The other side of the Great Mahele
Advertiser columnist Bob Krauss writes
about a new book that "suggests that the Great Mahele [of 1848] was not the
controversial land rip-off of common Hawaiians that many historians have painted
it. All things considered, commoners got a fair share. The rip-off came later
and historians missed that, too." According to Robert Stauffer, author of
"Kahana, How the Land was Lost," the rip-off was accomplished by means of a law
sneaked through the Legislature in 1874 that took mortgage transactions out of
the courts and into private hands, and banker Charles Reed Bishop presided over
the Legislature that passed the law.
Posted: Sun - November 30, 2003 at 10:46 AM