378 



HAWAII. 



soon, he said to them, " Gentlemen, the troops 

 of the ' Boston ' landed at five o'clock this after- 

 noon, whether you are ready or not." The 

 Queen's Minister of Foreign Affairs sent the 

 following protest to Minister Stevens : 



I have the honor to inform your Excellency that 

 the troops from the United States steamer "Boston " 

 were landed in this port at 5 o'clock this evening, 

 without the request or knowledge of Her Majesty's 

 Government. 



As the situation is one which does not call for in- 

 terference on the part of the United States Govern- 

 ment, my colleagues and myself would most respect- 

 fully request of your Excellency the authority upon 

 which this action was taken. 1 would also add that 

 any protection that may have been considered neces- 

 sary for the American legation or for American 

 property and interests in this city would have been 

 cheerfully furnished by Her Majesty's Government. 



Another protest came from the Governor of 

 the island, who wrote : 



It is my duty to solemnly protest to your Excel- 

 lency against the landing this evening, without per- 

 mission from the proper authorities, of an armed force 

 from the United States ship " Boston." 



Your Excellency well knows that, when you have 

 desired to land naval forces of the United States for 

 the purpose of drill, permission by the local authori- 

 ties lias been readily accorded. 



On the present occasion, however, the circum- 

 stances are entirely different, and ostensibly the 

 present landing is for the discharge of functions 

 which are distinctly responsible duties of the Hawai- 

 ian Government. 



Such being the case, I am compelled to impress 

 upon your Excellency the international questions in- 

 volved in this matter and the grave responsibilities 

 thereby assumed. 



Mr. Stevens, on the following day, sent this 

 answer to Mr. Parker : 



Yours of yesterday, in regard to the landing of the 

 United States naval forces in Honolulu, duly received 

 and its import considered. 



In whatever the United States diplomatic and na- 

 val representatives have done, or may do, at this crit- 

 ical hour of Hawaiian affairs, we will be guided by 

 the kindest views and feelings for all the parties con- 

 cerned, and by the warmest sentiments lor the Ha- 

 waiian people and the persons of all nationalities. 



In answer to Mr. Cleghorn he wrote : 



Mv responsibility as the United States minister 

 plenipotentiary at this critical time in Hawaiian af- 

 fairs it is impossible for me to ignore. I assure you 

 that whatever responsibility the American diplomatic 

 and naval representatives have assumed, or may as- 

 sume, we shall do our utmost to regard the welfare of 

 all persons and interests concerned. 



The Queen, on the 17th, addressed the follow- 

 ing communication to Minister Stevens, which 

 was countersigned by all the ministers : 



The assurance conveyed by a royal proclamation 

 by myself and ministers yesterday having been re- 

 ceived by my native subjects, and by them ratified at 

 a mass meeting, was received in a different spirit by 

 the meeting representing the foreign population and 

 interests in my kingdom. It is now my desire to 

 give to your Excellency, as the diplomatic representa- 

 tive of the United States of America at my court, the 

 solemn assurance that the present Constitution will be 

 upheld and maintained by me and my ministers, and 

 no changes will be made except by the method there- 

 in provided. I desire to express to your Excellency 

 this assurance in the spirit of that friendship which 

 has ever existed between my kingdom and that of 



the Government of the United States of America, 

 and which I trust will long continue. 



An hour after this had been delivered to the 

 American minister the members of the Queen's 

 Cabinet called on him to ask him to assist the 

 authorized Government in suppressing the revolt, 

 or, if he did not wish to do that, to remove the 

 United States troops back on board the " Bos- 

 ton," as the Government had ample forces. He 

 answered that the troops were there for the 

 specific purpose of protecting American life and 

 property, and could not take sides either with 

 the monarchy or with those who were creating a 

 new government. The minister and naval com- 

 mander, in landing troops without the request, 

 and keeping them on shore against the protests 

 of the established authorities, acted on standing 

 instructions first issued by Secretary of State 

 Bayard and the Secretary of the Navy in 1887, 

 according to which American troops should be 

 landed in Hawaii when necessary for the protec- 

 tion of American life and property and for the 

 preservation of public order. 



Establishment of a Provisional Govern- 

 ment. The Committee of Safety that evening 

 met in the house of Henry Waterhouse and pro- 

 ceeded to organize a government that could of- 

 ficially assume and systematically administer the 

 public affairs of the' country on the abrogation 

 of the monarchy. The first thing to do was to 

 select ifcommander for the volunteers that had 

 pledged themselves to fight for the revolution, 

 and the post was offered to John H. Soper. 



The Committee of Safety met again, on the 

 morning of Tuesday, the 17th, at the office of 

 W. 0. Smith, to complete their plans, and in 

 the afternoon, one of the committee, Cooper, an 

 American citizen, at twenty minutes before three 

 o'clock read a proclamation ending *with the 

 following declaration : 



We ; citizens and residents of the Hawaiian Islands, 

 organized and acting for the public safety and the 

 common good, hereby proclaim as follows : 



The Hawaiian monarchical system of government is 

 hereby abrogated. 



A provisional government for the control and 

 management of puolic affairs and the protection of 

 the public peace is hereby established, to exist until 

 terms of union with the 'United States of America 

 have been negotiated and agreed upon. 



During the reading, S. A. Damon and W. 0. 

 Smith grew apprehensive lest the Government 

 authorities should seize their persons, and the 

 former sent across the street to the barracks to 

 ask Lieut. Swinburne if he was not going to send 

 some one over to protect them. Lieut. Swin- 

 burne replied : " Capt. Wiltse's orders are to re- 

 main passive." 



After the reading of the proclamation the 

 committee adjourned to the office of the Minis- 

 ter of the Interior to formulate their plans and 

 get themselves into working order as a pro- 

 visional government. While they were there, 

 Parker and Cornwell came in to hold a confer- 

 ence with them. Minister Stevens, having sent 

 his aid, and Capt. Wiltse having sent an officer, 

 to examine the Government building and see if 

 the Provisional Government was in actual pos- 

 session, formally recognized the Provisional Gov- 

 ernment as the de facto Government of the coun- 

 try, in compliance with the following request of 



