Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1853-05-25
The Sandwich Islands and France.

| An article recently appeared IN the Provldenc
lJournal-which is one of the most reliable as wei
as discreetly conservative journals in the countr
I accusing the French Government of hostile de
signs against the Hawaiian kingdom, and strong
ly intimating the desire that Government
lake possession of the Sandwich Islands. Th
article has been extensively republished and com
mented on. and drew from the New York Com
mercial Advertiser some question as to the authen
ticity of the information on which its statement
and inferences were predicated. In reply to th
the editor of the Journal says
"The Commercial overlooked an editorial para
graph, in which we stated that the advices were
from the highest authority, and were entirely re.
liable. If we were at liberty to mention the orig
inal source of the intelligence, the Commercial
would not question it. 1t is true that later advi-
ces have been received from the Sandwich Islands
than by way of Peru, but the information disclos-
ed by our correspondent has been hitherto confined
to those who had access to official proceedings
and we presume has not been known anywhere
in this county except at the Department of State,
and even there it has very likely been overlooked
in the more important and pressing matter of par
ceiling out the offices in such manner as to stop
the greatest number of greedy mouths. and to Gre
ate the least division among the faithful. 1t was
from the same correspondent that we once receiy-
ed important advices touching the condition Of
things in Buenos Ayres. ending with prediction
of the fall of Rosas, which, although doubted by
many we'll informed papers, soon proved true"
We find an article on this subject in the Wash
ington Union of Monday in which the editor, ad-
mitting the probability that the statement of the
Journal may, in the main, be true, whilst errone-
GUS in some of its details, gives the following sue
cinct narrative of the causes of dispute between
the government of France and that of the Sand
wich Islands:
''The story of the discovery of the Hawaiian
group of islands by the famous navigator Captain
Cook on the nineteenth day of January, l77S, and
Of his melancholy end, is familiar to the intelli-
gent reader. The advantages of the group as
rendezvous for vessels cruising in the Pacific o.
cean brought its heather inhabitants into frequent
contact with the merchants of civilized natlons.-
Of an exceedingly ractable and docile nature, the
islanders readily yielded to the influences of
Christian civlization-insomuch that the first
corps ofAmerican missionaries found them in 1920
equally eager to reject their old system of idola-
rous superstition, and to escape from the black
ness of barbarsm. The traffic of the merchant
prepared the way for the Gospel ofthe missionary,
and in less than fifteen years the faith OF the Prot
esant Christian became the established religion
of the people and the government. Meanwhile,
the whole group of islands had been reduced to
one dominion by the great chief Kamehameha l.,
the "Napoleon of the Pacific" who was so much
loved and reverenced by his subjects that the pi-
Gus proposition of an enthusiastic mourner "to eat
him raw" would have been undoubtedly carried
into effect but for the nerposition of the mission
aries, who procured for the deceased monarch a
more decent and Christian burial.
'About the year 1889 company Of French Cath
olics arrived in the islands, and began to teach
with that success which has attended their mis-
sionary labors in all quarters of the globe. The
government took offence at their inroads on the
established religion of the kingdom, banished the
Catholics, and prosecuted their converts. Subse-
quently the system of persecution was abandoned,
and the Catholic missionaries were allowed to re-
turn to the islands, but under certain disabilities.
Just about that time Captain Laplace, of the
French Frigate L'Artemise, arrived at Honolulu,
and under threats of immediate hostities, extort-
ed for the Catholics the same privileges enjoyed
by Protestants, and also bullied the government
into treaty for the admission of French wines
and brandies at very low duty. For the faith
ful performance of these stipulations he extorted
security of twenty thousand dollars. Of course,
the British authorities would not be outdone by
the French; so, in l943, Lord George Paulet, Of
Her Majesty's ship Carysfort, went bowshot
beyond the insolence Of Captain Laplace, and
made such demands upon the King, that ia utter
despair he abdicated his authority, and surrender
ed his dominions to Queen Victoria. The cesson
was accepted by Lord George Paulet, and the
government of the islands put into commission
The supremacy of the English was of brief dura-
ton for on the 3lst of July, lS43, Rear Admi-
raj Thomas cancelled the acts of Sir George Pau
let, and restored the dominion of the islands to
their legitimate sovereign. The government Of
Kamohameha ILL.,, has since been formally ac-
knowledged by the United States, England,
France, Russia, and possibly by other powers.
pecially in regard to the admission of wines and
brandies into the Hawaiian kingdom, as they were
made under the pressure of ofcompulson, have been
very reluctantly and imperfectly carried out, i
not formally revoked. In consequence, the French
government has repeatedly manifested an unfriend-
" disposition towards the Hawaiian kingdom
and it isnot at all improbable that the report of
hostile expedition against the islands has some
foundation in fact. The manner in which the
French, government seized upon the Society Is
lands tends not at all to remove the suspicion Of
their designs against the Hawaiian group"
The "Union" then expresses itself in the fol-
lowing terms respecting the policy of the Nation
al Administration in reference to this affair:
1t is manifest that the native government of the
Sandwich Islands exists only by suherance. 1t is
equally manifest that it is rapidly sinking from an
inherent'decay which nothing can arrest. In l79e
the aboriginal population of the Hawaiian Islands
was but little less than 100000. In 1880 it was
but $50 900; and by the cenhgs of 1850 it was
computed at scarcely 5000 bis. In the pre-.
| cedng year the excess of deaths over births wat
2,69S. At this rate of decrease the native popu
lation of the islands will become extinct by the
end of the century AS the native population dis
appears, the vacuum is filled up by immigration
chiefly from the United States. The education
the religion, the trade, and even the government
of the islands, are already under American con
troll. The relations between this country and the
Hawaiian kingdom are analogous to those which
existed between the United States and the repub
lie of Texas. The Hawaiian government has
more than once proposed some sort of political con
nection with the United States-wbether the sur
render of its dominions, and formal annexation
cannot be determined until the publication of the
official correspondence on the subject. 1t is under
stood that the proffer, whatever It's nature,wa re
jected by the late administration. The S.nat
sought information on the nature of the n egotia
tions, but President Fillmore declined to pablisl
the correspondence between the two governments
Whatever differences of opinion may exist as t
the proper Interpretation Of the Monroe doctrine
all are agreed that under no circumstances can thi
Government suffer the dominion of the Sandwich
Islands to be transferred to any other power
Such transfer could never be made bat by vic
lence, and in disregard of the wishes Of he peop
as well as Of the government of the islands. I'll
present King has arnounced his intention, in ar,
difficulty with foreign power, to thow hlmsel
upon tho protection Of the American Government
In such an emergency, the duty of this Govern
mont yvould bo enffscientlv obvious. fhe nossec