King played a key role in Hawaii agriculture

King Kamehameha IV, also known as Alexander Liholiho ‘Iolani, was born on Feb. 9, 1834. Liholiho means “glowing,” and “Iolani” means the Royal Hawk of the Heavens. His father was Mataio Kekuano’a, and his mother was Kina’u. His hanai father was his uncle, Kauikeaouli, and his hanai mother was Kalama.

As a child, Alexander Liholiho attended the Royal School and traveled to Europe and the United States with a delegation whose aim was to improve foreign relations. On Dec. 15, 1854, he came to the throne as King Kamehameha IV. He was the great-grandson of King Kamehameha I and hanai son of King Kamehameha III.

King Kamehameha IV married Emma Na’ea Rooke on June 19, 1856 at Kawaiha’o Church. She was the great-granddaughter of the brother of King Kamehameha the Great. They gave birth to Prince Albert on May 20, 1858. The young prince, a godchild of England’s Queen Victoria, died in 1862 at the age of four.

Concerned about the devastating effects of foreign disease on Hawaiians, King Kamehameha IV signed a law on April 25, 1859, establishing a hospital in Honolulu, and with Queen Emma, they raised funds for Queen’s Hospital.

With the help of American businessmen living in the islands, King Kamehameha IV began setting up plantation agriculture as the main force of the economy of the Hawaiians Islands. The sugar industry began importing many contract laborers from Japan, China and the Portuguese Azores.

Fearing the possibility of Hawaii’s future annexation, Kamehameha IV sought to cultivate a diplomatic relationship with Great Britain as a counterweight to U.S. influence in his country. In particular, he invited the Church of England to establish itself in Hawaii. The king also removed all Americans from cabinet posts in his government and encouraged Hawaiian trade with other nations in efforts to build up his kingdom’s economy and lessen dependence on the U.S.

King Kamehameha IV also supported an agriculture program aimed at fostering native interest in farming, established the first Hawaiian Chamber of Commerce and improved Hawaii’s harbors. With Queen Emma, they raised $30,000 to begin construction of St. Andrew’s Cathedral, which opened in Honolulu in 1867 at Beretania and Queen Emma streets. The building style was gothic. Prefabricated sandstone blocks were imported to build the cathedral.

The king and queen took an interest in building the Anglican Church in Honolulu after they visited Queen Victoria in 1861 and were impressed by the Church of England. St. Andrew’s Cathedral was named after the day called St. Andrew’s Feast, which falls on the same day that King Kamehameha IV died in 1863.

Our king died Nov. 29, 1863 at the age of 29 without appointing a successor. He was succeeded by his brother, King Kamehameha V, Prince Lot Kapuaiwa Kamehameha.

King Kamehameha V built the Hawaiian palace and named it ‘Iolani Palace after his beloved brother.

AUNTY PATTY NISHIYAMA, Na Kupuna O Maui, Lahaina

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West Maui Little League appreciates volunteers

We were humbled and honored to be recognized for our participation in West Maui sports on the Little League Opening Day on April 4 in Lahaina.

We would like to acknowledge the hundreds of other volunteers that participate in many capacities, in all sports, in our small community.

As mentors, we all instill values of honesty, humbleness, fair play, sportsmanship and skill development in our players. Let’s continue to make playing sports enjoyable for all our keiki; this will ensure that they will return to play, season after season, year after year, and generation after generation, to keep our sports program viable and successful in West Maui.

Play Ball!

KARYN MURPHY, West Maui Little League Coach

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Support bill that fights cyber-bullying

In Hawaii, one in five students, nearly 19 percent, have reported experiencing cyber-bullying. And LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) youth are twice as likely as their peers to say that they have been physically assaulted, kicked or shoved at school.

Equality Hawaii is leading the fight to pass House Bill 819, the new anti-bullying law. If the bill passes and is signed into law, it will provide greater protections for our kids and hold schools and educators to stronger standards in preventing bullying.

Join Equality Hawaii, the Hawaii LGBT Legacy Foundation and U.H. at Manoa LGBT Student Services and contact your senator today! Ask them to support HB 819 and help us put an end to bullying in Hawaii. Please act today.

CAMARON MIYAMOTO, Hawaii LGBT Legacy Foundation & The Equality Hawaii Executive Group

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Bill would make all counties contribute to Honolulu rail

House Bill 134, Senate Draft 2 again authorizes all counties statewide to impose the $0.5 surcharge. For Oahu, it allows extending the surcharge without break.

It also appears that if HB 134 passes, the State Department of Taxation will be skimming their usual 10 percent that goes (disappears) into the Legislative Slush Fund.

This tax on Maui and Kauai residents will further diminish the incomes of the poor and lower income while creating a NEW slush fund for rail/Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) schemes on each Neighbor Island, as political insiders and developers declare prized real estate as “TOD.”

Neighbor Islanders, look out – the TOD Vampires and Tax Skimmers are headed your way…

JOHN BOND, Honolulu

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Support Equal Pay

Do you know why April 14 is Equal Pay Day?

It’s because today marks the 104 additional days women in the United States need to work, on average, to earn the same salary that men earned last year.

Can you imagine if the men in this country only made 78 cents for every dollar a woman makes? Pay equity would have been fixed a long time ago. Equal pay would be the law of the land, and it would be the reality.

But we still do not have pay equity.

Women deserve equal pay for equal work. Yet, time and time again, Congress has failed to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act. It’s time for us to deliver a wake-up call on this issue.

Will you take action and add your name in support of passing the Paycheck Fairness Act?

Paying women the same as men isn’t a “women’s issue” – it’s a fairness issue and an economic issue. We all benefit when women and families are stronger.

There are a lot of women in this country who are the heads of households. I was raised by a single mother who was paid only once a month and, at the end of the month, we ran out of money.

And still even today, every single month, women across the country are losing money – it’s food on the table, it’s a rent check, it’s gasoline for their cars.

Equal pay is good for our ohana, our keiki and our kupuna. When women succeed, middle-class and working families succeed, and our economy grows.

I hope you’ll join me in shining a light on this important issue. Sign on for equal pay, right now.

MAZIE HIRONO, U.S. Senator