CONGRESS. (THE HAWAIIAN QUESTION.) 



227 



advantageous to the islands, and the cheapest and 

 least embarrassing in the end to the United States. 

 If it was wise for the United States, through Secretary 

 Marcy, thirty-eight years ago, to offer to expend 

 $100,000 to secure a treaty of annexation, it certainly 

 can not be chimerical or unwise to expend $100,000 

 to si-cure annexation in the near future. To-day the 

 United States has five times the wealth she possessed 

 in 1854, and the reasons now existing for annexation 

 are much stronger than they were then. I can not 

 refrain from expressing the opinion with emphasis 

 that the golden hour is near at hand." 



These declarations certainly show a disposition and 

 condition of mind which may be usefully recalled 

 when interpreting the beneficence of his conceded 

 acts, or when considering the probabilities of such 

 conduct on his part as may not be admitted. In this 

 view it seems proper to also quote from a letter writ- 

 ten by the minister to the Secretary of State on the 

 8th day of March, 1892, nearly a year prior to the 

 iirst step taken toward annexation. After stating the 

 possibility that the existing Government of Hawaii 

 might be -overturned by an orderly and peaceful 

 revolution, Minister Stevens writes as follows: 

 "Ordinarily, in like circumstances, the rule seems to 

 tie to limit the landing and movement of United 

 States forces in foreign waters and dominion exclu- 

 sively to the protection of the United States legation 

 and of the lives and property of American citizens ; 

 but as the relations of the United States to Hawaii 

 are exceptional, and in former years the United 

 States officials here took somewhat" exceptional action 

 in circumstances of disorder, I desire to know how 

 far the present minister and naval commander may 

 deviate from established international rules and 

 precedents in the contingencies indicated in the first 

 part of this dispatch." 



To a minister of this temper, full of zeal for an- 

 nexation, there seemed to arise in January, 1893, the 

 precise opportunity for which he was watchfully 

 \\aiting an opportunity which, by timely deviation 

 from established international rules and precedents, 

 might be improved to successfully accomplish the 

 great object in view; and we are quite prepared for 

 the exultant enthusiasm with which, in a letter to the 

 State Department dated Feb. 1, 1893, he declares " the 

 Hawaiian pear is now fully ripe, and this is the golden 

 hour of the United States to pluck it." 



As a further illustration of the activity of this dip- 

 lomatic representative, attention is called to the fact 

 that on the day the above letter was written, appar- 

 ently unable longer to restrain his ardor, he issued a 

 proclamation whereby, "in the name of the United 

 States," he assumed the protection of the Hawaiian 

 Islands, and declared that said action was "taken 

 pending and subject to negotiations at Washington." 

 Of course this assumption of a protectorate was 

 promptly disavowed by our Government, but the 

 American flag remained over the Government build- 

 ing at Honolulu and the forces remained on guard 

 until April, and after Mr. Blount's arrival on the 

 scene, when both were removed. A brief statement 

 of the occurrences that led to the subversion of the 

 constitutional Government of Hawaii in the interests 

 of annexation to the United States will exhibit the 

 true complexion of that transaction. 



On Saturday, Jan. 14, 1893, the Queen of Hawaii, 

 who had been contemplating the proclamation of a 

 new Constitution, had, in deference to the wishes and 

 remonstrances of her Cabinet, renounced the project, 

 for the present at least. Taking this relinquished 

 purpose as a basis of action, citizens of Honolulu, 

 numbering from 50 to 100, mostly resident aliens, 

 met in a private oih'ce and selected a so-called Com- 

 mittee of Safety, composed of 13 persons, 7 of whom 

 were foreign subjects, and consisted of 5 Americans, 

 1 Englishman, and 1 German. This committee, 

 though its designs were not revealed, had in view 

 nothing less than annexation to the United States, 

 and between Saturday and the following Monday, 

 the 10th of January exactly when action was taken 



may not be clearly disclosed they were certainly 

 in communication with the United' States minister. 

 On Monday morning the Queen and her Cabinet made 

 public a proclamation, with a notice which was spe- 

 cially served upon the representatives of all foreign 

 governments, that any changes in the Constitution 

 would be sought only in methods provided by that 

 instrument. Nevertheless, at the call and under the 

 auspices of the Committee of Safety, a mass meeting 

 of citizens was held on that day to protest against the 

 Queen's alleged illegal and unlawful proceedings and 

 purposes. Even at this meeting the Committee of 

 Safety continued to disguise their real purpose, and 

 contented themselves with procuring the passage of 

 a resolution denouncing the Queen and empowering 

 the committee to devise ways and means "to secure 

 the permanent maintenance" of law and order and the 

 protection of life, liberty, and property in Hawaii." 

 This meeting adjourned between 3 and 4 o'clock in 

 the afternoon. On the same day, and immediately 

 after such adjournment, the committee, unwilling to 

 take further steps without the co-operation of the 

 United States minister, addressed him a note repre- 

 senting that the public safety was menaced and that 

 life and property were in danger, and concluded as 

 follows, "We are unable to protect ourselves without 

 aid, and therefore pray for the protection of United 

 States forces." Whatever may be thought of the 

 other contents of this note, the absolute truth of this 

 latter statement is incontestable. 



When the note was written and delivered, the com- 

 mittee, so far as it appears, had neither a man nor a 

 gun at their command; and after its delivery they 

 became so panic-stricken at their position that they 

 sent spme of their number to interview the minister 

 and request him not to land the United States forces 

 till the next morning; but he replied that the troops 

 had been ordered, and whether the committee were 

 ready or not the landing should take place ; and so it 

 happened that on Jan. 16, 1893, between 4 and 5 

 o'clock in the afternoon, a detachment of marines of 

 the United States steamer " Boston," with two pieces 

 of artillery, landed at Honolulu. The men, upward 

 of 160 in all, were supplied with double cartridge 

 belts filled with ammunition, and with haversacks 

 and canteens, and were accompanied by a hospital 

 corps with stretchers and medical supplies. This 

 military^ demonstration upon the soil of Honolulu 

 was of itself an act of war, unless made either with 

 the consent of the Government of Hawaii or for the 

 bona fide purpose of protecting the imperiled lives 

 and property of citizens of the United States. 



But there is no pretense of any such consent on the 

 part of the Government of the Queen, which at that 

 time was undisputed and was both the de facto and 

 de jure Government. In point of fact, the existing 

 Government, instead of requesting the presence of an 

 armed force, protested against it. There is as little 

 basis for the pretense that such forces were landed 

 for the security of American life and property. If so, 

 they would have been stationed in the vicinity of 

 such property, and so as to protect it, instead of at a 

 distance, and so as to command the Hawaiian Gov- 

 ernment building and palace. Admiral '-Skerrett, 

 the officer in command of our naval force on the Pa- 

 cific station, has frankly stated that, in his opinion, the 

 location of the troops was inadvisable if they were 

 landed for the protection of American citizens, whose 

 residences and places of business, as well as the lega- 

 tion and consulate, were in a distant part of the city, 

 but the location selected was a wise one if the forces 

 were landed for the purpose of supporting the Pro- 

 visional Government. 



If any peril to life and property calling for any such 

 martial array had existed, Great Britain and other 

 foreign powers interested would not have been bc- 

 hincf the United States in activity to protect their 

 citizens. But they made no sign in that direction. 

 When these armed' men were landed, the city of Hon- 

 olulu was in its customary orderly and peaceful con- 

 dition. There was no symptom of riot or disturbance 



