“Formerly the chief could call the people from one end of the islands to the other to perform labour.” “If the king wished the people to work for him they could not refuse. They must work from month to month. So also at the call of every chief and every landlord.”

“Formerly if the people did not go to the work of the king when required, the punishment was that their houses were set on fire and consumed.” The fact must be recognised that before the adoption of this Constitution under the influence of the American missionaries the common people never owned any land or had any especial rights.

The power of the king and chiefs up to the time of their freely giving this constitution and new set of laws was practically unlimited. The fact that they voluntarily limited themselves for the benefit of the people must be noted to the credit of an awakened conscience under missionary guidance. [[200]]

[[Contents]]

XXI

THE HAWAIIAN FLAG

The flag which has floated over the Hawaiian Islands for more than a century is a combination of the “Union Jack” and stripes rather than the “Stars and Stripes,” to which it now gives precedence. The Union Jack in the upper or “halyard” corner, and eight stripes, red, white and blue, constitute the old flag of Hawaii.

This flag has a story worth hearing.

Vancouver visited the “Sandwich Islands” with Captain Cook. Nearly fifteen years later he returned in command of an expedition. February 21, 1794, he entered into an agreement with Ka-meha-meha I and his Council of Chiefs to receive the islands under the protection of Great Britain. February 25, with great ceremony, the English flag was raised over Ka-meha-meha’s royal home on the island of Hawaii. Probably this flag was the first “Union Jack” adopted by King James, 1603–1625, on the political union of England and Scotland.

This flag was succeeded in 1801 by the present Union Jack, which is made by placing three crosses upon a blue field—St. George’s of England, a red [[201]]cross; St. Andrew’s of Scotland, a white cross, and St. Patrick’s of Ireland. The Irish addition to the flag consisted of St. Patrick’s red cross laid upon St. Andrew’s white cross, and half covering it. This was the second Union Jack. The name “Jack” is said to have come from the red cross on the “jacque”—the coat of mail or outer coat of the soldiers of England.