CONGRESS. (THE HAWAIIAN QUESTION.) 



225 



&nd industrious; that the ownership of land 

 is evenly divided ; that polygamy is virtually 

 suppressed, and that there need be no fear of its 

 revival. The act as reported, after providing 

 for a constituent convention, contained this sec- 

 tion : 



SEC. 3. That the delegates to the convention thus 

 elected shall meet at the seat of government of said 

 Territory on the third Monday after their election, 

 and, after organization, shall declare on behalf of the 

 people of said proposed State that they adopt the 

 Constitution of the United States; whereupon the 

 said convention shall be, and is hereby, author- 

 ized to form a constitution and State government 

 for said proposed State. The constitution shall be 

 republican in form, and make no distinction in civil 

 or political rights on account of race or color, except 

 as to Indians not taxed, and not to be repugnant to 

 the Constitution of the United States and the princi- 

 ples of the Declaration of Independence. And said 

 convention shall provide, by ordinance irrevocable 

 without the consent of the' United States and the 

 people of said State 



1. That perfect toleration of religious sentiment 

 shall be secured, and that no inhabitant of said State 

 shall ever be molested in person or property on ac- 

 count of his or her mode of religious worship. 



2. That the people inhabiting said proposed State 

 do agree and declare that they forever disclaim all 

 right and title to the unappropriated public lands ly- 

 ing within the boundaries thereof, and to all lands 

 lying within said limits owned or held by any Indi- 

 an or Indian tribes ; and that until the title thereto 

 shall have been extinguished by the United States 

 the same shall be and remain subject to the disposi- 

 tion of the United States, and said Indian lands 



"lall remain under the absolute jurisdiction and con- 

 >l of the Congress of the United States; that 

 le lands belonging to citizens of the United States 

 aiding without the said State shall never be taxed 

 I a higher rate than the lands belonging to the resi- 

 lents thereof; that no taxes shall be imposed by the 

 on lands or property therein belonging to or 

 ."hich may hereafter be purchased by the United 

 States or reserved for its use ; but nothing herein, or 

 the ordinance herein provided for, shall preclude 

 ic said State from taxing, as other lands are taxed, 

 lands owned or held oy any Indian who has sev- 

 his tribal relations, and has obtained from the 

 United States or from any person a title thereto by 

 patent or other grant, save or except such lands a*s 

 have been or may be granted to any Indian or Indi- 

 ans under any act of Congress containing a provision 

 exempting the lands thus granted from taxation; but 

 said ordinance shall provide that all such lands shall 

 be exempt from taxation by said State so long and to 

 .such extent as such act of Congress may prescribe. 



3. That the debts and liabilities of said Territory 

 :shall be assumed and paid by such State. 



4. That provision shall be made for the establish- 

 ment and maintenance of a system of public schools, 

 which shall be open to all the children of said State 

 and free from sectarian control. 



An amendment to the first limitation was 

 added, to this effect: " Provided, That polyga- 

 mous or plural marriages are forever prohibited." 

 There was some discussion of the point, as certain 

 members asserted that this amendment would 

 create an inequality in the States; but it was 

 contended that something of the same sort had 

 been done in the reconstruction of the Southern 

 States. The Senate passed the measure, July 

 10, 1894, with unimportant amendments in 

 which the House concurred. On July 16 the 

 President approved of the measure. 



A bill to enable the people of New Mexico to 

 form a constitution and State government, and 

 VOL. xxxiv. 15 A 



to be admitted into the Union on an equality 

 with the original States, passed the House of 

 Representatives June 28, 1894. In the Senate 

 it was referred to the Committee on Territories 

 and was reported back with amendments, and 

 was left awaiting action at the time of adjourn- 

 ment. 



A similar measure for the admission of Ari- 

 zona into the Union passed the House of Rep- 

 resentatives Dec. 15, 1893, was reported back 

 from the Senate Committee on Territories, and 

 awaited action at the time of adjournment. 



A measure for the admission of Oklahoma 

 Territory was introduced, but no action was 

 taken on it. 



The Hawaiian Question. The revolution 

 in Hawaii, the project for annexation to the 

 United States, and the policy of this country 

 toward the Provisional Government, received 

 early attention in Congress, and both Houses 

 asked for information from the Executive. The 

 President, on Dec. 18, 1893, sent in a message 

 giving details in regard to occurrences in Ha- 

 waii, his project for counter-revolution, and the 

 steps that he had taken toward restoring the 

 monarchy. It was as follows : 



To the Senate and House of Representatives : 



In my recent annual message to the Congress I 

 briefly referred to our relations with Hawaii, and ex- 

 pressed the intention of transmitting further informa- 

 tion on the subject when additional advices per- 

 mitted. 



Though I am not able now to report a definite 

 change in the actual situation, I am convinced that 

 the difficulties lately created both here and in Hawaii, 

 arid now standing in the way of a solution through 

 executive action of the problem presented, render it 

 proper and expedient that the matter should be re- 

 ferred to the broader authority and discretion of Con- 

 gress, with a full explanation of the endeavor thus 

 far made to deal with the emergency, and a statement 

 of the considerations which have governed my action. 



I suppose that right and justice should determine 

 the path to be followed in treating this subject. If 

 national honesty is to be disregarded, and a desire for 

 territorial extension, or dissatisfaction with a form of 

 government not our own, ought to regulate our con- 

 duct, I have entirely misapprehended the mission 

 and character of our Government and the behavior 

 which the conscience of our people demands of their 

 public servants. 



When the present Administration entered upon its 

 duties the Senate had under consideration a treaty 

 providing for the annexation of the Hawaiian Islands 

 to the territory of the United States. Surely under 

 our Constitution and laws the enlargement of our 

 limits is a manifestation of the highest attribute of 

 sovereignty, and if entered upon as an executive act 

 all things relating to the transaction should be clear 

 and free from suspicion. Additional importance at- 

 tached to this particular treaty of annexation, because 

 it contemplated a departure from unbroken American 

 tradition in providing for the addition to our territory 

 of islands of the sea more than 2,000 miles removed 

 from our nearest coast. 



These considerations might not of themselves call 

 for interference with the completion of a treaty en- 

 tered upon by a previous administration. But it 

 appeared from documents accompanying the treaty 

 when submitted to the Senate that the ownership of 

 Hawaii was tendered to us by a provisional govern- 

 ment set up to succeed the constitutional ruler of the 

 islands, who had 'been dethroned, and it did not ap- 

 pear that such provisional government had the sanc- 

 tion of either popular revolution or suffrage. Two 

 other remarkable features of the transaction naturally 



