The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1857-07-23
According to a statement of Nicolay, before the
British Association for the advancement of Science,

In respect to the principal maritime nations, the
balance of power in the North Pacific is a question
which has of late years invited attention to the Ha-
waiian Archipelago. 1t has not inaptly been design
ated as the Gibraltar of the North Pacific, as it
would be, in fact, in the possession Of either of the
great maratime powers France has eyinced no lit
tie chagrin AT the blunder committed by one of her
admirals, in seizing upon the Tahitian instead of the
Hawaiian group in 1889. y hostile attempt upon
the latter, in the same year, miscarried. The error
was not discovered till too late for correction. She
has since attempted by various expedients, through
the agency of her naval commanders, her clergy, and
her diplomacy, to gain a foothold here; and, 1t Is
presumed, that her reluctance to jeopardize her
friendly relations with England and the United
States, has alone prevented the accomplishment Of
her object by force. Hawaii has always looked to
the United States as her natural guardian and pro-
tector; and the late king gave no trifling proof of his
confidence, when, menaced with hostilities by the
French in 1851, he laid his islands at the feet of the
American Secretary Of State, (the late Daniel Web
ster,) who saw fit to reject the overture. Although
recognized as an independent State, no one believes
that the sovereignty of the islands can be long MAIN
tanned under the native regime. The time is not
very remote when the Anglo-Saxons will occupy the
places of the Aboriginees; and, in respect 10 the
question of a foreign jurisdiction, the future destiny
of the islands cannot be n subject of indifference to
the United States.
Since the question of annexation has received its
quietus, the island government has rested its hopes
Of any further development Of the agricultural re-
sources of the country, IN any degree commensurate
with its capacities, upon a treaty Of commercial reel
procity with the United States. Such a treaty was
negotiated at Washington in August of last year, by
the Hon. W. L. Lee, on the part Of the Hawaiian gov
eminent, but it has not yet been ratified by the
American Senate. The Hawaiian Islands, and Pa
cifc States and Territories of the United States are
naturally and indissolubly allied to each other, in
respect to their relative geographical position, as well
as their respective Interchangeable productions; and,
whilst the removal of exis: lg restrictions to such n
reciprocal interchange would be productive of their
mutual advantage, their remoteness from the Allan
tic States, and the general laws of trade render it
improbable that any valuable interest of any section
of the American Union would be thereby prejudiced;
for no inconsiderable portion of the surplus produce
of California and Oregon, of which the islands now
consume but a fraction, it is believed that such a
reciprocity would, at no distant day, open a conve-
nient, and in respect to capacity, desirable market in
the Hawaiian Archipelago, which otherwise must re-
main, to a large extent, an uninhabited waste, and,
therefore, unavailable, as a market, as the coral reefs
which surround it.
With the islands the question is one of vital import,
Of productive industry and growth, or of premature
decay and Geath. Under the operation of the treaty,
there would be a gradual ingress of capital aud pop
ulation from the United States. And should the
islands never become an integral part of the Ameri-
can Union, all the advantages attainable by their an
nexation, would, without any corresponding sacrifices,
be virtually secured TO the latter.