Kamehameha V's cousin William Charles Lunalilo wins…

Kamehameha V's cousin William Charles Lunalilo wins the election and assumes the Hawaiian throne on January 8, 1873.

The other candidate is David Kalākaua; Lunalilo is the more popular of the two.

When Lunalilo assumes the duties of the king, a major change in the government's policy begins to form.

His predecessor, Kamehameha V, had spent his reign increasing the powers of his office and trying to restore the absolute monarchy of his grandfather, Kamehameha I.

Lunalilo, however, will spend his reign trying to make the Hawaiian government more democratic.

Wishing to undo some of the changes that his predecessor had made when he enacted the 1864 Constitution, he starts by writing to the legislature, recommending that the constitution be amended.

For example, the Kingdom legislature prior to 1864 had met in two houses: The House of Nobles and the House of Representatives.

The members of the House of Nobles were appointed by the King and the Representatives were elected by popular vote.

Lunalilo had served in the House of Nobles from 1863 through 1872.

Under King Kamehameha V, the two houses of legislature had been combined into one.

Lunalilo wishes to restore the bicameral legislature.

He also wants to add a provision to the constitution that would require the king to include a written explanation to accompany any veto by the king.

He wants cabinet ministers to be heard in the House of Representatives.

The King also wants to improve Hawaii's economic situation.

The Kingdom is in an economic depression, with the whaling industry rapidly declining.

Commercial groups ask the king to look at sugarcane cultivation to improve the economy and recommend that a treaty be drawn with the United States to allow Hawaiian sugar to enter the nation tax-free.

To make such a treaty, many think that the Kingdom will have to offer the Pearl Harbor area to the United States in exchange.

There is much controversy over this, with both the public and in the legislature.

When Lunalilo sees this opposition, he drops the proposal.

During Lunalilo's reign, a mutiny takes place in the small Hawaiian army when some members of the army revolt against the drillmaster and the adjutant general.

The king interviews the troops involved in the mutiny and persuades them to lay down their arms.

Following this, the king disbands the army.

From this point on, the Kingdom will have no armed forces until King Kalākaua restores them.