228 



CONGRESS. (THE HAWAIIAN QUESTION.) 



in any quarter. Men, women, and children were 

 about 'the streets as usual, and nothing varied the or- 

 dinary routine or disturbed the ordinary tranquillity 

 except the landing of the "Boston's" marines and 

 their march through the town to the quarters assigned 

 them. Indeed, tlie fact that after having called for 

 the landing of the United States forces on the plea of 

 danger to lite and property, the Committee of Safety 

 themselves requested the minister to postpone action, 

 exposed the untruthfulness of their representations of 

 present peril to life and property. 



The peril they saw was an anticipation growing 

 out of guilty intentions on their part, and something 

 which, though not then existing, they knew would 

 certainly follow their attempt to overthrow the Gov- 

 ernment of the Queen without the aid of the United 

 States forces. 



Thus it appears that Hawaii was taken possession 

 of by the United States forces without the consent or 

 wish of the Government of the islands, or of any- 

 body else, so far as shown, except the United States 

 minister. 



Therefore the military occupation of Honolulu by 

 the United States on the day mentioned was wholly 

 without justification, either as an occupation by con- 

 sent or as an occupation necessitated by dangers 

 threatening American life and property. It must be 

 accounted for in some other way and on some other 

 ground, and its real motive and purpose are neither 

 obscure nor far to seek. 



The United States forces being now on the scene 

 and favorably stationed, the committee proceeded to 

 carry out their original scheme. They met the next 

 morning, Tuesday, the 17th, perfected the plan of 

 temporary government, and fixed upon its principal 

 officers. 10 of whom were drawn from the 13 mem- 

 bers of the Committee of Safety. Between 1 and 2 

 o'clock, by squads and by different routes to avoid 

 notice, and having first taken the precaution of ascer- 

 taining whether there was any one there to oppose 

 them, they proceeded to the Government building to 

 proclaim the new Government. 



No sign of opposition was manifest, and thereupon 

 an American citizen began to read the proclamation 

 from the .steps of the Government building almost 

 entirely without auditors. It is said that before the 

 reading was finished quite a concourse of persons, 

 variously estimated at from 50 to 100, some armed 

 and some unarmed, gathered about the committee to 

 give them aid and confidence. This statement is 

 not important, since the one controlling factor in the 

 whole affair was unquestionably the United States 

 marines, who, drawn up under arms and with artil- 

 lery in readiness only 76 yards distant, dominated 

 the situation. 



The Provisional Government thus proclaimed was 

 V>y the terms of the proclamation u to exist until terms 

 of union with the United States had been negotiated 

 and agreed upon." The United States minister, pur- 

 suant to prior agreement, recognized this Government 

 within an hour after the reading of the proclamation, 

 and before five o'clock, in answer to an inquiry on 

 behalf of the Queen and her Cabinet, announced that 

 he had done so. 



When our minister recognized the Provisional 

 Government, the only basis upon which it rested was 

 the fact that the Committee of Safety had, in the man- 

 ner above stated, declared it to exist. It was neither 

 a government de facto nor de jure. That it was not 

 in such possession of the Government property and 

 agencies as entitled it to recognition is conclusively 

 proved by a note found in the files of the legation at 

 Honolulu, addressed by the declared head of the Pro- 

 visional Government to Minister Stevens, dated Jan. 

 17. l.sii:}, in which he, acknowledges with expressions 

 of appreciation the minister's recognition of the Pro- 

 visional Government, and states that it is not yet in 

 the possession of the station house (the place where a 

 large number of the Queen's troops were quartered'), 

 though the same had been demanded of the Queen's 

 officers in charge. Nevertheless, this wrongful recog- 



nition by our minister placed the Government of the 

 Queen in a position of most perilous perplexity. 



On the one hand, she had possession of the palace, 

 of the barracks, and of the police station, and had at 

 her command at least 500 fully armed men and sev- 

 eral pieces of artillery. Indeed, the whole military 

 force of her .kingdom" was on her side and at her din 



Kosal, while the Committee of Safety, by actual scarcl 

 ad discovered that there were but very few arms L 

 Honolulu that were not in the service of the Govern- 

 ment. In this state of things, if the Queen could 

 have dealt with the insurgents alone, her course 

 would have been plain and the result unmistakable. 

 But the United States had allied itself with her ene- 

 mies, had recognized them as the true Government ot 

 Hawaii, and had put her and her adherents in the 

 position of opposition against lawful authority. She 

 knew that she could not withstand the power of the 

 United States, but she believed that she might safely 

 trust to its justice. 



Accordingly, some hours after the recognition of 

 the Provisional Government by the United States 

 minister, the palace, the barracks, and the police 

 station, with all the military resources of the coun- 

 try, were delivered up by the Queen upon the repre- 

 sentation made to her that her cause would thereafter 

 be reviewed at Washington, and while protesting 

 that she surrendered to the superior force of the 

 United States, whose minister had caused United 

 States troops to be landed at Honolulu and declared 

 that he would support the Provisional Government, 

 arid that she yielded her authority to prevent colli- 

 sion of armed forces and loss of life, and only until 

 such time as the United States, upon the facts being 

 presented to it, should undo the action of its repre- 

 sentative and reinstate her in the authority she 

 claimed as the constitutional sovereign of the Hawai- 

 ian Islands. 



This protest was delivered to the chief of the Pro- 

 visional Government, who indorsed thereon his ac- 

 knowledgment of its receipt. The terms of the pro- 

 test were read without dissent by those assuming to 

 constitute the Provisional Government, who were cer- 

 tainly charged with the knowledge that the Queen, 

 instead of finally abandoning her power, had ap- 

 pealed to the justice of the United States for rein- 

 statement in her authority ; and yet the Provisional 

 Government, with this unanswered protest in its hand, 

 hastened to negotiate with the United States for the 

 permanent banishment of the Queen from power and 

 for a sale of her kingdom. 



Our country was in danger of occupying the posi- 

 tion of having actually set up a temporary govern- 

 ment on foreign soil, for the purpose of acquiring 

 through that agency territory which we had wrong- 

 fully put in its possession. The control of both sides 

 of a bargain acquired in such a manner is called by a 

 familiar and unpleasant name when found in private 

 transactions. We are not without a precedent show- 

 ing how scrupulously we avoided such accusations 

 in "former days. After the people of Texas had de- 

 clared their independence of Mexico they resolved 

 that on the acknowledgment of their independence 

 by the United States "they would seek admission 

 into the Union. Several months after the battle 

 of San Jacinto, by which Texan independence was 

 practically assured and established, President Jack- 

 son declined to recognize it, alleging as one of his 

 reasons that in the circumstances it became us " to 

 beware of a too early movement, as it might subject 

 us, however unjustly, to the imputation of seeking to 

 establish the claim of our neighbors to a territory 

 with a view to its subsequent acquisition by our- 

 selves." This is in marked contrast with the hasty 

 recognition of a government openly and conccdedl 

 set up for the purpose of tendering to us ten-it " ! 

 annexation. 



I believe that a candid and thorough examinajtic 

 of the facts will force the conviction that the 

 visional Government owes its existence to an ar 

 invasion by the United States. Fair-minded people, 



