Peshawar Lancers Redux: Kingdom of Hawaii Revised

[chris N]

Katherine E Kamehameha-McNamara was interviewed by several newspapers from different parts of the Kingdom and then did a radio interview on the Kingdom's most powerful station. The interview dealt mainly with legislation and foreign policy but there were some questions regarding the birth of her child. Katherine said that both she and Tommy were looking forward to the birth. Her mother was making sure that she did not overdo anything.

 

[Archangel]

How's radio coverage by area of the world at this point in time (both the largest and developed nations, and the smaller nations and smaller colonies left)?

 

[chris N]

Radio coverage has improved a great deal by the 1930s. However, there are areas that the broadcast signal doesn't reach because not every nation has developed powerful broadcasting signal equipment. Thus Britain, Hawaii, Austria,Ireland, France,Brazil and the United States have a good radio broadcasting capability,with Empire of the Rising Sun, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Neuva Granada, Germany, Netherlands, Spain, Central American Republic and Russia as well as Portugal and South Africa all having some capacity.

 

[Archangel]

Radio coverage has improved a great deal by the 1930s. However, there are areas that the broadcast signal doesn't reach because not every nation has developed powerful broadcasting signal equipment. Thus Britain, Hawaii, Austria,Ireland, France,Brazil and the United States have a good radio broadcasting capability,with Empire of the Rising Sun, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Neuva Granada, Germany, Netherlands, Spain, Central American Republic and Russia as well as Portugal and South Africa all having some capacity.

This means there are areas with a modern (relative to TTL 1930's point of view) infrastructure in every continent. Which, IMHO, in turn means development, barring an unforeseen catastrophe, will be more spread across the world, instead of more concentrated like OTL. Of course, this is a long term result, decades in the future, and subject to local variations (some country mentioned may lag behind and another one not included may catch up).

 

[chris N]

The problem with radio broadcasting in some countries with the Empire of the Rising Sun for example is that the Radio stations seem to be concentrated in the Home Islands,Korea and Formosa with little broadcasting station in Imperial Controlled parts of China. In Contrast the Commercial Radio Station in Honolulu is so powerful that it can be picked up in Guam and even the Philippines. In the Kingdom of Hawaii both political parties have supported a well developed Radio communication Industry as a means of warning the public from Weather and other threats.

 

[chris N]

The Election of 1936 saw the National Conservatives maintain their Majority. The Liberal Democrats elected a new leader as they had lost confidence in Mr Shapeway. George Tulsi was chosen as the new leader of the Liberal Democrats. Chales B Kamehameha II was chosen as the new chairman of the Ways and Means Committee moving from the Banking Committee.

 

[chris N]

Chairman Charles B Kamehameha II arrived with a delegation to check on the spending on the Commonwealth of Nations project he was joined by representatives of the US Treasury, Brazilian Government and the British Government.

 

[Archangel]

The problem with radio broadcasting in some countries with the Empire of the Rising Sun for example is that the Radio stations seem to be concentrated in the Home Islands,Korea and Formosa with little broadcasting station in Imperial Controlled parts of China. In Contrast the Commercial Radio Station in Honolulu is so powerful that it can be picked up in Guam and even the Philippines. In the Kingdom of Hawaii both political parties have supported a well developed Radio communication Industry as a means of warning the public from Weather and other threats.

This suggests that those parts of China will either be developing areas close to developed like parts of OTL Latin america or recently developed areas by TTL 2019.

 

[chris N]

Part of the problem regarding China is a lack of money to invest in things like radio stations on the part of the Chinese Government. The Empire of the Rising Sun has also limited development of radio stations with a range capable of covering vast areas for several reasons. There are Broadcasting Stations in Peking and Shanghai. In contrast the Imperial Government had been expanding telegraph and telephone lines.

 

[chris N]

In Budget hearings for the start of the new fiscal year the government had put 12 million dollars into the budget toward the construction of Commonwealth of Nations complex. For the first time the Small Social Democrat Party had objected to the spending of so much money and they had been joined by several Liberal Democrat members of the house. The Liberal Democrat Party had not taken a position on it as a party but it was clear that some in the party felt that Hawaii should spend less on it and others more.

 

[chris N]

It was becoming clear that opposition to spending large sums of money on the Commonwealth of Nations project was meeting with growing opposition around the world. The Prime Minister asked Chairman Charles B Kamehameha to tackle the cost of the project and how much money Hawaii should give to the project. Since Charles oversaw the writing of the Budget he was just the person to tackle the task. He asked for an assessment from the State Department and the Treasury Department. He proposed looking at the cost and the amount of money that everyone was expected to contribute. He wanted to reduce the demand for money and thus undermine the opposition .

 

[chris N]

Charles B Kamehameha II tackled the problem of the Financing of the Commonwealth of Nations Project int two ways: 1) to fund the construction project while at the same time reducing the cost to all of the Nations and 2) set up a foundation which would be funded by the contributions from nations and people around the world. He was able to speak to world leaders and people that he knew through his father to come up with an agreement which reduced the demands on the nations thus underming the opposition to the Commonwealth of nations Project. He was able to set up the Commonwealth of Nations Foundation and get nearly 100 million dollars in contributions to it plus another 100 million in contributions from Nations and wealthy individuals and foundations toward construction of the facility. Among the Organizations contributing to the Commonwealth of Nations was the Kamehameha Foundation. He also got money from the 100 richest people in the world.

 

[chris N]

In May 1937 Katherine Elizabeth gave birth to Triplets: Mary Elizabeth, George Thomas and William Charles. She return to work as Prime Minister full time in July and was very pleased with her cousin's solution to the Commonwealth problem

 

[chris N]

The Prime Minister then began to address National Defense and supported the construction of 2 new fleet aircraft carriers. She was being urged by the Hawaiian Navy and the New Air Force to modernize the defenses of Hawaii. Submitted was a Five year plan to replace aging ships in the navy.

 

[chris N]

The National Defense Act of 1938 was passed and it called for the scrapping of several capital ships and their replacement with new modern ships. The battleship Polynesia was to be scraped and replaced with an aircraft carrier. In fact the Polynesia would be the first of three ships to be built. The Admiral William Kamehameha class of destroyers would consist of 24 ships and they would be armed with the 5"/38 DP guns. The class would replace older ships which ranged in age from 38 to 28 years.

 

[chris N]

The National Defense Act of 1938 was the first act which also saw the new Royal Hawaiian Air Force funded as a separate entity. Thus the Royal Hawaiian Navy was facing a real competitor for funding. The Navy was getting funding but with the need to buy planes and equipment the Royal Hawaiian Air Force was guaranteed for the first time to see a major funding. The Royal Hawaiian Air Force had 1,500 personnel and under the plan it would expand to 6,000.

 

[chris N]

In 1939 Katherine received a phone call from her Father saying that his sister was looking for help in finding a job for her daughter Gretchen Thompson. Gretchen was graduating High School and was her Aunt's youngest child. She was bright but unsure as to what she wanted to do in life. She had an interest in politics so she had called brother George for help. George suggested that perhaps Katherine might find a job in the district office for Gretchen. Katherine's Chief of Staff gave Gretchen a call and she was hired. She started out part time until she graduated. She proved to be exceptional and accomplished any job that she was given. With the election coming Katherine was unsure as to whether she would run for another term as Prime Minister. Gretchen was now running the district office for Katherine and she decided to have a talk with her cousin to see what she wanted to do.

 

[chris N]

1940 Prime Minister Katherine E Kamehameha-McNamara and a delegation from Hawaii arrive for the opening of the Assembly Building and some of the other facilities. Much progress had been made and she and the others from around the world were impressed with the spreed of construction and the quality. What no one realized is that the Hawaiian leader was not going to run for re-election as the leader of the National Conservatives. In fact she had nearly decided not to run for re-election to the house but her father had talked her out of it. They needed to find someone and groom that person to run. It was Katherine who thought of her cousin. She lived in the district and the people are loved her.

 

[chris N]

Katherine had a meeting with her staff when she returned from Africa and let them know that she would not be running for re-election as Prime Minister. She also told them that this would be her last term in the house. She thanked everyone and told the staff that she had spoken with those interested in running. In fact everyone agreed that Gretchen would be the ideal candidate.. Gretchen would be more involved in the campaign and would work at least part of the time in her house office.

 

[chris N]

Prime Minister Robert Sterling has replaced Katherine as Prime Minister after the 1940 election. Katherine had remained in the House and had become Chairman of the Armed Services Committee and a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. The Liberal Democrats had gained 5 seats in the election of 1940 but the Prime Minster had a comfortable majority. He was well liked by the party and was able to make decisions and not second guess himself. He supported the Commonwealth of Nations despite the public having doubts about it. Katherine maintained a lower profile as she planned to leave the house with the next election. Then in 1942 Admiral William Kamehameha II was killed in a traffic accident in London. His sister was seriously injured in the car and was rushed to the hospital. Lt Cmdr William Kamehameha III RHN was given leave as was his Brother Lt Christopher W Kamehameha RHAF. They flew to London with their mother to make arrangements for the body to be sent home to Hawaii.