Negotiations at Washington

The five Commissioners of the Provisional Government arrived at Washington, February 3rd, and were well received by the administration. The favor with which their mission was received by the press and people of the United States surpassed all expectation, and the impression then made has never been effaced. The Chamber of Commerce of San Francisco and the Legislatures of several states passed resolutions in favor of annexation.

They had official interviews with the Secretary of State on the 4th, 7th and 9th of February, and were introduced to President Harrison on the 11th. Hon. C. R. Bishop and W. A. Kinney joined them at Washington, and gave them valuable assistance, both by their influence and their counsel. President Harrison and his Cabinet devoted much time and study to the subject of the proposed treaty of annexation, giving it precedence over other business for the time.

On the 7th, Secretary Foster informed the Commissioners that the Cabinet had decided to proceed immediately with the negotiation of the treaty of annexation, which they had reason to believe would be ratified by the necessary two thirds vote of the Senate. The financial provisions necessary for carrying out the treaty might be left to be acted upon by the House of Representatives at a later period. Accordingly the treaty was drawn up by the Secretary and the Hawaiian Commissioners, and signed on the 14th of February. In drafting this treaty it was sought to accomplish its main object without infringing on the legislative prerogatives of Congress, to avoid arousing unnecessary opposition in that branch of the government. Hence it reserved to Congress the determination of all questions relating to the future form of government of the annexed territory, the manner and terms under which the revenue and navigation laws of the United States were to be extended to it, etc., but provided that until Congress should legislate on these subjects, the existing government and laws of the Hawaiian Islands should be continued in force.

On this point President Harrison expressed himself as follows: "This legislation should be, and, I doubt not, will be not only just to the natives and all other residents of the islands, but should be characterized by great liberality and, a high regard to the rights of the people and of all foreigners domiciled there."

The treaty made a liberal provision for the deposed Queen Liliuokalani, and the Princess Kaiulani. It was laid before the Senate for its concurrence on the 17th of February, and was in the following terms:

"The United States of America and the Provisional Government of the Hawaiian Islands, in view of the natural dependence of those islands upon the United States, of their geographical proximity thereto, of the intimate part taken by the citizens of the United States in their implanting the seeds of Christian civilization, of the long continuance of their exclusive reciprocal commercial relations whereby their mutual interests have been developed, and the preponderant and paramount share thus acquired by the United States and their citizens in the productions, industries and trade of the said Islands, and especially in view of the desire expressed by the said Government of the Hawaiian Islands that those Islands shall be incorporated into the United States as an integral part thereof and under sovereignty, in order to provide for and assure the security and prosperity of the said islands, the High Contracting Parties have determined to accomplish by treaty an object so important to their mutual and permanent welfare.

To this end the High Contracting Parties have conferred full power and authority upon their respectively appointed Plenipotentiaries, to wit:

The President of the United States of America, John W. Foster, Secretary of State of the United States; and The President of the Executive and Advisory Councils of the Provisional Government of the Hawaiian Islands, Lorrin A Thurston, William R. Castle, William C. Wilder, Charles L. Carter and Joseph Marsden;

And the said Plenipotentiaries, after having communicated to each other their respective full powers, found in good and due form, have agreed upon and concluded the following articles:

ARTICLE I

The Government of the Hawaiian Islands hereby cedes, from the date of the exchange of the ratifications of this Treaty, absolutely and without reserve to the United States forever all rights of sovereignty of whatsoever kind in and over the Hawaiian Islands and their dependencies, renouncing in favor of the United States every sovereign right of which as an independent nation it is now possessed; and henceforth said Hawaiian Islands and every island and key thereunto appertaining and each and every portion thereof shall become and be an integral part of the territory of the United States

ARTICLE II

The Government of the Hawaiian Islands also cedes and transfers to the United States the absolute fee and ownership of all public, government or crown lands, public buildings or edifices, ports, harbors, fortifications, military or naval equipments and all other public property of every kind and description belonging to the Government of the Hawaiian Islands, together with every right and appurtenance thereunto appertaining. The existing laws of the United States relative to public lands shall not apply to such lands in the Hawaiian Islands, hut the Congress of the United States shall enact special laws for their management and disposition: Provided, that all revenue from or proceeds of the same, except as regards such part thereof as may be used or occupied for the civil, military or naval purposes of the United States or may be assigned to the local use of the Government, shall he used solely for the benefit of the inhabitants of the Hawaiian Islands for educational and other public purposes.

ARTICLE III

Until Congress shall otherwise provide, the existing Government and laws of the Hawaiian Islands are hereby continued, subject to the paramount authority of the United States. The President, by and with the consent of the Senate, shall appoint a Commissioner to reside in said Islands who shall have the power to veto any act of said Government, and an act disapproved by him shall thereupon be void and of no effect unless approved by the President.

Congress shall, within one year from the exchange of the ratifications of this Treaty, enact the necessary legislation to extend to the Hawaiian Islands the laws of the United States respecting duties upon imports, the internal revenue, commerce and navigation; but until Congress shall otherwise provide, the existing commercial relations of the Hawaiian Islands, both with the United States and foreign countries shall continue as regards the commerce of said Islands with the rest of the United States and with foreign countries, but this shall not be construed as giving to said Islands the power to enter into any new stipulation or agreement whatsoever or to have diplomatic intercourse with any foreign government. The consular representatives of foreign powers now resident in the Hawaiian Islands shall be permitted to continue in the exercise of their consular functions until they can receive their exequaturs from the Government of the United States.

ARTICLE IV

The further immigration of Chinese laborers into the Hawaiian Islands is hereby prohibited until Congress shall otherwise provide. Furthermore, Chinese persons of the classes now or hereafter excluded by law from entering the United States will not be permitted to come from the Hawaiian Islands to other parts of the United States, and if so coming shall be subject to the same penalties as if entering from a foreign country.

ARTICLE V

The public debt of the Hawaiian Islands, lawfully existing at the date of the exchange of the ratifications of this Treaty, including the amounts due to depositors in. the Hawaiian Postal Savings Bank, is hereby assumed by the Government of the United States; but the liability of the United States in this regard shall in no case exceed three and one quarter millions of dollars. So long, however, as the existing Government and the present commercial relations of the Hawaiian Islands are continued, as herein before provided, said Government shall continue to pay the interest on said debt.

ARTICLE V

The Government of the United States agrees to pay to Liliuokalani, the late Queen, within one year from the date of the exchange of the ratifications of this Treaty the sum of Twenty Thousand Dollars, and annually thereafter a like sum of twenty thousand dollars during the term of her natural life, provided she in good faith submits to the authority of the Government of the United States and the local Government of the Islands.

And the Government of the United States further agrees to pay to Princess Kaiulani within one year from the date of the exchange of the ratifications of this Treaty the gross sum of one hundred and fifty thousand dollars, provided she in good faith submits to the authority of the Government of the United States and the local Government of the [glands.

ARTICLE VII.

The present Treaty shall be ratified by the President of the United States, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, on the one part, and by the Provisional Government of the Hawaiian Islands on the other, and the ratifications thereof shall be exchanged at Honolulu as soon as possible. Such exchange shall be made on the part of the United States by the Commissioner hereinbefore provided for, and it shall operate as a complete and final conveyance to the United States of all the rights and property herein ceded to them. Within one month of such exchange of ratifications the Provisional Government shall furnish said Commissioner with a full and complete schedule of all the public property herein ceded and transferred. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the respective Plenipotentiaries have signed the above articles and have hereunto affixed their seals.

Done in duplicate at the city of Washington this fourteenth day of February, one thousand eight hundred and ninety three.

JOHN W. FOSTER, [SEAL]

LORRIN A. THURSTON, [SEAL]

WILLIAM R. CASTLE, [SKAL]

WILLIAM C. WILDER, [SEAL]

CHARLES L. CARTER, [SEAL]

JOSEPH MARSDKN. [SEAL]

The Treaty was favorably reported upon by the Committee on Foreign Relations, of which Senator Morgan is the chairman, and was favored by a large majority of the Senate. It was, however, so near the close of the Congressional term that it was impossible to press the matter to a vote, or even to gain time for a discussion of it in the executive session. It had to be left as a legacy to the next administration. Nor was it long before certain adverse influences began to manifest their presence in Congress.

The Mission Of Paul Neumann

 The ex-Queen had sent a letter to President Harrison on the 19th of January, by the Claudine, requesting that no steps should be taken by the Government of the United States until her side of the case had been heard. On the 2nd of February, she dispatched two commissioners by the Australia, to represent her cause at Washington, viz., Mr. Paul Neumann and the young prince David Kawananakoa. They were accompanied to Washington and back to Honolulu by Mr. E. C. Macfarlane, one of the ablest of her adherents.

Paul Neumann carried with him not only a commission as envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary, but also a power of attorney, authorizing him in the first place, to negotiate with the United States Government for "such official or other consideration, benefit or advantage" as could be obtained from the United States for herself and Kaiulani; and secondly; if "no official consideration" for herself or Kaiulani should be attainable, then to arrange for "such pecuniary considerations, benefits and advantages," as could be secured for herself and Kaiulani from the United States, and to execute in her name whatever releases and acquittances of all her "claims to the throne of the Hawaiian Islands" might be requisite to secure such pecuniary consideration.

Mr. Neumann also took with him a letter signed by the ex-Queen on the 31st of January, addressed to the President elect, Hon. Grover Cleveland, in which she asked for his "friendly assistance in granting redress for a wrong which we claim has been done to us, under color of the assistance of the naval forces of the United States in a friendly port."

As her attorney, he had skillfully drawn up a precis or statement of the circumstances attending the revolution, to support this contention that the Queen's surrender had been compelled by the forces of the U. S. ship Boston. In this document he made the following statement in regard to the events succeeding the revolution:

"This state of things was only made possible by the armed support of the United States troops ashore and the guns of the U. S. warship Boston, trained on the town. The usurpation of authority would not have lasted an hour without such armed support and encouragement by the United States Minister.

As a logical sequence to these events, the lawless and criminal foreign element, armed by the usurpers, and paid to terrorize the natives and law abiding citizens, now displayed a mutinous spirit, and the Provisional Government was compelled to call upon the American Minister to assume a protectorate, and to disband its armed force, which was accomplished on February 1st. This fact alone demonstrates that the so-called Provisional Government has no strength of its own, either to preserve the peace or to enforce obedience to its edicts."

The ex-Queen's commissioners left San Francisco, February 11th, reaching Washington on the 17th. Mr. Macfarlane and Prince David at once proceeded to New York to present her autograph letter, together with a copy of Mr. Neumann's precis to the President elect.

On their arrival there they had an interview with Mr. O'Brien, his private secretary, through whom they sent the documents to Mr. Cleveland at Lakewood.

He immediately caused the precis to be published in the New York World. It is evident that his mind was deeply impressed at the outset with the belief that the late revolution was the result of a deeply-laid conspiracy, aided and abetted by the United States Minister and Capt. Wiltse of the Boston.

The influence of the President-elect soon began to be felt in the attitude of the Democratic Senators towards the treaty. Hostility to it also began to be expressed by Democrats in the House of Representatives. Mr. Neumann had an interview on the 21st with Secretary Foster, to whom he presented a copy of his statement and also sent another copy to the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations.

The Mission of Theo. H. Davies and Kaiulani

Meanwhile another party appeared upon the scene. The Princess Kaiulani, daughter of Gov. Archibald Cleghorn of Honolulu, and the Princess Likelike, the younger sister of Liliuokalani, was heiress presumptive to the throne of Hawaii. She was seventeen years of age and had been residing for some years in England for her education, under the guardianship of Theophilus H. Davies, Esq., a gentleman who had amassed a large fortune in mercantile pursuits in Honolulu.

On hearing of the deposition of the Queen, Mr. Davies at once took active steps in the interest of his royal ward. While fully admitting the justice of the Queen's deposition, he protested against annexation, and proposed a Regency in the name of Kaiulani, with Mr. Dole at its head, to administer the Government for three years, after which Kaiulani should be installed as Queen.

Mr. Davies embarked with the youthful princess from Liverpool, February 22d, arriving at New York, March 1st. They immediately issued the following poetical manifesto:

"To THE AMERICAN PEOPLE:

Unbidden I stand upon your shores to-day, where I thought so soon to receive a royal welcome on my way to my own Kingdom. I come unattended, except by loving hearts that come with me over the wintry seas. I hear that commissioners from my own land have been for many days asking this great nation to take away my little vineyard. They speak no word to me, and leave me to find out as I can from the rumors in the air, that they would leave me without a home, or a name or a nation.

Seventy years ago, Christian America sent over Christian men and women to give religion and civilization to Hawaii. They gave us the gospel. They made us a nation, and we learned to love and trust America. To-day, three of the sons of those missionaries are at your capitol, asking you to undo their father's work. Who sent them? Who gave them authority to break the constitution which they swore they would uphold?

Today, I, a poor, weak girl, with not one of my people near me, and with all these Hawaiian statesmen against me, have strength to stand up for the rights of my people. Even now I can hear a wail in my heart, and it gives me strength and courage, and I am strong strong in the faith of God, strong in the knowledge that I am right, strong in the strength of 70,000,000 of people, who in this free land will hear my cry, and will refuse to let their flag cover dishonor to mine."

(Signed) KAIULANI

This proceeding' on the part of Mr. Davies was entered upon without consulting Liliuokalani, and was deprecated by her envoys, who feared that it would prejudice their cause with the American people. Mr. Davies and his ward arrived at Washington, March 8th, where he was accorded a friendly hearing by the President, which inspired him with hope and confidence. The Princess was cordially received at the White House on the 13th, and seems to have won the heart of her gracious hostess. She published her farewell address to the people of the United States, March 21st, and sailed the same day for Liverpool.

Withdrawal Of The Treaty

The President was inaugurated on Saturday, March 4, 1893. On Monday, the 6th, the Senate met in special session to confirm the appointment of his Cabinet. On Thursday, the 9th, the Senate held its next session, when the President sent in a message, withdrawing from their consideration the treaty negotiated with Hawaii. This he did without assigning any reasons or stating his intentions. The new Secretary of State, Mr. Gresham, told Commissioner Thurston on the 10th, that "with insignificant knowledge of facts and of detail, they desired time for consideration of .the subject, and the treaty had been withdrawn for that purpose." On the same day he intimated to Admiral Brown his impression that "some kind of a job was mixed up in the matter."

On the same day Secretary Hoke Smith telegraphed to Mr. Blount of Macon, Georgia, asking him to "come prepared for a confidential trip of great importance" to Honolulu. From that day on the President became inaccessible to the Hawaiian Commissioners, and from that time on they could obtain no information as to the intentions of the Administration concerning Hawaii.

  
Hon. J. H. Blount                    His Ex. Albert J. Willis

Messrs. Wilder and Marsden of the Hawaiian Commission speedily returned home. Mr. Castle followed later, arriving in Honolulu, April 7th, in company with the ex-Queen's commissioners and Mr. Nordhoff. Mr. C. L. Carter remained at Washington during Mr. Thurston's absence at Chicago; but the Secretary constantly declined to allow him any opportunity of making a statement on behalf of the Provisional Government. J. Mott Smith was superseded as Hawaiian Minister at Washington by Mr. L. A. Thurston, who was officially received as Minister by President Cleveland, June 9, 1895.

The President in replying to Thurston's address, said in part:

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