HALLOWEEN Day 304 of 2007 61 days left in this year

 HAWAIIAN WORD OF THE DAY –  ‘APIKI: Treachery, treason
HAWAIIAN PROVERB OF THE DAY — “It’s a pig strangling.” (The act of a traitor)

Today: Maui Celebrates Halloween with 30,000 on Front Street.  Take the bus to Lahaina …

October 31, 1889: A jury acquits Robert W. Wilcox on the charges of treason for the 1889 rebellion which he led against the “reform government” in his attempt to restore the Hawaiian monarchy to power.Wilcox was born in 1855 on Maui. His parents sent him to Haleakala Boarding School in Makawao. After graduation, Wilcox became a teacher upcountry. In 1880, Wilcox was elected to the Royal Legislature in Honolulu. He represented the citizens of Wailuku and surrounding area.

Wilcox’s political interest grew when he left Hawaii for Italy, where he attended the Royal Military Academy.   While there, Hawaiian King David Kalakaua signed what is called the Bayonet Constitution (so-called because it is said Whites forced him to sign).

The Constitution stripped the right to vote from all Asians, and limited voting rights to property owners of Hawaiian, American and European descent.

Wilcox’s training had been paid by the Kingdom of Hawaii, which ended the program with the new Constitution. After returning to Hawaii, Wilcox, along with Charles Wilson and Sam Nowlein, participated in planning a coup to replace Kalakaua with Liliuokalani, but the plot was never executed.

On February 11, 1888, Wilcox left Hawaii for San Francisco, intending to return to Italy with his wife, but instead settled in San Francisco. There, Wilcox planned an attempt to have Kalakaua sign a new constitution on July 30, 1889 (this time at the sharp end of Wilcox’s knife), and he returned to the islands to carry out the plan.

However, Kalakaua was informed of the plot, and he went into hiding. He feared that the rebellion would replace him with Liliuokalani. Wilcox was confronted with Honolulu rifles. After a pitched battle, Wilcox surrendered. He was tried for treason but acquitted, and gained great popularity among natives. Following his uprising, Wilcox was elected to the Royal Legislature. He served in the U.S. Congress from 1900 to 1903, and died later that year.