7 or 8 police were on hand, including 2 or 3 of the mounted patrol. These then charged into the mob, picking out two or three of the supposed ‘ringleaders’ and attempted to arrest them. The mob resisted, and as fast as one was arrested, the mob would rescue him. The Portuguese fought with sticks and stones and finally commenced to pulling off the pickets from neighboring fences.
The Police, except the lieutenant, were armed only with clubs, but they did good execution with them. A passing wagon was seized by the police and they made a stand around it, seizing a rioter and throwing him in as they got a chance. Meanwhile, the mounted police continued riding their horses through the mob and endeavoring to separate them.
The mob by this time had got in front of President Dole’s house and was rapidly increasing in size. The President went among the rioters and urged them to disperse, but they paid no attention to him; although they offered him no personal violence.
In the meantime the facts had been telephoned to the Police Station, and Captain Scott soon arrived, at the head of a dozen heavily armed police, coming up Emma St. in a patrol wagon at full gallop; arriving just in time to prevent loss of life.
The police lieutenant was surrounded by rioters on all sides and drew his pistol to protect himself. The mob yelled that he would not shoot, but he fired one shot into the ground. At the sound of the shot and the sight of rifles in the patrol wagon, the mob dodged round the corner and disappeared.
When the melee was over the police took stock of what they had in the wagon and found 9 rioters, two of whom had to be sent to the hospital at once. The others were taken to the Police Station where they were at once bailed out by leading Portuguese at $100 cash each (*equivalent to $3,153 each/$22,070 TL today – ed.). The police escaped without any serious injuries.
Since that occurance there has been much ill-feeling between the police and the Portuguese, which so far has only found vent in occasional volleys of stones thrown at policemen from behind fences.
The result of all this has been to create a feeling of impending trouble with the Portuguese, and this is increased by the inactivity of the legislative Committees on the Portuguese petitions. The Legislature is inclined to treat the recent demonstration as a bulldozing proposition and be apt to eventually consign the petition to the waste basket.
In the meantime no one seems to really know what the Portuguese are up to? Readers of THE CALL will remember that in these letters a prediction was made that the restoration fo the ex-Queen (Lili’uokalani) was what was secretly aimed at, and from information gained by your correspondent since that time he is more than ever convinced that that is what is really intended by some of the members of the Portuguese society.
I am in a position to know that certain Portuguese have made treasonable utterances, and that these have been reported to the Government, which, so far, has made no move beyond watching the suspects very closely. How the Portuguese expect to effect the restoration is unknown, for they have no arms or financial backing, but that they have some deep-laid scheme afoot is self-evident. They have absolutely refused to work on ANY of the plantations, even at the increased rate of $18 per month (equivalent to 59¢ [and after a “raise”] today – ed.) now offered. The Government, confident in it’s strength, is taking things very easily , but at the same time is fully awake to the situation.”
(*Source: The San Francisco Call newspaper – April 20, 1896 – (Honolulu, Hawaii, April 10, 1896)
(*Editorial Note: Although in 1897 a successful Petition against the annexation of Hawaii via the Hawaiian Patriotic League was made, it fell short of the 2/3 majority required, and became moot after the 1898 Spanish American War “required” the strategic mid-Pacific fueling station/naval base became imperative to the United States, and Congress officially annexed the Hawaiian Islands on July 12, 1898).