by Rev. S. B. Bishop

The President's Endeavor To Restore The Queen

An extra session of Congress was held in Washington from August 7th to November 3rd. There was a general expectation that the President would give to Congress the results of Mr. Blount's inquiries, and recommend a course of policy towards Hawaii. But an impenetrable secrecy veiled the whole subject. Action was deferred until it would be too late for Congress to interfere during the extra session.

‘

Then the President opened a new and very remarkable chapter in the history of Hawaii. During this period of uncertainty, the ex-Queen sent Mr. E. C. Macfarlane on a secret mission to Washington. Arriving there September 10th, he was granted long and confidential interviews both with Mr. Blount and the Secretary of State, and thus was enabled to bring back exclusive information in regard to the secret views of the Administration.

Late in September the Hon. Albert S. Willis of Louisville, Kentucky, was summoned to Washington, where he received his appointment as Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Hawaii. His credentials were dated September 27th. He was for three weeks in frequent intercourse with the President and Secretary of State, and became fully possessed of their views, as well as familiar with the matter of Blount's Report. Mr. Willis had been in Congress from 1876 to 1886. October 18th, he received his final instructions, as follows :

DEPARTMENT OF STATE, WASHINGTON, October 18th, 1893

 

Sir: Supplementing the general instructions which you have received with regard to your official duties, it is necessary to communicate to you, in confidence, special instructions for your guidance in so far as concerns the relation of the Government of the United States towards the de facto Government of the Hawaiian Islands.

 

The President deemed it his duty to withdraw from the Senate the treaty of annexation which has been signed by the Secretary of State and the agents of the Provisional Government, and to dispatch a trusted representative to Hawaii to impartially investigate the causes of the so-called revolution and ascertain and report the true situation in those Islands. This information was needed the better to enable the President to discharge a delicate and important public duty.

 

The instructions given to Mr. Blount, of which you are furnished with a copy, point out a line of conduct to be observed by him in his official and personal relations on the Islands, by which you will be guided so far as they are applicable and not inconsistent with what is herein contained.

 

It remains to acquaint you with the President's conclusions upon the facts embodied in Mr. Blount's reports and to direct your course, in accordance therewith.

 

The Provisional Government was not established by the Hawaiian people, or with their consent or acquiescence, nor has it since existed with their consent. The Queen refused to surrender her powers to the Provisional Government until convinced that the minister of the United States had recognized it as the de facto authority, and would support and defend it with the military force of the United States, and that resistance would precipitate a bloody conflict with that force. She was advised and assured by her ministers and by leaders of the movement for the overthrow of her government, that if she surrendered under protest her case would afterwards be fairly considered by the President of the United States. The Queen finally wisely yielded to the armed forces of the United States then quartered in Honolulu, relying upon the good faith and honor of the President, when informed of what had occurred, to undo the action of the minister and reinstate her and the authority which she claimed as the constitutional sovereign of the Hawaiian Islands.

 

After a patient examination of Mr. Blount's report the President is satisfied that the movement against the Queen, if not instigated, was encouraged and supported by the representative of this Government at Honolulu; that he promised in advance to aid her enemies in an effort to overthrow the Hawaiian Government and set up by force a new government in the place, and that he kept this promise by causing a detachment of troops to be landed from the Boston on the 16th of January, and by recognizing the Provisional Government the next day when it was too feeble to defend itself, and the Constitutional Government was able to successfully maintain its authority against any threatening force other than that of the United States already landed.

 

The President has, therefore, determined that he will not send back to the Senate for its action thereon the treaty which he withdrew from that body for further consideration on the 9th day of March last.

 

On your arrival at Honolulu you will take advantage of an early opportunity to inform the Queen of this determination, making known to her the President's sincere regret that the reprehensible conduct of the American minister and the unauthorized presence on land of a military force of the United States obliged her to surrender her sovereignty for the time being and rely on the justice of this Government to undo the flagrant wrong.

 

You will, however, at the same time inform the Queen that when reinstated the President expects that she will pursue a magnanimous course by granting full amnesty to all who participated in the movement against her, including persons who are or have been officially or otherwise connected with the Provisional Government, depriving them of no right or privilege which they enjoyed before the so-called revolution. All obligations created by the Provisional Government in due course of administration should be assumed.

 

Having secured the Queen's agreement to pursue this wise and humane policy, which it is believed you will speedily obtain, you will then advise the executive of the Provisional Government and his ministers of the President's determination of the question which their action and that of the Queen devolved upon him, and that they are expected to promptly relinquish to her her constitutional authority. Should the Queen decline to pursue the liberal course suggested, or should the Provisional Government refuse to abide by the President's decision, you will report the facts and wait further directions.

 

In carrying out the general instructions, you will be guided largely by your own good judgment in dealing with the delicate situation.

 

I am, etc.,

(Signed) W. Q. GRESHAM

On the same day Mr. Gresham addressed an official letter to the President, in which he endorsed the conclusions of Mr. Blount's Report, and recommended the restoration of the Queen. This document with the Report, was kept strictly secret for one month longer, by which time it was fully expected that Mr. Willis would have successfully executed his mission. Gresham's letter was given to the press November 10th, and Blount's report on November 19th, both creating an extraordinary ferment in the United States.

Admiral Skerrett had written July 25th to the Secretary of the Navy that "the government they ( the Provisional Government) now give the people is the best that they ever had. I believe in their eventual success and have implicit faith in them." On receipt of this, the Secretary reminded him of Blount's instructions, adding the words: "Protect American citizens and American property, but do not give aid physical or moral to either party contending for the Government at Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands." He was ordered to the China station in October, exchanging places with Rear-Admiral John Irwin, who arrived at Honolulu, November 6th by the China.

Mr. Willis arrived at Honolulu, November 4th. A time had been carefully selected when there would be an interval of three weeks, during which the Islands would be cut off from communication with the United States. On the 7th, he formally presented his credentials to President Dole, in the following terms:

MR. PRESIDENT :

 

Mr. Blount, the late Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of the United States to your Government, having resigned his office while absent from his post, I have the honor now to present his letter of recall, and to express for him his sincere regret that he is unable in person to make known his continued good wishes in behalf of your people and his grateful appreciation of the many courtesies of which, while here, he was the honored recipient.

 

I desire at the same time to place in your hands the letter accrediting me as his successor. In doing this I am directed by the President to give renewed assurances of the friendship, interest, and hearty good will which our Government entertains for you and for the people of this island realm.

 

Aside from our geographical proximity and the consequent preponderating commercial "interests which centre here, the present advanced civilization and Christianization of your

people, together with your enlightened codes of law, stand today beneficial monuments of American zeal, courage and intelligence.

 

It is not surprising, therefore, that the United States were the first to recognize the independence of the Hawaiian Islands and to welcome them into, the great family of free nations.

The letter of credence was as follows:

GROVER CLEVELAND, President of the United States of America

 

To His Excellency SANFORD B. DOLE, President of the Provisional Government of the Hawaiian Islands

 

GREAT AND GOOD FRIEND:

 

I have made choice of Albert S. Willis, one of our distinguished citizens, to reside near the government of your excellency in the quality of Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of the United States of America. He is well informed of the relative interests of the two countries and of our sincere desire to cultivate, to the fullest extent, the friendship which has so long subsisted between us. My knowledge of his high character and ability gives me entire confidence that he will constantly endeavor to advance the interests and prosperity of both governments, and so render himself acceptable to your excellency.

 

I therefore request your excellency to receive him favorably and to give full credence to what he shall say on the part of the United States, and to the assurances which I have charged him to convey to you of the best wishes of this Government for the prosperity of the Hawaiian

 Islands. May God have your excellency in His wise keeping.

 

Written at Washington, this 27th day of September, in  the year 1893

 

Your good friend,

(Signed) GROVER CLEVELAND

President Dole responded in a cordial strain. The friendly tone of this language tended to lull apprehensions which had been felt of a possibly hostile errand of, the new Minister. The royalists were otherwise informed, and their organs insisted that Mr. Willis had come to enforce by arms a demand for the Provisional Government to abdicate in favor of Liliuokalani. No intimation of such action found its way to the American press. British agents were better informed, and a London telegram reached Auckland, N. Z., November 2nd, and Honolulu, November 16th, that " the President was drafting a message to Congress in favor of restoring monarchy to Hawaii." This was the first intimation received in Honolulu of the President's intentions. It was generally discredited. The British cruiser Champion, Capt. Rooke, arrived 'at Honolulu, November 24th, and the Japanese cruiser Naniwa, December 2nd.

Mr. Willis Negotiates with the ex-Queen

Already had Mr. Willis begun the execution of his mission, but at the outset found his action obstructed by an unforeseen obstacle. The ex-Queen firmly refused to concede amnesty to her opponents, as an indispensable preliminary to her restoration. By his request, the ex-Queen visited the Minister at the Legation on the 13th of November, and a short but important private interview ensued, as follows :

LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, HONOLULU, Nov. 16th, 1893

 

MR. WILLIS TO MR. GRESHAM

 

Sir: In the forenoon of Monday, the 13th instant, by prearrangement, the Queen, accompanied by the royal chamberlain, Mr. Robertson, called at the Legation. No one was present at the half-hour interview which followed, her chamberlain having been taken to another room, and Consul-General Mills, who had invited her to come, remaining in the front of the house to prevent interruption.

 

After a formal greeting, the Queen was informed that the President of the United States had important communications to make to her and she was asked whether she was willing to receive them alone and in confidence, assuring her that this was for her own interest and safety. She answered in the affirmative.

 

I then made known to her the President's sincere regret that, through the unauthorized intervention of the United States, she had been obliged to surrender her sovereignty, and his hope that, with her consent and cooperation, the wrong done to her and to her people might be redressed. To this, she bowed her acknowledgments.

 

I then said to her, "The President expects and believes that when reinstated you will show forgiveness and magnanimity; that you will wish to be the Queen of all the people, both native and foreign born; that you will make haste to secure their love and loyalty and to establish peace, friendship, and good government." To this she made no reply. After waiting a moment, I continued: "The President not only tenders you his sympathy but wishes to help you. Before fully making known to you his purposes, I desire to know whether you are willing to answer certain questions which it is my duty to ask?" She answered, "I am willing." I then asked her, "Should you be restored to the throne, would you grant full amnesty as to life and property to all those persons who have been or who are now in the Provisional Government, or who have been instrumental in the overthrow of your government?" She hesitated a moment and then slowly and calmly answered: "There are certain laws of my Government by which I shall abide. My decision would be, as the law directs, that such persons should be beheaded and their property confiscated to the Government." I then said, repeating very distinctly her words, "

 

It is your feeling that these people should be beheaded and their property confiscated?" She replied, "It is." I then said to her, " Do you full}7 understand the meaning of every word which I have said to you, and of every word which you have said to me, and, if so, do you still have the same opinion?" Her answer was, "I have understood and mean all I have said, hut I might leave the decision of this to my ministers." To this I replied, '' Suppose it was necessary to make a decision before you appointed any ministers, and that you were asked to issue a royal proclamation of general amnesty, would you do it?" She answered, "I have no legal right to do that, and I would not do it." Pausing a moment she continued. "These people were the cause of the revolution and constitution of 1887. There will never be any peace while they are here. They must be sent out of the country, or punished, and their property confiscated." I then said, "I have no further communication to make to you now, and will have none until I hear from my Government, which will probably be three or four weeks."

 

Nothing was said for several minutes, when I asked her whether she was willing to give me the names of four of her most trusted friends, as I might, within a day or two, consider it my duty to hold a consultation with them in her presence. She assented, and gave these names: J. O. Carter, John Richardson, Joseph Nawahi and E. C. Macfarlane. I then inquired whether she had any fears for her safety, at her present residence, Washington Square. She replied that she did have some fears, that while she had trusty friends that guarded her house every night, they were armed only with clubs, and that men shabbily dressed had been often seen prowling about the adjoining premises a schoolhouse with large yard. I informed her that I was authorized by the President to offer her protection either on one of our "war ships or at the legation and desired her to accept the offer at once. She declined, saying she believed it was best for her at present to remain at her own residence. I then said to her that at any moment, night or day, this offer of our Government was open to her acceptance. The interview thereupon, after some personal remarks, was brought to a close.

 

Upon reflection, I concluded not to hold any consultation at present with the Queen's friends, as they have no official position, and furthermore, because I feared, if known to so many, her declarations might become public, to her great detriment, if not danger, and to the interruption of the plans of our Government.

 

Mr. J. O. Carter is a brother of Mr. H. A. P. Carter, the former Hawaiian Minister to the United States, and is conceded to be a man of high character, integrity, and intelligence. He is about 55 years old. He has had no public experience. Mr. Macfarlane, like Mr. Carter, is of white parentage, is an unmarried man, about 42 years old, and is engaged in the commission business. John Richardson is a young man of about 35 years old. He is a cousin of Samuel Parker, the half-caste, who was a member of the Queen's cabinet at the time of the last revolution. He is a resident of Maui, being designated in the directory of 1889 as "attorney at law, stock-raiser, and proprietor Bismark livery stable." Richardson is "half-caste." Joseph Nawahi is a full-blooded native, practices law (as he told me) in the native courts, and has a moderate English education. He has served twenty years in the legislature, but displays very little knowledge of the structure and philosophy of the Government which he so long represented. He is 51 years old, and is president of the native Hawaiian political club.

 

Upon being asked to name three of the most prominent native leaders, he gave the names of John E. Bush, R. W. Wilcox, and modestly added, "I am a leader." John E. Bush is a man of considerable ability, but his reputation is very bad. R. W. Wilcox is the notorious half-breed who engineered the revolution of 1889. Of all these men Carter and Macfarlane are the only two to whom the ministerial bureaus could be safely entrusted. In conversation with Sam Parker, and also with Joseph Nawahi, it was plainly evident that the Queen's implied condemnation of the constitution of 1887 was fully indorsed by them.

 

From these and other facts which have been developed, I feel satisfied that there will be a concerted movement in the event of restoration for the overthrow of that constitution, which would mean the overthrow of constitutional and limited government and the absolute dominion of the Queen. The law referred to by the Queen is Chapter VI, Section 9 of the Penal Code, as follows :

 

"Whoever shall commit the crime of treason shall suffer the punishment of death, and all his property shall be confiscated to the Government."

 

There are, under this law, no degrees of treason. Plotting alone carries with it the death sentence. I need hardly add, in conclusion, that the tension of feeling is so great that the promptest action is necessary to prevent disastrous consequences.

 

I send a cipher telegram asking that Mr. Blount's report be withheld for the present, and I send with it a telegram, not in cipher, as follows :

 

"Views of the first party so extreme as to require further instructions."

 

I am, etc.

(Signed) ALBERT S. WILLIS

In reporting the foregoing interview, Mr. Willis suggested to Mr. Gresham that "Blount's report be withheld from the public for the present" a measure of prudence advised too late. The Auckland telegram led to influential persons making earnest inquiries of the Minister as to his intentions.

He replied that "no change would take place for some time. Unforeseen contingencies had arisen, and farther communication with Washington must be had before any thing could be done." Great speculation at once arose as to the nature of the "contingencies" spoken of. No one guessed the truth. The disturbance and excitement of the public mind daily increased. The Government perfected the defenses of the Executive and Judiciary buildings. The volunteer forces were increased and improved in organization and equipment.

H. A. Widemann,   J. O. Carter,   W. Macfarlane,   C. Spreckles,   E. C. Macfarlane

By the Monowai, November 24th, came Gresham's letter to the President, urging "the restoration of the legitimate government " of Hawaii, on the ground of facts established by Blount's report. On the evening of the 25th, a very large and enthusiastic mass meeting was held in the drill shed.

Several speeches were made by prominent men, counselling resistance to the utmost. The first address was by Vice-President F. M. Hatch, who made a cogent argument to show that no such arbitration as Gresham alleged had ever been or could be held by the President, nor could his decision have any force. The following resolutions were adopted by the assembly:

"Resolved, That we have read with surprise and regret the recommendation of the Secretary of State of the United States to the President, to restore the monarchy lately existing in Hawaii.

 

Resolved, That we condemn the assumption of the Secretary that the right of the Provisional Government to exist was terminated by his refusal to re-submit to the Senate the treaty of Union pending between the two countries; and also his assumption that the Provisional Government had at that very time submitted the question of its continued existence to the arbitrament of the President or of any other power.

 

Resolved, That we support to the best of our ability the Provisional Government, in resisting any attack upon it which may be made contrary to the usage of nations."

On November 29th, President Dole addressed to Minister Willis the inquiry whether the press report of Gresham's letter was correct, and what were the intentions of the United States Government towards that of Hawaii? On December 2nd, Mr. Willis replied that Gresham's letter "was in the nature of a report to the President of the United States, and could only be regarded as a domestic matter, for which the American Minister to Hawaii was in no way responsible, and which he could not assume to interpret." He also declined to inform President Dole of the views or intentions of the United States Government. He had, however, assured various persons that no action would be taken until an answer was received to his dispatch of November 16th, which would not be due until the arrival of the regular mail steamer of December 21st. This assurance served to allay the public apprehensions, as it was most confidently expected that before that date Congress would effectively interpose to arrest the President's proceedings.

At Washington, in the meantime, the Hawaiian Minister, L. A. Thurston, on November 21st, made a sharp and cogent reply to Blount's attack upon himself, and exposed the fallacy of his main position, that "but for the support of the United States representative and troops the establishment of the Provisional Government would have been impossible."

In the interim, Minister Willis held occasional conferences with leading adherents of the Queen, apparently in order to inform himself as to their characters and opinions. On December 5th, the ex-marshal, C. B. Wilson, called on Mr. Willis, and submitted a lengthy programme of proposed procedure to accompany the Queen's restoration. This he said had been submitted to leading advisers of the Queen, and had met their approval. It included a series of measures of great severity towards all concerned in establishing the Provisional Government.

Wilson also submitted a long list of "tried and trusted friends of the monarchy and the nation" who should form a council to aid the Queen in carrying out the proposed measures and in re-establishing herself upon the throne. Upon this list Mr. Willis made the following comment: "An analysis of the list of special advisers, whether native or foreign, is not encouraging to the friends of good government, or of American interests. This is true, both of the special list of advisers, and of the supplementary list. The Americans who for over half a century held a commanding place in the councils of state, are ignored, and other nationalities, English especially, are placed in charge." Herein Mr. Willis showed himself sufficiently American to recognize considerations which Mr. Blount had totally ignored. Congress assembled on December 4th, for its regular session. The President's message of that date contained only a brief and indefinite statement concerning Hawaii, the essential part of which was as follows:

"Our only honorable course was to undo the wrong that had been done by those representing us, and to restore as far as practicable the status existing at the time of our forcible intervention. Our present Minister has received appropriate instructions to that end."

This was the first positive information published anywhere as to the orders of Minister Willis. It reached Honolulu on the 14th of December, by the U. S. Revenue cutter Corwin, which had been secretly dispatched on the same day as the Message, with orders to Minister Willis as follows :

DEPARTMENT OF STATE, WASHINGTON, December 3d, 1893

 

MR. GRESHAM TO MR. WILLIS.

 

Your dispatch, which was answered by steamer on the 25th of November, seems to call for additional instructions. Should the Queen refuse assent to the written conditions, you will at once inform her that the President will cease interposition in her behalf, and that while he deems it his duty to endeavor to restore to the sovereign the constitutional government of the islands, his further efforts in that direction will depend upon the Queen's unqualified agreement that all obligations created by the Provisional Government in a proper course of administration shall be assumed, and upon such pledges by her as will prevent the adoption of any measures of proscription or punishment for what has been done in the past by those setting up or supporting the Provisional Government. The President feels that by our original interference and what followed, we have incurred responsibilities to the whole Hawaiian community, and it would not be just to put one party at the mercy of the other.

 

Should the Queen ask whether if she accedes to conditions active steps will be taken by the United States to effect her restoration, or to maintain her authority thereafter, you will say that the President can not use force without the authority of Congress.

 

Should the Queen accept conditions and the Provisional Government refuse to surrender, you will be governed by previous instructions. If the Provisional Government asks whether the United States will hold the Queen to fulfillment of stipulated conditions you will say, the President acting under dictates of honor and duty, as he has done in endeavoring to effect restoration, will do all in his constitutional power to cause observance of the conditions he has imposed.

(Signed) GRESHAM

The Corwin was not allowed to bring any mail matter, but a newspaper containing the President's melange happened to be on board.

Minister Thurston at Washington, on the day after the President's message, addressed to Secretary Gresham a vigorous protest against the President's assumption of authority or jurisdiction to restore the Queen or in any way to interfere with the Government of Hawaii. He also sought in an interview with the Secretary to learn whether Minister Willis had been empowered to employ force in restoring the Queen. The Secretary was diplomatic, but left the impression upon Mr. Thurston's mind that such force was not to be used.

The attacks upon the President's action continued in Congress and in the public press with increasing severity. Resolutions were speedily passed by both Houses, requesting full information on Hawaiian affairs. On the 18th of December, President Cleveland sent to Congress a special message upon the Hawaiian question, commending this subject to their "extended powers and wide discretion." At that moment the business was reaching its crisis at Honolulu.

The essential part of the message is 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 expressed the intention of transmitting further information on the subject when additional advices permitted.

 

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, and 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 referred to the broader authority and discretion of Congress, 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."

After an extended statement, based entirely on Col. Blount's report, the President continued as follows:

DECEMBER 18th, 1893.

 

"I believe that a candid and thorough examination of the facts will force the conviction that the Provisional Government owes its existence to an armed invasion by the United States.

 

A substantial wrong has thus been done which a due regard for our national character as well as the rights of the injured people requires that we should endeavor to repair.

 

Actuated by these desires and purposes and not unmindful of the inherent perplexities of the situation nor of the limitation upon my power, I instructed Minister Willis to advise the Queen and her supporters of my desire to aid in the restoration of the status existing before the lawless landing of the United States forces at Honolulu on the 16th of January last, if such restoration could be effected upon terms providing for clemency as well as justice to all parties concerned. The conditions suggested, as the instructions show, contemplate a general amnesty to those concerned in setting up the Provisional Government and a recognition of all its bona fide acts and obligations.

 

In short, they require that the past should be buried, and that the restored government should reassume its authority as if its continuity had not been interrupted. These conditions have not proved acceptable to the Queen, and though she has been informed that they will be insisted upon and that, unless acceded to, the efforts of the President to aid in the restoration of her government will cease, I have not thus far learned that she is willing to yield them her acquiescence. The check which my plans have thus encountered has prevented their presentation to the members of the Provisional Government, while unfortunate public misrepresentations of the situation and exaggerated statements of the sentiments of our people have obviously injured the  prospects of successful executive mediation.

 

I therefore submit this communication with its accompanying exhibits, embracing Mr. Blount's report, the evidence and statements taken by him at Honolulu, the instructions given to both Mr. Blount and Minister Willis, and the correspondence connected with the affair in hand.

 

In commending this subject to the extended powers and of wide discretion of the Congress, I desire, to add the assurance that I shall be much gratified to cooperate in any legislative plan which may he devised for the solution of the problem before us, which is consistent with American honor, integrity and morality."

(Signed) GROVER CLEVELAND

The "Black Week" in Honolulu

The unexpected arrival of the Corwin in the early morning of the 14th created intense excitement and consternation, beginning a seven days of severest anxiety and apprehension. A demand for the restoration of the deposed Queen was daily expected from the American Minister. It was believed by all parties that this demand would be supported by the naval forces of the warships Philadelphia and Adams, under the command of Admiral Irwin. The forces of those ships were immediately prepared and held in hourly readiness for landing. It was evident that the President had arranged to be beforehand with any possible interference by Congress with his designs. The supporters of the Government were fully prepared to resist to the utmost the attack of the United States forces. Battle was expected at any hour, and the strain and tension grew daily more severe. This state of things is described in detail in President Dole's letter of specifications to Minister Willis, of January 11th, 1894. It was subsequently proved that the coming demand was not intended to be supported by the actual use of force, but only by an exhibition thereof.

Renewed Efforts to Mollify Royalty

On the 16th, two days after the arrival of the Corwin, the ex-Queen came by previous appointment to the legation at 9 A. M., accompanied by Mr. J. O. Carter as adviser. Mr. Willis said, "The President expects and believes that when reinstated you will show forgiveness and magnanimity." Reading over his report of their interview of November 13th, he asked if her views were now in any respect modified. The only concession she would make was to remit the capital punishment of her opponents, but they and their families must be deported, and their property confiscated.

"Their presence and that of their children would always be a dangerous menace to herself and her people."

She also insisted on being reinstated with a new Constitution similar to the one she had attempted to promulgate. She agreed to accept responsibility for the obligations of the Provisional Government, their military expenses to be refunded to the treasury out of their confiscated estates.

On Monday the 18th, at Mr. Carter's solicitation, another interview was accorded to Liliuokalani. This took place at her residence in Washington Place, in the afternoon, Mr. Carter being present with Consul Mills as stenographer. Mr. Carter made an address, in which he urged her to comply - that good government seemed impossible unless Her Majesty showed a spirit of forgiveness and magnanimity - that the movement against her and her people embraced a a large and respectable portion of the foreign element in this community, which could not be ignored.

The ex-Queen expressed herself as feeling that any third attempt at revolution on the part of those people would be very destructive to life and property; that her people had had about all they could stand of this interference with their rights. She continued explicitly to define her intention that their property should be confiscated.

Mr. Willis made it clear that the President would insist upon complete amnesty and the old Constitution. She asked how she should know that in the future the country should not be troubled again as it had been in the past.

The Minister replied that the United States had no right to look into that subject or to express an opinion upon it.

The interview terminated, and after the report thereof had been duly attested, Mr. Mills informed the ex-Queen that the two reports of the 16th and 18th would be immediately forwarded to the President, and his answer when received would be promptly made known to her. By the minister's orders, the Corwin was put in readiness to sail that evening with his dispatches.

All that morning of the 18th there had been increased stir of preparation on board of the Philadelphia and the Adams. Crowds of natives thronged the wharves in expectation of an immediate landing of the naval forces to restore the Queen. A majority of the native policemen that morning threw up their positions, rather than take a required oath to support the Government. Intense alarm pervaded the city all that day.

Mr. H. F. Glade, consul for Germany called that morning upon Mr. Willis -and asked him to say something to allay the extreme tension of alarm which was paralyzing all business and filling the people with terror. The Minister replied that he was unable to say anything - that he was laboring to the utmost to secure a result satisfactory to all parties, but did not expect to attain that end under forty-eight hours.

The supporters of the Government had in the mean time given the Executive the strongest assurance of their desire and readiness to resist to the death the United States forces in any attempt to restore the Queen. The Government had at first felt hesitation in proposing to Americans to fire upon their own flag. The urgent appeals of American citizens, however, determined the Government to resist to the last, and arrangements were made accordingly. It was well that the ex-Queen's desires to behead and deport her opponents had been kept secret. Farther exasperation would have been dangerous.

Mr. Carter's Successful Mediation

In his repeated intercourse during the day with the ex-Queen, the Minister was imagined to be formulating the re-organization of her government. It was not imagined that she was resisting a demand for amnesty. She continued to be obdurate. The dispatches reporting her final refusal of the terms were ready to go to the Corwin. Seeing this to be her last opportunity, her faithful friend, Mr. J. O. Carter, a man of conscientious character, again went to her and labored with her with such success that at 6 p. M. he was enabled to carry to Mr. Willis a written assurance that she would comply with all his conditions. The Corwin's sailing was countermanded.

No one has questioned the integrity of Mr. Carter's intentions. But after Liliuokalani's extreme attitude became known about beheading and confiscation, a strong feeling arose against him for having labored so zealously to secure her restoration, after having learned her disposition. The animosity became so strong among Mr. Carter's former near associates who had been marked as her victims, that he was displaced from a responsible and lucrative business position. President Dole had that afternoon addressed to Mr. Willis the following letter:

DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS, HONOLULU, HAWAIIAN ISLANDS, Dec. 18th, 1893

 

Sir: I am informed that you are in communication with Liliuokalani, the ex-Queen, with a view of re-establishing the monarchy in the Hawaiian Islands and of supporting her pretensions to the sovereignty. Will you inform me if this report is true or if you are acting in any way hostile to this Government.

 

I appreciate fully the fact that any such action upon your part in view of your official relations with this Government would seem impossible; but as the information has come to me from such sources that I am compelled to notice it, you will pardon me for pressing you for an immediate answer.

 

Accept the assurances of distinguished consideration with which I have the honor to be sir,

 

Your excellency's obedient, humble servant,

(Signed) SANFORD B. DOLE, Minister of Foreign Affairs

Mr. Willis replied next morning as follows:

LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, HONOLULU, Dec. 19th, 1893

 

Sir: I have the honor to inform you that I have a communication from my Government which I desire to submit to the President and ministers of your Government at any hour today which it may please you to designate.

 

With high regard and sincere respect, I am, etc.,

(Signed) ALBERT S. WILLIS

The Demand for the Queen's Restoration

Mr. PRESIDENT AND GENTLEMEN:

The President of the United States has very much regretted the delay in the consideration of the Hawaiian question, but it has been unavoidable. So much of it as has occurred since my arrival has been due to certain conditions precedent, compliance with which was required before I was authorized to confer with you. The President also regrets, as most assuredly do I, that any seeming secrecy should have surrounded the interchange of views between our two Governments. I may say this, however, that the secrecy thus far observed, has been in the interest and for the safety of all your people.

I need hardly promise that the President's action upon the Hawaiian question has been under the dictates of honor and duty. It is now, and has been from the beginning, absolutely free from prejudice and resentment, and entirely consistent with the long-established friendship and treaty ties which have so closely bound together our respective Governments.

The President deemed it his duty to withdraw from the Senate the treaty of annexation which had been signed by the Secretary of State and the agents of your Government, and to dispatch a trusted representative to Hawaii to impartially investigate the causes of your revolution, and ascertain and report the true situation in these islands. This information was needed, the better to enable the President to discharge a delicate and important duty. Upon the facts embodied in Mr. Blount's reports, the President has arrived at certain conclusions and determined upon a certain course of action with which it becomes my duty to acquaint you.

The Provisional Government was not established by the Hawaiian people or with their consent or acquiescence, nor has it since existed with their consent. The Queen refused to surrender her powers to the Provisional Government until convinced that the Minister of the United States had recognized it as the de facto authority and would support and defend it with the military force of the United States, and that resistance would precipitate a bloody conflict with that force. She was advised and assured by her ministers and by leaders of the movement for the overthrow of her Government that if she surrendered under protest her case would afterwards be fairly considered by the President of the United States. The Queen finally yielded to the armed forces of the United States then quartered in Honolulu, relying on the good faith and honor of the President, when informed of what had occurred, to undo the action of the Minister and reinstate her and the authority which she claimed as the constitutional sovereign of the Hawaiian Islands.

After a patient examination of Mr. Blount's reports the President is satisfied that the movement against the Queen, if not instigated, was encouraged and supported by the representative of this Government at Honolulu ; that he promised in advance to aid her enemies in an effort to overthrow the Hawaiian Government and set up by force a new government in its place, and that he kept this promise by causing a detachment of troops to be landed from the Boston on the 16th of January, and by recognizing the Provisional Government the next day when it was too feeble to defend itself and the Constitutional Government was able to successfully maintain its authority against any threatening force other than that of the United States already landed.

 

The President has therefore determined that he will not send back to the Senate for its action thereon the treaty which he withdrew from that body for further consideration on the 9th day of March last.

 

In view of these conclusions, I was instructed by the President to take advantage of an early opportunity to inform the Queen of this determination and of his views as to the responsibility of our Government.

 

The President, however, felt that "we, by our original interference, had incurred responsibilities to the whole Hawaiian community, and that it would not be just to put one party at the mercy of the other. I was, therefore, instructed, at the same time, to inform the Queen that when reinstated, that the President expected that she would pursue a magnanimous course by granting fully amnesty to all who participated in the movement against her, including persons who are or who have been officially or otherwise connected with the Provisional Government, depriving them of no right or privilege which they enjoyed before the so-culled revolution. All obligations created by the Provisional Government in due course of administration should be assumed. In obedience to the command of the President I have secured the Queen's agreement to this course, and I -now read and deliver a writing signed by her and duly attested, a copy of which I will leave with you.

 

(The agreement was here read.)

 

It becomes my further duty to advise you, sir, the executive of the Provisional Government and your ministers, of the President's determination of the question, which your action and that of the Queen devolved upon him, and that you are expected to promptly relinquish to her constitutional authority.

 

And now, Mr. President, and gentlemen of the Provisional Government, with a deep and solemn sense of the gravity of the situation and with the earnest hope that your answer will be inspired by that high patriotism which forgets all self-interest, in the name and by the authority of the United States of America, I submit to you the question, "Are you willing to abide by the decision of the President?"

The Advisory Council were immediately summoned to conference. With the utmost promptness and unanimity, both councils voted to instruct President Dole to refuse compliance with the extraordinary demand of Mr. Willis in such terms as should be most fitting.

As the minister's demand was not accompanied with any threat of coercion, as the action of the Government was decided, as the preparation of a suitable reply would occupy some days, and as the Alameda was due in two days with probable news of the vigorous intervention of Congress to prevent forcible coercion, there was a material relaxation of the tension which had been felt for several days. The extreme crisis was past.

The Alameda arrived on Friday the 22d. The eight days of anxiety came to an end. Congress had powerfully intervened. The Senate had solemnly arraigned the President for unconstitutional behavior. Messrs. L. A. Thurston, W. N. Armstrong and H. N. Castle arrived. The word was passed ashore "All is right," and swiftly sped up the streets at sunrise. Honolulu's "Black Week" was over.

Dole's Reply to Willis' Demand

On the evening of the 23d of December, the completed reply of President Dole to the strange demand of the American Minister was placed in the hands of Mr. Willis. The Minister's dispatches were completed and the Corwin sailed at 4 A. M. of the 24th. She was not allowed to take any mail, public or private. She was ordered by Mr. Willis to slow up, and enter the bay of San Francisco at night, in order to enable the President to receive this official communication before any intimation of its character could be telegraphed. For several days after she was anchored out in the bay, and no communication allowed with the shore.

Mr. Willis' precautions were successful, and the American public for several days gained no knowledge of the strange doings at Honolulu until January 9th.

Mr. Dole's reply was as follows :

DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS, HONOLULU, December 23d, 1893

Sir: Your excellency's communication of December 19th, announcing the conclusion which the President of the United States of America has finally arrived at respecting the application of this Government for a treaty of political union with that country, and referring also to the domestic affairs of these islands, has had the consideration of the Government.

While it is with deep disappointment that we learn that the important proposition which we have submitted to the Government of the United States, and which was at first favorably considered by it, has at length been rejected, we have experienced a sense of relief that we are now favored with the first official information upon the subject that has been received through a period of over nine months.

While we accept the decision of the President of the United States, declining further to consider the annexation proposition, as the final conclusion of the present administration, we do not feel inclined to regard it as the last word of the American Government upon this subject, for the history of the mutual relations of the two countries, of American effort and influence in building up the Christian civilization which has so conspicuously aided in giving this country an honorable place among independent nations, the geographical position of these islands, and the important and, to both countries, profitable reciprocal commercial interests which have long existed, together with our weakness as a sovereign nation, all point with convincing force to political union between the two countries as the necessary logical result from the circumstances mentioned. The conviction is emphasized by the favorable expression of American statesmen over a long period in favor of annexation, conspicuous among whom are the names of W. L. Marcy, William H. Seward, Hamilton Fish, and James G. Elaine, all former Secretaries of State, and especially so by the action of your last administration in negotiating a treaty of annexation with this Government and sending it to the Senate with a view to its ratification.

We shall therefore continue the project of political union with the United States as a conspicuous feature of our foreign policy, confidently hoping that sooner or later it will be crowned with success, to the lasting benefit of both countries.

The additional portion of your communication referring to our domestic affairs with a view of interfering therein, is a new departure in the relations of the two governments.

Your information that the President of the United States expects this Government "to promptly relinquish to her (meaning the ex-Queen) her constitutional authority," with the question "are you willing to abide by the decision of the President?" might well be dismissed in a single word, but for the circumstance that your communication contains, as it appears to me, misstatements and erroneous conclusions based thereon, that are so prejudicial to this Government that I can not permit them to pass unchallenged; moreover, the importance and menacing character of this proposition make it appropriate for me to discuss somewhat fully the question raised by it.

We do not recognize the right of the President of the United States to interfere in our domestic affairs. Such right could be conferred upon him by the act of this government, and by that alone, or it could be acquired by conquest. This I understand to be the American doctrine, conspicuously announced from time to time by the authorities of your Government.

President Jackson said in his message to Congress in 1836: "The uniform policy and practice of the United States is to avoid all interference in disputes which merely relate to the internal government of other nations, and eventually to recognize the authority of the prevailing party, without reference to the merits of the original controversy."

This principle of international law has been consistently recognized during the whole past intercourse of the two countries, and was recently reaffirmed in the instructions given by Secretary Gresham to Commissioner Blount on March 11, 1893, and by the latter published in the newspapers in Honolulu in a letter of his own to the Hawaiian public. The words of these instructions which I refer to are as follows :

"The United States claim no right to interfere in the political or domestic affairs or in the internal conflicts of the Hawaiian Islands other than as herein stated (referring to the protection of American citizens) or for the purpose of maintaining any treaty or other rights which they possess." The treaties between the two countries confer no right of interference.

Upon what, then, Mr. Minister, does the President of the United States base his right of interference? Your communication is without information upon this point, excepting such as may be contained in the following brief and vague sentences: "She (the ex-Queen) was advised and assured by her ministers and leaders of the movement for the overthrow of her government that if she surrendered under protest her case would afterward be fairly considered by the President of the United States. The Queen finally yielded to the armed forces of the United States, then quartered in Honolulu, relying on the good faith and honor of the President, when informed of what had occurred, to undo the action of the minister and reinstate her and the authority which she claimed as the constitutional sovereign of the Hawaiian Islands."

Also, "it becomes my further duty to advise you, sir, the Executive of the Provisional Government, and your ministers; of the President's determination of the question which your action and that of the Queen devolved upon him, and that you are expected to promptly relinquish to her constitutional authority."

I understand that the first quotation is referred to in the following words of the second, "which your action and that of the Queen devolved upon him" (the President of the United States), and that the President has arrived at his conclusions from Commissioner Blount's report. We have had as yet no opportunity of examining this document, but from extracts published in the papers and for reasons set forth hereafter, we are not disposed to submit the fate of Hawaii to its statements and conclusions. As a matter of fact no member of the executive of the Provisional Government has conferred with the ex-Queen, either verbally or otherwise, from the time the new Government was proclaimed till now, with the exception of one or two notices which were sent to her by myself in regard to her removal from the palace and relating to the guards which the Government first allowed her and perhaps others of a like nature. I infer that a conversation which Mr. Damon, then a member of the advisory council, is reported by Mr. Blount to have had with the ex-Queen on January 17th, and which has been quoted in the newspapers, is the basis of this astounding claim of the President of the United States of his authority to adjudicate upon our right as a government to exist.

Mr. Damon, on the occasion mentioned, was allowed to accompany the cabinet of the former Government, who had been in conference with me and my associates, to meet the ex-Queen. He went informally, without instructions and without authority to represent the Government or to assure the ex-Queen "that if she surrendered under protest her case would afterwards be fairly considered by the President of the United States." Our ultimatum had already been given to the members of the ex-cabinet who had been in conference with us. What Mr. Damon said to the ex-Queen he said on his individual responsibility and did not report it to us. Mr. Blount's report of his remarks on that occasion furnish to the Government its first information of the nature of those remarks. Admitting for argument's sake that the Government had authorized such assurances, what was "her case" that was afterwards to "be fairly considered by the President of the United States?"

Was it the question of her right to subvert the Hawaiian constitution and to proclaim a new one to suit herself, or was it her claim to be restored to the sovereignty, or was it her claim against the United States for the alleged unwarrantable acts of Minister Stevens, or was it all these in the alternative; who can say? But if it had been all of these, or any of them, it could not have been more clearly and finally decided by the President of the United States in favor of the Provisional Government than when he recognized it without qualification and received its accredited commissioners, negotiated a treaty of annexation with them, received its accredited envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary, and accredited successively two envoys extraordinary and ministers plenipotentiary to it ; the ex-Queen in the meantime being represented in Washington by her agent who had full access to the Department of State.

The whole business of the Government with the President of the United States is set forth in the correspondence between the two governments and the acts and statements Of the minister of this Government at Washington and the annexation commissioners accredited to it. If we have submitted our right to exist to the United States, the fact will appear in that correspondence and the acts of our commissioners.

Such agreement must be shown as the foundation of the right of your Government to interfere, for an arbitrator can be created only by the act of two parties.

The ex-Queen sent her attorney.to Washington to plead her claim for reinstatement in power, or failing that for a money allowance or damages. This attorney was refused passage on the Government dispatch boat, which was sent to San Francisco with the annexation commissioners and their message. The departure of this vessel was less than two days after the new Government was declared, and the refusal was made promptly upon receiving the request therefore either on the day the Government was declared or on the next day. If an intention to submit the question of the reinstatement of the ex-Queen had existed, why should her attorney have been refused passage on this boat? The ex-Queen's letter to President Harrison dated January 18, the day after the new Government was proclaimed, makes no allusion to any understanding between her and the Government for arbitration.

Her letter is as follows :

"His EXCELLENCY BENJAMIN HARRISON, President of the United States:

 

MY GREAT AND GOOD FRIEND :

 

 It is with deep regret that I address you on this occasion. Some of my subjects aided by aliens, have renounced their loyalty and revolted against the constitutional Government of my Kingdom.

 

They have attempted to depose me and to establish a provisional government in direct conflict with the organic law of this Kingdom. Upon receiving incontestable proof that his excellency the minister plenipotentiary of the United States, aided and abetted their unlawful movements and caused United States troops to be landed for that purpose, I submitted to force, believing that he would not have acted in that manner unless by the authority of the Government which he represents.

 

This action on my part was prompted by three reasons: The futility of a conflict with the United States; the desire to avoid violence, bloodshed and the destruction of life and property, and the certainty which I feel that you and your Government will right whatever wrongs may have been inflicted upon us in the premises.

 

In due time a statement of the true facts relating to this matter will be laid before you, and I live in the hope that you will judge uprightly and justly between myself and my enemies. This appeal is not made for myself personally, but for my people, who have hitherto always enjoyed the friendship and protection of the United States.

 

My opponents have taken the only vessel which could be obtained here for the purpose, and hearing of their intention to send a delegation of their number to present their side of this conflict before you, I requested the favor of sending by the same vessel an envoy to you, to lay before you my statement, as the facts appear to myself and my loyal subjects.

 

This request has been refused, and I now ask you that in justice to myself and to my people that no steps be taken by the Government of the United States until my cause can be heard by you.

 

I shall be able to dispatch an envoy about the 2nd of February, as that will be the first available opportunity hence, and he will reach you by every possible haste that there may be no delay in the settlement of this matter. I pray you, therefore, my good friend, that you will not allow any conclusions to be reached by you until my envoy arrives."

 

I beg to assure you of the continuance of my highest consideration.

(Signed) LlLIUOKALANI R.

Honolulu, January 18, 1893

If any understanding had existed at that time between her and the Government to submit the question of her restoration to the United States, some reference to such an understanding would naturally have appeared in this letter, as every reason would have existed for calling the attention of the President to that fact, especially as she then knew that her attorney would be seriously delayed in reaching Washington. But there is not a word from which such an understanding can be predicated. The Government sent its commissioners to Washington for the sole object of procuring the confirmation of the recognition by Minister Stevens of the new Government and to enter into negotiations for political union with the United States. The protest of the ex-Queen, made on January 17, is equally with the letter devoid of evidence of any mutual understanding for a submission of her claim to the throne to the United States. It is evidently a protest against the alleged action of .Minister Stevens as well as the new Government, and contains a. notice of her appeal to the United States.

The document was received exactly as it would have been received if it had come through the mail. The endorsement of its receipt upon the paper was made at the request of the individual who brought it as evidence of its safe delivery.

As to the ex-Queen's notice of her appeal to the United States, it was a matter of indifference to us. Such an appeal could not have been prevented, as the mail service was in operation as usual. That such a notice, and our receipt of it without comment, should be made a foundation of a claim that we had submitted our right to exist as a government to the United States had never occurred to us until suggested to us by your Government. The protest is as follows :

"I, Liliuokalani, by the grace of God and under the constitution of the Hawaiian Kingdom, Queen, do hereby solemnly protest against any and all acts done against myself and the constitutional Government of the Hawaiian Kingdom by certain persons claiming to have established a provisional government of and for this Kingdom.

 

"That I yield to the superior force of the United States of America, whose minister plenipotentiary, his excellency John L. Stevens, has caused United States troops to be landed at Honolulu, and declared that be would support the said provisional government.

 

"Now, to avoid any collision of armed forces, and perhaps the loss of life, I do, under this protest, and impelled by said force, yield my authority until such time as the Government of the United States shall, upon the facts being presented to it, undo the action of its representative and reinstate me in the authority which I claim as the constitutional sovereign of the Hawaiian Islands."

 

Done at Honolulu the 17th day of January, A. D. 1893

(Signed) LlLIUOKALANI, R.

SAMUEL PARKER, Minister of Foreign Affairs.

WILLIAM H. CORNWELL, Minister of Finance.

JOHN F. COLBURN, Minister of the Interior.

A. P. PETERSON, Attorney- General.

S. B. DOLE, ESQ., and others, Composing the Provisional Government of the Hawaiian Government

"Received by the hands of the late cabinet this 17th day of January, A. D. 1893. Sanford B. Dole, chairman of executive council of Provisional Government."

You may not be aware, but such is the fact, that at no time until the presentation of the claim of the President of the United States of his right to interfere in the internal affairs of this country, by you on December 19th, has this Government been officially informed by the United States Government that any such course was contemplated. And not until the publication of Mr. Gresham's letter to the President of the United States on the Hawaiian question had we any reliable intimation of such a policy. The adherents of the ex-Queen have indeed claimed from time to time that such was the case, but we have never been able to attach serious importance to their rumors to that effect, feeling secure in our perfect diplomatic relations with your country and relying upon the friendship and fairness of a government whose dealings with us had ever shown a full recognition of our independence as a sovereign power, without any tendency to take advantage of the disparity of Strength between the two countries.

If your contention that President Cleveland believes that this Government and the ex-Queen have submitted their respective claims to the sovereignty of this country to the adjudication of the United States is correct, then, may I ask, when and where has the President held his court of arbitration? This Government has had no notice of the sitting of such a tribunal and no opportunity of presenting evidence of its claims. If Mr. Blount's investigation were a part of the proceedings of such a court, this Government did not know it and was never informed of it ; indeed, as I have mentioned above, we never knew until the publication of Secretary Gresham's letter to President Cleveland a few weeks ago, that the American Executive had a policy of interference under contemplation. Even if we had known that Mr. Blount was authoritatively acting as a commissioner to take evidence upon the question of restoration of the ex-Queen, the methods adopted by him in making his investigations, were, I submit, unsuitable to such an examination or any examination upon which human interests were to be adjudicated.

As I am reliably informed, he selected his witnesses and examined them in secret, freely using leading questions, giving no opportunity for a cross-examination, and often not permitting such explanations by witnesses themselves as they desired to make of evidence which he had drawn from them. It is hardly necessary for me to suggest that under such a mode of examination some witnesses would be almost helpless in the hands of an astute lawyer, and might be drawn into saying things which would be only half-truths, and standing alone would be misleading or even false in effect.

Is it likely that an investigation conducted in this manner could result in a fair, full, and truthful statement of the case in point? Surely the destinies of a friendly Government, admitting by way of argument that the right of arbitration exists, may not be disposed of upon an ex parte and secret investigation made without the knowledge of such Government or an opportunity by it to be heard or even to know who the witnesses were.

Mr. Blount came here as a stranger and at once entered upon his duties. He devoted himself to the work of collecting information, both by the examination of witnesses and the collection of statistics and other documentary matter, with great energy and industry, giving up, substantially, his whole time to its prosecution. He was here but a few months, and during that time was so occupied with this work that he had little opportunity left for receiving those impressions of the state of affairs which could best have come to him, incidentally, through a wide social intercourse with the people of the country and a personal acquaintance with its various communities and educational and industrial enterprises. He saw the country from his cottage in the center of Honolulu mainly through the eyes of the witnesses whom he examined. Under these circumstances is it probable that the most earnest of men would be able to form a statement that could safely be replied upon as the basis of a decision upon the question of the standing of a government ?

In view, therefore, of all the facts in relation to the question of the President's authority to interfere and concerning which the members of the executive were actors and eyewitnesses, I am able to assure your excellency that by no action of this Government, on the 17th day of January last, or since that time, has the authority devolved upon the President of the United States to interfere in the internal affairs of this country through any conscious act or expression of this Government with such an intention.

You state in your communication "After a patient examination of Mr. Blount's reports the President is satisfied that the movement against the Queen if not instigated was encouraged and supported by the representative of this Government at Honolulu ; that he promised in advance to aid her enemies in an effort to overthrow the Hawaiian Government and set up by force a new government in its place ; that he kept his promise by causing a detachment of troops to be landed from the Boston on the 16th of January, 1893, and by recognizing the Provisional Government the next day when it was too feeble to defend itself and the Constitutional Government was able to successfully maintain its authority against any threatening force other than that of e United States already landed."

Without entering into a discussion of the facts I beg to state in reply that I am unable to judge of the correctness of Mr. Blount's report from which the President's conclusions were drawn, as I have had no opportunity of examining such report. But I desire to specifically and emphatically deny the correctness of each and every one of the allegations of fact contained in the above-quoted statement; yet, as the President has arrived at a positive opinion in his own mind in the matter, I will refer to it from his standpoint.

My position, is briefly, this: If the American forces illegally assisted the revolutionists in the establishment of the Provisional Government that Government is not responsible for their wrong-doing. It was purely a private matter for discipline between the United States Government and its own officers. There is, I submit, no precedent in international law for the theory that such action of the American troops has conferred upon the United States authority over the internal affairs of this Government. Should it be true, as you have suggested, that the American Government made itself responsible to the Queen, who, it is alleged lost her throne through such action, that is not a matter for me to discuss, except to submit that if such be the case, it is a matter for the American Government and her to settle between them. This Government, a recognized sovereign power, equal in authority with the United States Government and enjoying diplomatic relations with it, can not be destroyed by it for the sake of discharging its obligations to the ex-Queen.

Upon these grounds, Mr. Minister, in behalf of my Government I respectfully protest against the usurpation of its authority as suggested by the language of your communication.

It is difficult for a stranger like yourself, and much more for the President of the United States, with his pressing responsibilities, his crowding cares and his want of familiarity with the condition and history of this country and the inner life of its people, to obtain a clear insight into the real state of affairs and to understand the social currents, the race feelings and the customs and traditions which all contribute to the political outlook. We, who have grown up here or who have adopted this country as our home, are conscious of the difficulty of maintaining a stable government here. A community which is made up of five races, of which the larger part but dimly appreciate the significance and value of representative institutions, offers political problems which may well tax the wisdom of the most experienced statesman.

For long years a large and influential part of this community, including many foreigners and native Hawaiians, have observed with deep regret the retrogressive tendencies of the Hawaiian monarchy, and have honorably striven against them, and have sought through legislative work, the newspapers, and by personal appeal and individual influence to support and emphasize the representative features of the monarchy and to create a public sentiment favorable thereto, and thereby to avert the catastrophe that seemed inevitable if such tendencies were not restrained. These efforts have been met by the last two sovereigns in a spirit of aggressive hostility. The struggle became at length a well-defined issue between royal prerogative and the right of representative government, and most bitterly and unscrupulously has it been carried on in the interests of the former. The King's privilege of importing goods for his own use without paying the duties thereon was abused to the extent of admitting large quantities of liquors, with which to debauch the electorate. He promoted the election of Government officers, both executive and judicial, to the legislative assembly, and freely appointed to office elected members thereof.

In the legislature of 1886, of which I was a member, the party supporting the Government was largely in the majority, and nearly every member of that majority held some appointment from the Government, and some of them as many as two or three, thereby effectually placing the legislative branch of the Government under the personal and absolute control of the King. The constitutional encroachments, lawless extravagance, and scandalous and open sales of patronage and privilege to the highest bidder by Kalakaua brought in at length the revolution of 1887, which had the full sympathy and moral support of all the diplomatic representatives in Honolulu, including Minister Merrill, who was at that time President Cleveland's minister here.

This revolution was not an annexation movement in any sense, but tended toward an independent republic, but, when it had the monarchy in its power, conservative counsels prevailed, and a new lease of life was allowed that institution on the condition of royal fidelity to the new constitution, which was then promulgated and which greatly curtailed the powers of the sovereign. Kalakaua was not faithful to this compact, and sought as far as possible to evade its stipulations.

The insurrection of 1889 was connived at by him, and the household guards under his control were not allowed to take part in suppressing it. The Princess Liliuokalani was in full sympathy with this movement, being a party to it, and furnished her suburban residence to the insurgents for their meetings. The arrangements were there made, and the insurgents marched thence for their attack upon the Government. The affair was suppressed in a few hours of fighting, with some loss of life to the insurgents, by the party which carried through the revolution of 1887.

The ex-Queen's rule was even more reckless and retrogressive than her brother's. Less politic than he, and with less knowledge of affairs, she had more determination and was equally unreliable and deficient in moral principle. She, to all appearance, unhesitatingly took the oath of office to govern according to the constitution, and evidently regarding it merely as a formal ceremony began, according to her own testimony to Mr. Blount, to lay her plans to destroy the constitution and replace it with one of her own creation. With a like disregard of its sanctions, she made the most determined efforts to control all of the appointments to office, both executive and judicial. The session of the legislature of 1882 was the longest that had ever occurred in our history, and was characterized by a most obstinate struggle for personal control of the Government and the legislature on the part of the Queen. This was strenuously resisted by the opposition.

During this contest four ministerial cabinets were appointed and unseated, and the lottery-franchise bill, which had been withdrawn early in the session for want of sufficient support, was at the last moment, when the opposition was weakened by the absence of several of its members, again brought forward and passed through the exercise of improper and illegitimate influences upon the legislators, among which were personal appeals on the part of the Queen to them. The cabinet which represented the opposition and the majority of the legislature which the Queen had been compelled to appoint was unseated by similar means, and with a new cabinet of her own choice the legislature was prorogued. This lottery franchise was of a character corresponding with similar institutions which have been driven out of every State of the American Union by an indignant public sentiment. If it had been established here it would in a brief period have obtained full control of the Government patronage and corrupted the social and political life of the people.

Although the situation at the close of the session was deeply discouraging to the com in unity, it was accepted without any intention of meeting it by other than legal means.

The attempted coup d'état of the Queen followed, and her ministers, threatened with violence, fled to the citizens for assistance and protection ; then it was that the uprising against the Queen took place, and gathering force from day to day, resulted in the proclamation of the Provisional Government and the abrogation of the monarchy on the third day thereafter.

No man can correctly say that the Queen owed her downfall to the interference of American forces. The revolution was carried through by the representatives, now largely reinforced, of the same public sentiment which forced the monarchy to its knees in 1887, which suppressed the insurrection of 1889, and which for twenty years has been battling for representative government in this country. If the American forces had been absent the revolution would have taken place, for the sufficient causes for it had nothing to do with their presence.

I, therefore, in all friendship of the Government of the United States, which you represent, and desiring to cherish the good will of the American people, submit the answer of my Government to your proposition, and ask that you will transmit the same to the President of the United States for his consideration.

Though the Provisional Government is far from being "a great power" and could not long resist the forces of the United States in a hostile attack, we deem our position to be impregnable under all legal precedents, under the principles of diplomatic intercourse, and in the forum of conscience.

We have done your Government no wrong; no charge of discourtesy is or can be brought against us. Our only issue with your people has been that, because we revered its institutions of civil liberty, we have desired to have them extended to our own distracted country, and because we honor its flag and deeming that its beneficent and authoritative presence would be for the best interests of all of our people, we have stood ready to add our country, a new star, to its glory, and to consummate a union which we believed would be as much for the benefit of your country as ours. If this is an offense, we plead guilty to it.

I am instructed to inform you, Mr. Minister, that the Provisional Government of the Hawaiian Islands respectfully and unhesitatingly declines to entertain the proposition of the President of the United States that it should surrender its authority to the ex-Queen.

This answer is made not only upon the grounds hereinbefore set forth, but upon our sense of duty and loyalty to the brave men whose commissions we hold, who have faithfully stood by us in the hour of trial, and whose will is the only earthly authority we recognize. We can not betray the sacred trust they have placed in our hands, a trust which represents the cause of Christian civilization in the interests of the whole people of these islands.

With assurances of the highest consideration, I have, etc.,

(Signed) SANFORD B. DOLE, Minister of Foreign Affairs

His Excellency ALBERT S. WILLIS, U. S. Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary

The President suspends Farther Action

On the 12th of January, Secretary Gresham instructed Mr. Willis that "you will until farther notice consider that your special instructions have been fully complied with."

On the 27th of December, the Arawa from Vancouver brought to Honolulu the special message of the President of the. 5th, and there for the first time was it learned that Mr. Willis' strange delay to act had been caused by the ex-Queen's refusal of amnesty. The knowledge of her desire to "behead" did not arrive until a month later, when it elicited many denunciations of her as a "Dyak head-hunter" and the like. It is harder to define the mental attitude of President Cleveland, when he persisted in his effort to reinstate such a monarch after her mental condition had thus been laid open to him.

Under date of January 2nd, 1894, Admiral Irwin wrote to the Secretary of the Navy that "Mr. Willis has never given me the slightest hint that there was ever any intention on the part of the United States Government to use force in order to restore the Queen. My own orders to preserve strict neutrality have been implicitly obeyed."

Mr. Dole's Letter of Specification

Growing out of the events above recorded, there ensued a correspondence continued for several weeks between President Dole and Minister Willis. The nature of that correspondence is fully stated in the appended letter of Mr. Dole of January 11th, 1894, known as his "Letter of Specifications." It is of great historical importance, embracing a review of the whole course of action of Messrs. Cleveland, Gresham, Blount, and Willis towards the Provisional Government of Hawaii. It is as follows :

DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS, HONOLULU, H. I., Jan. 11th, 1894

 

To His Excellency ALBERT S. WILLIS, United States Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Honolulu.

 

Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your communication dated January 1st, instant, in which you refer to my communication to you dated December 27th as "containing statements which I am fully prepared to show are not warranted by the facts, seriously affecting the President of the United States and the representatives of the United States in this country ; and that these charges and statements, if accepted as the official views of your Government, demanded prompt answer and equally prompt action on the part of the Government of the United States, to the end that the condition of affairs therein described should be removed by the removal of the alleged causes."

 

You also refer to the intervening correspondence between us, stating that my above-mentioned communication "brings for the first time the official information that the warlike preparations described by you were caused by and intended for the diplomatic and military representatives of the United States."

 

You further state that, believing that upon further consideration I would realize the great injustice of my statements, you, on the 29th ult., wrote suggesting the withdrawal of my communication of the 27th ult., and your reply, and that no copies be given to the public or made a record of by either Government; and on the 31st stated to Mr. Damon that your note to me was "prompted by no improper or unfriendly spirit, but was intended to continue the amicable relations heretofore existing."

 

You further state that in my letter of December 29th, there is no "withdrawal or modification of the statements complained of, but on the contrary, an expression of readiness, implying ability, to furnish the specifications requested." You also acknowledge the receipt of my note to you, dated January 1st, stating that it was not my intention to withdraw any of my letters, which note you state is unsigned by me. The omission of the signature was unintentional. You conclude by stating that "I have now to ask that you furnish me at your earliest convenience with the desired specifications, as I wish to make immediate answer."

 

I will comply with your request. Before doing so, however, I desire to say, in reply to your communication of the 1st inst., that I have made no "charges" against the President of the United States or its representatives. On the contrary, in order that there might be no misapprehension concerning the matter, I specifically stated in my communication to you of the 27th ultimo, "that I do not claim or intimate that this unfortunate situation has been intentionally created by you or by the Government which you represent." I still disclaim any intention of charging you or your Government with intent to produce the results and conditions described in my communication of December 27th.

 

The object of my communication to you was to formally bring to your attention certain facts and conditions existing in this country, what, in my opinion, were the causes of the same, and to obtain from you such information and assurances as would tend to allay the prevailing excitement and apprehension.

 

Concerning your statement above referred to, that my communication of December 27th contains statements which you are fully prepared to show are not warranted by the facts, I would say that it would give me great pleasure to become convinced that the alleged conditions and facts referred to by me did not in truth exist. The matters hereinafter stated constitute in part the basis for my belief in the existence of the conditions referred to, and the causes producing the same ; but I shall be glad to receive from you any evidence tending to remove from my mind the belief that they or any of them did exist, and assure you that upon becoming convinced that 'I am under misapprehension concerning any of such alleged facts, the allegations concerning the same will be immediately withdrawn.

 

Concerning your statement that my letter of December 29th contains "no withdrawal or modifications of the statements complained of," you will pardon me if I say that I was not aware that any complaint had been made concerning any statement made by me, your reply having been primarily directed to eliciting more specific information concerning certain points.

 

Referring to the suggestion contained in your note of the 29th, and your interview with Mr. Damon, that I withdraw my communication of December 27th, I would say that to do so would have been in the nature of an admission that the statements therein contained were incorrect, which unfortunately in the absence of the information which you say you are prepared to present, and with certain other evidence before me, it was impossible for me to do.

 

Allow me to assure you that it is with deep gratification that I received your assurance that your communication to me of the 29th of December was prompted by no improper motive or unfriendly spirit, but was intended to continue the amicable relations heretofore existing and to further assure you that this and all other communications from this Government are written in the same spirit, and I trust that no statement presenting the claims and views of this Government concerning any matter of law or fact, may, by reason of its directness and distinctness be construed as otherwise than of a similar character.

 

In compliance with your request for certain specifications concerning ray letter of December 27th, I reply thereto as follows :

 

First. You inquire as to the meaning of the word "attitude" as used in my letter. I reply that the word was used by me in its ordinarily accepted sense, meaning the bearing, the posture as indicating purpose of those referred to.

 

You further say: "Will you point out where and when and how the representative of the United States assumed any attitude toward the supporters of the Provisional Government or that Government itself, other than one essentially and designedly expressive of peace?"

 

In reply I would say that the attitude of a person is to be ascertained only by inferences drawn from the known words and acts of such person, and the conditions and circumstances under which they take place.

 

Some of the words and actions of the United States and its representative in this connection, arid the conditions and circumstances attendant thereupon, from which its intentions and attitude toward the Provisional Government must be inferred, are as follows :

 

1. A treaty of annexation had been negotiated between the Provisional Government and the United States Government and presented to the Senate for ratification. This treaty was withdrawn by President Cleveland immediately upon his entering office without prior notice to this Government or its representatives of his intention so to do, or of his reasons for such action.

 

2. Immediately thereafter the President appointed Hon. James H. Blount a special commissioner to Hawaii to investigate the condition of affairs at Hawaii.

 

The knowledge of such appointment was withheld from the representatives of the Government at Washington. The press having announced the appointment, the Hawaiian representatives applied to the State department for information concerning the same. The Secretary of State refused to state the objects of the mission or even to admit that a commissioner had been appointed.

 

3. On the 19th day of June, 1893, Mr. Thurston, Hawaiian Minister at Washington, addressed a communication to Mr. Gresham, Secretary of State, in which the following language is used, viz.:

 

"I am directed by my Government to represent to you that, while the Hawaiian Government has full confidence in the good faith of the United States towards Hawaii in and concerning its treatment of the relations between the two countries, it seems proper that it should be informed as to the effect the present uncertainty as to the ultimate course to be pursued has upon the situation in Hawaii. "The long continued delay and uncertainty keeps the entire community in a feverish state of mind, by reason of which business is seriously affected, capital is rendered timid, thereby hampering all enterprises which are conducting; their business on credit ; the Government's credit and ability to borrow is prejudiced; the expenses of the Government are largely increased by the necessity of maintaining a considerable armed force for the protection of public order, and the enemies of the Government are encouraged to conspire against law and order, all of which is highly prejudicial and injurious, not only to the Hawaiians, but to- the very large amount of American capital invested in Hawaii, and the mutual trade now being conducted between the two countries.

 

''It is important for the Hawaiian Government to know the intentions of the United States Government concerning annexation at as early a date as possible; as, if annexation is not to take place, the methods of treating local conditions in Hawaii must be radically different from those to be pursued if annexation is to take place.

 

"It is also important that, whatever the intentions of the United States Government may be, concerning the subject matter, the Hawaiian Government be informed what such intentions are before the same are made public, in order that it may consider the situation with full knowledge of all its aspects, and decide upon such course of action as may be necessary to preserve order and protect the interests of the people of Hawaii.

 

"For the reasons above stated I respectfully request that a decision may be arrived at and communicated as speedily as is consistent with the interests of the United States." No reply has ever been made to such communication.

 

4. Upon the arrival of Mr. Blount in the country he did not communicate or in any manner intimate to the Hawaiian Government that his investigations were to be directed toward the right of existence of the Government to whom he was accredited. All of his investigations and examinations were private, and such persons only were examined as he chose to call.

 

5. An examination of his report since published, shows that there are statements made by approximately sixty Royalist and twenty supporters of the Provisional Government. That he had obtained no statement from the four members of the Cabinet voted out three days before the revolutionary attempt of the Queen, although he has obtained exhaustive statements from their Royalist successors.

 

That he has examined only two of the thirteen members of the Committee of Safety, one of the original four members of the Executive Council of the Provisional Government, three of the original fourteen members of the Advisory Council, two of the eight speakers who addressed the mass meeting called by the Committee of Safety on the day prior to the establishment of the Provisional Government, and but one of the eight field and staff officers, and none of the seventeen line officers in command of the forces of the Provisional Government, and none of the five commissioners sent to Washington, although all of such men omitted to be examined were eye witnesses and active participants in the overthrow of the monarchy and the establishment of the Provisional Government, and are men of character and standing in the community, while a number of those examined on the royalist side are irresponsible characters

 

6. Upon the l0th day of May, 1893, Mr. Blount, without first communicating to this Government what his instructions were or his intention so to do, published his official instructions in a Honolulu newspaper in the form of an address "to the People of the Hawaiian Islands," and concluded with the following words: "While I shall refrain from interference between conflicting forces, of whatever nationality, for supremacy, I will protect American citizens not participating in such conflict."

 

7. Although Mr. Blount's report is official in character, vitally affects this Government, is distinctly hostile to it in tone and conclusions, no request to this Government for explanation of the charges therein made was received, nor opportunity to reply thereto, or notice of its contents given prior to its publication. The first information concerning the contents of such report was obtained by this Government through published extracts in American papers, dated November 20th last, no official copy thereof being furnished the Hawaiian Minister at Washington until November 25th, and none received by this Government at Honolulu until December 22nd last, such copies having been furnished only after several applications therefor to the State department.

 

8. On November 7, you having arrived in Honolulu, presented your credentials to this Government as American Minister, with the usual declarations of friendship and regard, and were duly received and acknowledged. Simultaneously therewith, Admiral Skerrett was suddenly and unexpectedly removed, and Rear-Admiral Irwin appointed to the command of the American naval forces in Honolulu. Such change was almost universally interpreted by the press of the United States as having a bearing upon the contemplated execution of the announced policy of the President concerning Hawaii. The extract hereafter contained, from the New York Herald, is a sample of the interpretation placed thereon by the press of your own country favorable to such policy.

 

I do not claim or intimate that the personnel of the commanding officer of the United States forces is of any concern to the Government, nor suggest that the interpretation placed thereon by the American press is correct, nor that your Government is responsible for such interpretation. This incident is mentioned simply as part of the res gestie of the case which this Government had before it, and as one of the many things which it was obliged to consider in drawing its inferences as to what the intentions of your Government were.

 

9. Upon the 8th of November last the New York Herald published a statement from its Washington correspondent, from which I make the following extracts:

 

"A diplomatic bombshell will burst within the next few days and the report will be heard throughout the entire world.

 

"The bomb will be thrown by an accredited representative of the United States Government, and he will hurl it against the badly conceived and worse managed Provisional Government of the Hawaiian Islands. '' If Minister Willis and Rear-Admiral Irwin arrived in Honolulu on schedule there would be even livelier times in the capital city of the Hawaiian Islands to-day than there is in the metropolis of the United States.

 

"Brie-fly stated, the present administration will do all in its power to restore the condition of affairs which existed in Hawaii at the time Minister Stevens * * * brought about the overthrow of Queen Liliuokalani. * * * " The same force, that of the United States Government, which made the Provisional Government possible has sustained taem in power to this day. They could not have made the revolution of which they were the head center, a success except for the support given them by the administration in Washington, and there is every reason to believe that the Provisional Government would have gone down long ago but for this same support.

 

"The fact that a new Minister has been sent to Honolulu to succeed Minister Stevens and that Rear Admiral Irwin has been sent to relieve Commodore Skerrett, has been accepted in many instances as an inkling of the Administration's policy towards Hawaii. "This means that the Queen will be restored to her throne and the Provisional Government, representing only a small part of the people of Hawaii, will soon be a thing of the past."

 

I do not intimate that the United States Government is responsible for the utterances of the Herald, but cite the above as one of several instances in which information of intended acts on the part of your Government vital to this Government has been denied to this Government, and first been made known to it through the public press.

 

10. On Nov. 11 the papers of the United States published a letter from the Secretary of State to the President, dated Oct. 18, 1893. No previous notice had been given to this Government of the contents of such letter or of the intention to make it public.

 

In that letter the Secretary, referring to the initiation of this Government, says

"They relied on no military force of their own, for they had none worthy of the name. The Provisional Government was established by the action of the American Minister and the presence of the troops landed from the Boston, and its continued existence is due to the belief of the Hawaiians that if they made an effort to overthrow it they would encounter the armed forces of the United States.

 

"The earnest appeals to the American Minister for military protection by the officers of the Provisional Government after it had been recognized show the utter absurdity of the claim that it was established by a successful revolution of the people of the Islands.

 

"These appeals were a confession by the men who made them of their uneasiness and timidity. Courageous men, conscious of their strength and the justice of their cause. do not thus act.

 

"Should not the great wrong done to a feeble hut independent state by an abuse of the authority of the United States be undone by restoring the legitimate Government? Anything short of that will not, I respectfully submit, satisfy the demands of justice. Our Government was the first to recognize the independence of the Islands, and it should be last to acquire sovereignty over them by force and fraud."

You have intimated in your communication dated December 2d that the foregoing letter, "being a domestic transaction, is not the subject of diplomatic representation," which statement you have reiterated in your communication of January 1st.

 

I must submit, however, that an official communication from the Chief of the Department of State to the President, in which he charges "this Government and its officers with conspiracy, weakness, timidity and fraud, and recommends its subversion, which letter is officially furnished to and published by the public press, without any information concerning the same being afforded -to this Government, is not a "domestic transaction," and is pre-eminently a proper subject for inquiry on the part of this Government, as to the intentions of your Government concerning the subject matter.

 

11. On November 14th, Mr. Thurston, Hawaiian Minister at Washington, called upon the Secretary of State and inquired if the above letter was authentic, and was assured by Mr. Gresham that it was.

 

Mr. Thurston then said: "I am not at liberty at present to answer that question. It is a matter concerning which I will speak to the President and talk with you more fully this afternoon."

 

In the afternoon of the same day, Mr. Gresham further said to Mr. Thurston: "I have already answered your first question to the effect that the letter published (Secretary Gresham to the President) was authentic and a correct statement of the policy of the United States. AB to your second question, as to whether force is to be used by the United States to restore the Queen, all that I am at liberty to state is that Mr. Willis has no instructions to do anything which will cause injury to life or property of anyone at the islands. Further than this that I am not at liberty to state what his instructions are. You can draw your own inferences from my statement and allay any apprehension which may have been caused by what has been published."

 

Mr. Thurston further said to Mr. Gresham: "Your answer does not convey the information which I requested. What I desire is to obtain information which will guide my Government in their action. If they know that force is to be used by you their course of action will necessarily be different from what it otherwise would be. The definite information from me that you intend to use force may be the means of preventing them from using force and causing bloodshed."

 

To which Mr. Gresham replied: "Our relations in the past have been pleasant and I want them to continue to be so in the future, and to be perfectly courteous to you, but I cannot at present answer you more fully than I have."

 

12. On the 16th of last November there was published in the Honolulu Star an interview with you, with the accompanying statement that the proofs had been revised by you. The following are extracts therefrom, purporting to be statements made by you:

 

"You are authorized to say from me that no change in the present situation will take place for several weeks. I brought with me certain instructions. Since my arrival here contingencies have arisen about which neither the United States Government nor myself were aware when I left Washington.

 

I forwarded my dispatches to Washington by today's steamer, and until I receive an answer to them no change will take place in the present situation, nor will any be allowed."

 

What do you mean by the expression "nor will any be allowed?"

 

"I mean just this: that until the time comes for me to carry out my instructions the peace and good order of this community will be kept undisturbed in the interests of humanity. That any attempt made by any person or persons to make trouble will be promptly checked and punished. You may put the matter more plainly and say that even if the Provisional Government discharged the whole of its troops to-day no lawlessness would be allowed for one moment under the present situation of affairs."

 

"The whole Hawaiian "question is now in abeyance and nothing the newspapers can say or do will alter the situation one iota. There is not the slightest necessity for any one to stay out of bed nights for fear of any trouble of any kind, for none will be permitted."

 

n the Honolulu Bulletin of November 17th last there is published what purports to be a letter signed by yourself, in which you state concerning the above-mentioned interview: "The interview in the Star was submitted to me but I did not scrutinize it carefully. It contains several expressions which are misleading, due, I am sure, not to any intention on the part of the writer."

 

There is no specification as to what the misleading portions are, although you have since verbally informed me in substance that you did not intend to use such words and had no intention of exercising authority inconsistent with that of the Government.

 

13. On November 17th last the Hawaiian Star published a statement purporting to be a report of remarks made by you to a delegation of the American League, in which the following words are stated to have been used by you:

 

"I have my instructions, which I cannot divulge.  But this much I can say: That the policy of the United States is already formulated regarding these islands, and  that nothing which can be said or done, either here or there, can avail anything now. I do not come here as did Mr. Blount. I come here as an executive officer. I come to act. When the proper time conies I shall act. I wish to state positively that any outside interference will not be tolerated by the United States."

 

I am not aware that you have ever disavowed the correctness of this report.

 

14. On November 29th last, having that day for the first  time received information through the Hawaiian Minister at Washington of the contents of Mr. Gresham's letter to the President and of his statements concerning the same, and his refusal to state whether it was the intention of your Government to carry out its policy by force, I called upon you, in company with the Attorney-General, stated to you the substance of my information, and asked you what the intentions of your Government were in relation to Mr. Gresham's recommendations. You replied that you were not at liberty to tell us, but would do so as soon as you could.

 

15. Immediately thereafter I addressed a communication  to you revoking the general permission theretofore granted  to the United States forces to land for drill, and a further communication formally stating to you the information received by me concerning said letter of Mr. Gresham and asking you the following questions: " I desire to inquire of you whether the published reports of such letter of Secretary Gresham are substantially correct? If they are I feel that it is due this Government that it should be informed of the intention of your Government in relation to the suggestions contained in the said letter of Mr. Gresham."

 

On December 2nd you replied to such letter stating that, "as to the letter of Mr. Gresham, I have the honor to call your attention to the fact, as shown by you, that it is a communication from a member of the Cabinet to the President of the United States, and being a domestic transaction is not the subject of diplomatic representation. Answering your note further, I must, express my sincere regret that it is not in my power at present to inform you of the views or intentions of the United States."

 

16. On December 4 last, President Cleveland transmitted his annual message to Congress, in which the following language was used concerning Hawaii:

 

Referring to Mr. Blount's report he said, "Upon the facts developed it seemed to me the only honorable course for our Government to pursue was to undo the wrong that had been done by those representing us, and to restore, as far as practicable, the status existing at the time of our forcible intervention. With a view of accomplishing this result within the constitutional limits of executive power, present Minister at Honolulu has received appropriate instructions to that end."

 

17. On December 14th last the United States dispatch boat Corwin arrived in Honolulu from San Francisco, bringing dispatches to yourself. No mail was allowed to be brought by her, but the press of Honolulu obtained from persons on board of her and published the above extract from the President's message. But for such accidental information, no information concerning the same would have been obtained by this Government until the arrival of the Alameda- on December 22d.

 

Up to the time of the arrival of the Corwin the United States naval officers in port were in the habit of coming ashore in citizen's dress. The crews received the usual liberty on shore and no unusual warlike preparations were visible on board.

 

Immediately upon the arrival of the Corwin the liberty of the crews was stopped, as was that of most of the officers. Those who came on shore were in service uniform. Rifles were stacked, cartridge belts were filled with ball cartridges and knapsacks packed for immediate use were conspicuous on the decks of the ships, and were seen there by visiting citizens, who, in reply to inquiry as to the meaning of such preparations, were informed by the officers that they were ready to land at a moment's notice. When asked if the landing would be to protect or fight us, the reply of the officers of the Philadelphia was that no one on board knew what orders would be received.

 

18. It was known at this time that several of the wives of the United States naval officers temporarily in Honolulu were packing up their baggage preparatory for immediate removal in view of possible hostilities.

 

19. It was also known that you were in frequent communication with the ex-Queen, and leading royalists were constantly reiterating that you were going- to immediately restore the Queen by force.

 

As a sample of the innumerable assertions of this character is the following, made by Mr. J. O. Carter, the ex-Queen's most trusted councillor and confidant, a gentleman who was then known to be in consultation with you and the ex-Queen, and who appears as the attesting witness, to the exclusion of the former members of her cabinet, to her proposition of amnesty hereunder referred to.

 

Mr. Carter warned his nephew, Mr. C. L. Carter, a supporter of the Provisional Government, that restoration was certain, that force would be used by the United States for that purpose, and that he ought to consider the rights of his family and not risk his life in opposing the inevitable.

 

This information was from one of the sources from which numerous prophesies of future action on the part of the United States had emanated, with almost invariable correctness.

 

20. It was the almost well-nigh universal belief in the city that you were about to attempt to land the naval forces of the United States to enforce the execution of the President's policy.

 

In anticipation thereof, for a number of days, the wharves were lined with crowds of people, among them prominent royalists, waiting to see the United States troops land to restore the Queen.

 

21. On December 18th Mr. H. F. Glade, Consul for Germany, called upon you and in substance asked if you could not speak out and relieve the public from the state of extreme tension they were in, which was becoming unbearable, to which you replied in substance that you were aware of the conditions and were making every effort to bring the matter to a speedy determination, and would act within forty-eight hours.

 

22. On December 16th, it being reported that the Corwin was, at an early date, to return to San Francisco, the Attorney-General called upon you, stating that there would be no regular mail for nearly three weeks and asked permission to forward Hawaiian Government dispatches by her, which permission you refused, stating that your instructions would not permit it.

 

23. On December 18th, Major Wodehouse, the British Minister, and Mr. Fujii, the Japanese diplomatic representative, both asked permission to land troops from their respective warships for the purpose of protecting their respective legations, which permission was granted by the Government.

 

24. In view of the existing condition, Mr. Fujii, the Japanese diplomatic representative, sent word to a number of prominent American supporters of the Provisional Government, offering the use of the Japanese legation as a refuge for their families in case of hostilities.

 

25. On December 18th last, I addressed to you a communication containing the following words :

"I am informed that you are in communication with Liliuokalani, the ex-Queen, with a view of re-establishing the monarchy in the Hawaiian Islands and of supporting her pretensions to the sovereignty. Will you inform me if this report is true or if you are acting in any way hostile to this Government. You will pardon me for pressing you for an immediate answer."

26. On December 19th you called upon, and made a verbal address to me, furnishing me with a manuscript copy of your remarks, from which I make the following extracts :

"The President also regrets, as do I, that any secrecy should have surrounded the interchange of views between our two Governments. I may say this, however, that the secrecy thus far observed has been in the interest and for the safety of all your people."

Upon the facts embodied in Mr. Blount's reports, the President has arrived at certain conclusions and determined upon a certain course of action with which it becomes my duty to acquaint you:

"The Provisional Government was not established by the Hawaiian people or with their consent or acquiescence, nor has it since existed with their consent. (Other reasons are set forth for the conclusions reached).

 

"In view of these conclusions I was instructed by the President to take advantage of an early opportunity to inform the Queen of this determination and of his views as to the responsibility of our Government. 

 

"I was instructed at the same time to inform the Queen that when reinstated that the President expected that she would pursue a magnanimous course by granting full amnesty to all who participated in the movement against her.

 

"In obedience to the command of the President I have secured the Queen's agreement to this course. 

 

"It becomes my further duty to advise you, sir, the Executive of the Provisional Government, and your Ministers, of: the President's determination of the question which your action and that of the Queen devolved upon him, and that you are expected to promptly relinquish to her constitutional authority. And now, Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Provisional Government, with a deep and solemn sense of the gravity of the situation, in the name and by the authority of the United States of America, I submit to you the question: Are you willing to abide by the decision of the President?"

27. Upon the 23rd of December I replied to the foregoing communication in the negative.

 

Up to the time of sending you my communication of December 27th no further communication had been received by me from you, and no assurance had been received that force was not to be used nor what your further intentions were concerning this Government.

 

28. During your nearly two months' residence in this city, you and your family have declined the customary social courtesies usually extended to those occupying your official position, on the specified ground that it was not deemed best under existing circumstances to accept such civilities.

 

I do not for a moment intimate that such a course is improper or that it is a subject for criticism. It is simply referred to by me as an existing fact bearing upon your relations to this Government and germane in considering the question of your attitude thereto. It would not have been referred to by me except in response to your inquiry.

 

In the absence of specific, definite information as to the intentions of your Government, the foregoing are some of the facts from which this Government has been obliged to infer what such intentions were, and which, considered as a whole constitute the "attitude" toward this Government.

 

It may be that the proper logical deduction and inference from the foregoing facts is that the "attitude" of the United States and its representative toward the Provisional Government is and has been "one essentially and designedly expressive of peace." It will give me the greatest pleasure to receive assurances to that effect ; but I submit that under the circumstances and in the absence of such assurances they are capable of another construction, to a sufficient extent, at least to warrant the question which I have asked you in my communication of December 27th. Your second request for information is as follows :

"You assert that at the time of my arrival in this country the forces of this Government were organized and amply sufficient to suppress any internal disorder. Will you inform me what connection this statement has, or is designed to have, with the Government of the United States, or with the future action of its representative?"

I reply that there are two reasons for the said statement:

 

First, that already stated in my letter of December 17th, that "in consequence of your attitude the enemies of the Government believing in your intentions to restore the monarchy, by force have become emboldened, etc.," and second, that by reason of my inability to ascertain whether your Government proposed to use force in support of its policy of restoration, I was obliged to act as though it did so intend; as a result of which this Government has been obliged to increase its forces and has been subjected to the necessity of increased watchfulness and large additional expense, but which for such attitude would have been unnecessary.

 

The effect which I had hoped this communication might have upon the future action of the representative of the United States was that he might give such assurances that such additional watchfulness and expense might be avoided. Your third request is for the time, place and subject matter of the "language" used by yourself in public and in communication to this Government. The answer to this is covered by my reply to your first inquiry.

 

Your fourth inquiry is as to what particular words in the published letter from Secretary Gresham and in the President's message, and which message of the President, I referred to. I reply that certain of the words of the Secretary and President which I deem pertinent to the subject matter have already been quoted in my reply to your first inquiry, although there are others obviously bearing on the same subject.

 

I have already replied to you that I referred to the President's first message in my letter dated the 27th, having actually been written on the 26th of December and forwarded to you before I had knowledge of the contents of the second message.

 

Your fifth inquiry is as to the time and contents of your communications which were "ambiguous." I have enumerated them in my reply to your first inquiry. The ambiguity consists in the reiterated statement that you proposed to do some act and carry out certain instructions, which all the surrounding circumstances indicated were inimical to this Government, without stating what that act or what those instructions were, and while presenting and speaking assurances of friendship and amity, without the. consent of this Government negotiating with its enemies for its subversion, and declining to state what your intentions were.

 

Such utterances and actions were so inconsistent one with the other with international rules of comity and the past relations and international policy of the two Governments, as to be not only ambiguous, but incomprehensible to this Government.

 

Your sixth inquiry is as to when, where and to whom you declared that you intended to do some act when the proper time arrived. The reply to your first inquiry covers this also.

 

Your seventh inquiry is to the time and manner when the Government has sought the assurance that force would not be used. The answer is contained in my reply to your first inquiry.

 

You finally ask my "careful consideration" of the following statement contained in my letter:

 

"Your action has unfortunately aroused the passions of all parties and made it probable that disturbances may be created at any moment," and say that you "refuse to believe that upon re-examination you (I) will feel at liberty to affix your (my) official signature to such an extraordinary declaration." In reply I beg to state that I have resided in this country for nearly fifty years, and had intimate personal knowledge of the conditions prevailing during the riot of 1874 and the revolutions of 1887, 1889 and 1893, and with all deliberation, I state of my own knowledge that during such periods there has never been a time when the country has been subjected to such strain and excitement as during the eight days following the arrival of the Corwin. The business of the entire community was practically suspended and its time and energy devoted to an exciting and absorbing consideration of the political situation and to military preparation to meet unknown contingencies, which state of things has since been fortunately allayed by advices from America furnished in reports of the President's special Hawaiian message to Congress and his instructions to your Excellency, information which made a satisfactory and favorable response to the inquiry of my letter to you of December 27th.

 

I also state with equal deliberation that such condition was produced and maintained by reason of your actions and declarations and the actions and declarations of your Government and the circumstances and uncertainties attendant thereupon, as detailed in my letter of December 27th and herein. I make the statement in no spirit of unfriendliness to you or your Government, but as an historical fact, which, if not already known to you, should, in the interests of both countries, be made known to you.

 

In conclusion, I beg to refer to the statement in your communication of January 1st, wherein you state that it is a source of ''sincere and profound regret" that my letter ''brings for the first time the official information that the warlike preparations described by you were caused by and intended for the diplomatic and military representatives of the United States." In reply, I would say that such regret on your part at receiving such information cannot exceed the sincerity and profoundness of my own regret that such a condition should exist.

 

Such regret on my part is only equaled by inability to understand how it has come about that a Government and a community which is to-day more closely connected with the United States by ties of commerce, friendship and blood than any other lying beyond its borders, which values your friendship above that of all other nations, which fully admits and appreciates the many and deep obligations which it is under to your Government and people, which has done you and your country no wrong, has been forced into a position where, in defense of their very right to exist, they have been obliged to take up arms to meet the possible hostility of that country, whose flag they revere and whose principles of liberty they love.

 

I cannot but believe that it has arisen through a misunderstanding of facts on the part of your Government, and a mutual apprehension of motives and intentions, which may, I sincerely hope, at an early day, be cleared away. Allow me, in closing, to thank you, Mr. Minister, for your frequent expressions of personal regard and for the evident sincerity of purpose displayed by you under recent trying circumstances, and to assure you of my deep appreciation thereof.

 

I have the honor to assure you that, with highest consideration, I am Your Excellency's obedient servant,

(Signed) SANFORD B. DOLE, Minister of Foreign Affairs

 

Proclamation of The Republic

>     Supplement A.     Back to Contents     Back to History