The Independent Archive

In 1895, two daily newspapers titled the Independent appeared in Honolulu. The second began publication nine days after the final issue of the earlier Independent, which had been edited by Daniel Logan. In the first issue on June 24, 1895, Editor Edmund Norrie assured readers that "The INDEPENDENT is in no way connected with the defunct paper of the same name which was recently started and a few weeks ago gobbled up by the Evening Bulletin." Published daily except Sunday, Norrie's Independent provided news of all of the Hawaiian Islands and the rest of the world, numerous ads, and editorial comment in four to six pages. Its estimated circulation was 3,000.

A native of Denmark, Norrie supported the restoration of the Hawaiian monarchy, which had been overthrown in 1893. Norrie opposed the non-Hawaiian governments that followed, including the provisional government under Sanford Ballard Dole, the Republic established in 1894 with Dole as president, and the territorial government created after the U.S. annexation of Hawai‘i in 1898. Norrie was among the editors and printers of various opposition Hawaiian and English newspapers, including Daniel Logan of the other Independent, prosecuted and imprisoned for libel and conspiracy by the non-Hawaiian government. A native of Denmark, Norrie also edited the English sections of several Hawaiian language newspapers--Hawaii Holomua and Ka Makaainana, both nationalistic pro-Hawaiian papers. Norrie persevered in his criticism of the non-Hawaiian government, and in the February 3, 1899 issue of Independent he referred to Dole as "at one time a president of the bogus Hawaiian Republic." A recurring ad declared: “The Independent is true to its name, and is all that that name implies. It upholds the Right and is Fearless Against All Comers. Nor is it pledged to any party, sect or faction. Its Expressions are Outspoken without fear or favor”

Norrie continued his crusading journalism in support of Hawaiian nationalism until 1902 when he stepped down as editor of the Independent. From 1902 until 1905 no editor was listed on the newspaper’s masthead. The Independent's close ties with the Hawaiian nationalist press is seen in the fact that F.J. Testa, publisher and editor of the daily Ka Makaainana with which Norrie had been affiliated and who had also been imprisoned by the government, became manager of the Independent in 1895. After January 1897, Testa is listed as proprietor and publisher of the Independent, a role he continued to play until the paper ceased publication on October 1, 1905.