The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1876-06-03
DEPARTMENT OF FoREIsS AFFAIRS

Congress. which will be called upon TO pass a law TO
render operative the Convention Of Commercial Re
cipToeity, negotiated with the United States Govern
ment and signed on the 30th January last. I have now
to request that Your Houors will inform me, whether
in your opinion any further legislation is required on
the part of the Hawaiian Kingdom TO allow the said
Treaty to 90 into operation. l enclose herewith a
printed copy of said Convention, and of the Act Of
l.; August 1874 for convenience Of reference
I have the honor to be
Your most obedient servant.
(Signed) W. L. GREEN.
DEPARTMENT OF JUDICIARY
18th NOVEMBER 1915.
Mn. MINISTER We have the honor to acknow-
ledge the recent Of YOUR communication of this date,
requesting an opinion whether any further legislation
is required on the part of the Hawaiian Kingdom to
allow the Treaty of Reciprocity with the United States
TO GO inc operation.
The Act of the fret Of August 1874. a printed copy
of which we annex, sets forth accurately in its pre-
amble the Constitutional provision on the subject Of
Treaties involving a change in the Tariff.
The Treaty under consideration does not involve any
change in the present tariff, but is "A Convention with
the United States that the Articles mentioned in a
Schedule attached shall come in without being sub
jected to the tariff in view of similar privileges in
favor of some Hawaiian products to be introduced
into the United States.
So that it is exceedingly doubtful whether the As
sent of the Legislature will be required at all but
whether this construction be a sound one or not. II
will be seen that the Constitution requires that such
n treaty should be referred to the Legislature for APP
proval. We are of the opinion, that the requirements
of the Constitution have been complied with in this
ESSpoSt II Ahat nv AuibuSA SSA1tS - SNNoAg
Such likewise we believe is the opinion of Judge Judd
who is now absent on Hawaii, holding the Circuit
Court on that Island but on his return, If Your Ex-
celleney shall think il desirable, we do not doubt
that he will expressly concur in this opinion.
have the honor to be Mr.. Minister
Your obedient servants,
(Signed) ELISHA II. ALLEN.
(Signed) C. C. HARRIS.
Mr.. Chairman, if this government, or if 1, have
done anything wrong in this matter, that wrong was
done over thirteen months ago, when l, In %conjune-
ton with the late AttOrney-General and the Cabinet,
advised His Majesty to ratify this treaty, and thus
bind the country and have it pushed to its conclusion
on the part If the United States at the earliest posi-
he date. And why should we not then recommend
the ratification Mr.. Chairman, of this great treaty Z
We were advised, and believed, and we believe now
that it was the only true, the only safe course to pur-
sue if we wanted TO get it. Yes, Mr.. Chairman. we
then decided to close this bargain with the Great
United States, and to rely on their sense OF honor
and propriety to see it concluded by their Congress.
The result has justified our action. What should
we have hesitated because somebody had come and
told us that perhaps the law of 1874 was unconstitu-
tional. which. however. nobody then did. Somebody
told us! Who Perhaps, Mr.. Chairman my re
spected grandmother might have suggested to me that
the law of 1874 was unconstitutional. But the Legis-
lature, the Cabinet and the Judges of the Supreme
Court all concurred in the opinion that it was. l
should have been a simpleton, MIR. Chairman, and
unfit for the position which L bold, TO have hesitated
q moment at that time in concluding this great bar
gain. But, Mr.. Chairman, it has been urged that
now the circumstances are altered, that the law of
1874 only contemplated a treaty concluded before the
next session of the Legislature. That when this As
sembly met, the law of 1874 became VOID, dead. Yes,
Mr.. Chairman, it did, but while it lived and long be-
fore this Assembly met, that law produced the re-
suits intended by it, it had given birth to a child
the Reciprocity treaty with the United States. Is
that treaty dead? No, Mr.. Chairman, it lives, and
this country is in honor bound to it. There is moth
ing whatever, concerning the treaty to bring before
this Assembly now, the last one relieved US of this
duty. The treaty was concluded as far as we are
concerned, long before, over a year before this As
sembly met. There is still another crude notion which
1 perhaps ought to notice, which one of our newspa-
perS has advanced, and L may say both the Honolulu
newspapers have taken in my opinion wrong. al
though different views on this subject. The idea is
this. that inasmuch as the government is sure of a
vote in favor Of the treaty they might as well bring it
up before the Assembly, pass 1t and make everything
com Portable.
The Honorable Mr.. Rhodes has stated that he did
not entertain this view. But, Mr.. Chairman, 1 will
not insult this house by supposing 1t possible that
they would wish US TO place the treaty before them
for consideration, only because we knew they would
vote in favor and not against it. No, If il came be-
fore the House at all, it must come for their reeep-
ton or rejection as might seem good to them. And
that cannot be, for the country is already bound to il,
by the action of every power and body which can give
a treaty force, including that Of the Legislative As
sembly. 1 therefore can never bring this treaty be-
fore this Assembly. 1 have closed the bargain and if
1 knew my punishment for not bringing it before the
Assembly was to be taken out into the plaza and
shot, I ' would not do so. That is not the way l have
been 10 the habit of making bargains, either in a pri-
vate capacity or as a Minister of the State.
I should mention that with regard to the amend
mentt to the ". article of the treaty by the U. S.
Senate, an explanation may well be asked. l did
not quite understand the amendment myself when L
first read it. The amendment is as follow
1t is agreed, on the part Of His Hawaiian Majesty,
that, so long as this treaty all remain in force, he
will not lease or otherwise dispose Of or create aBy
lien upon any port, hsrbor, or ether territory in his
dominions, or grant any special privilege or rights Of
use therein, to any other power, state or government.
This is the clause respecting which the Honorable
member for Lahaiua asked me a question in this
House, namely, whether the representative Of any
foreign government had made any protest or objec-
ton to it. / answered the Honorable member that
no Representative of any foreign government had
made any protest CT objection 10 it.
On that reply. the introducer Of the resolution now
under discussion, the Honorable Mr.. Rhodes, took
the opportunity Of trying to cast a doubt q few days
ago by stating that my reply was something different
to what the Honorable gentlemen had understood me
TO say 10 Privy Council. l will now state what l did
say in Privy Council in this regard, and there are
many here who heard me. The question Of immi-
grafton was being discussed and the ~propriety Of this
Britain through the British Representative here for
and assistance in bringing East Indians to
meeting occurred some time ago. that a copy OF the
Treaty of Reciprocity had been sent 10 the diplomatic
representatives in Honolulu, namely, of Great Britain,
France and the United states, aud that the repre-
sentative Of Great Britain had asked for explana-
tiOns respecting the amendment to the fourth article
of the treaty, and that correspondence on the subject
was still pending both between myself and the British
representative, and l believe between the latter and
the British Government, and that until some satisfsc-
tory conclusion had been arrived at, l considered il
an unsuitable moment to 60 TO the British govern
ment 10 ask them to help Us to get their people TO
these islands in order to grow sugsrfor the American
market under the impulse Of an exclusive treaty
about which they were at that instant asking expla-
nations, and which certainly Rad very much like
leaving them and ali other foreign countries except
the United States "out il the cOld.' have now
great pleasure in being able to state to this Assembly
that the British Government has had the treaty and
the amendment IL the +h article under consideration
and that after the.explanations which have been Civ
en- they have no objection or protest to make TO any
part Of tho treaty whatever,
And in fact a little consideration shows that al
thGQgh this amendment does read rather roughly, II
really means very little. II would have been a great
objection, no doubt. if this amendment gave the
United States any exclusive privileges in any port,
harbor, or other territory in this country, not en-
by other powers, and it was not unnatural that
the British Government might fear as the Hon in
PRODUCER of this resolution did. that there was, per-