The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1875-04-14
iron the Phil. North Americana
The Hawaiian Treaty.


The Senate has done very sensible thing
in ratifying the Reciprocity treaty with Ha-
wall, and it is little remarkable that after so
much talk in opposition there should have been
only twelve votes against the treaty. The
truth seems to be that there exists an indispO-
sition to approve of any act of the present ma
tional executive that is likely to be distinc-
tive and conspicuously successful measure of
national progress. 1t was this that defeated
the San Domingo treaty, that prevented the
acquisition of the Navigator Islands, and it is
this that prompts an immediate assault upon
every action of the Treasury Department, no
matter what it may be. But in the matter of
the Hawaiian treaty, this senseless and gene
raj opposition seems to have overshot the mark
and defeated itself For there on the one hand
was Senator Morrill,, of Vermont, opposing the
treaty on protectionist grounds, and on the
other hand free-traders opposing it because
eve do not want the islands," But the course
of the debate exposed the utter hollowness of
the opposition to such an extent that number
of votes were gained for the treaty as it adj
vanced; that's, the more the opposition talked
the weaker they grew
The truth is that the craftsmanship which is
in opposition to all further territorial aggran-
dizement and insensible to the importance of
commercial power all over the world is about
"played cut" The halo thrown around this
order of public men by the opposition of Henry
Clay to the annexation of Texas and of Daniel
Webster to all further territorial acquisitions
has done a world of mischief in our national
when he advocated the purchase of Alaska,
and he succumbed to it entirely when he OPP
posed the annexation of San Domingo. But in
the present instance no annexation was pro-
posed by the treaty, though it is we'll known
that if there were any show for the ratification
of treaty of annexation we could get the is
lands at any time, as the American influence is
largely predominant there With a keen scent
for positive and progressive measures, the
regular and determined opposition promptly
begun to array itself against the reciprocity
treaty.
The same class of expert fault-fnders who
can discover no permanent civilization or pro-
gress in New Mexico, who think Colorado of no
account, and who seem to look for exact copies
of New England in every new territory, have
drawn discouraging pictures of Hawaii. 1t is
true that the islands have been civilized and
christianized entirely by Americans that their
religious devotion is sincere and that the peo-
pie are orderly, easily governed and progress
i've. 1t is true that American capital has es-
tablished commerce at Honolulu and agricul-
ture on a considerable scale in all the islands.
But the decrease of the native stock is kept
ever in the foreground, though if the Ameri-
can population goes on increasing there we
really cannot see that the decrease of the ma
tive stock is an argument that we should cease
to take an interest in the islands. On the con-
trary it is apparent that if the whole popula-
ton were American the islands would at once
become ten times as important as they now are,
and that Honolulu would become a leading
commercial city in the Pacific trade.