The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1878-07-06
REPORT OF THE HON. H. A. F. CARTER
NUUANU, June %, 1873.

NUUANU, June %, 1878.
To His Ercellency Henry fl. PIERCE, Minister
Foreign affairs, Honofulu-SIR: In response to
your Excelleney's request for a brief resume of my
late mission to Europe, l beg leave to report that l
was received with courtesy and respect by the Gov
ernments of Her Britannia Majesty and Of His
Imperial and Royal Majesty the Emperor of Germany
and King of Prussia, to whom l presented the Gre
dentials with which / was entrusted by His Majesty
the King.
With the former Government it was hoped that I
should be enabled to conclude an arrangement on
the basis of q Protocol, signed here by Her Msjesty's
representative-Major Wodehouse- land His Ma
jesty's Minister for Foreign Affairs, which should
harmonic some differences growing out of the inter-
probation of the Anglo-Hawaiian Treaty of 1851;
and further, if 1t seemed practicable, to enter into a
scheme of East Indian immigration. | was instruct
ed to negotiate. If possible, a Convention with her
Alajesty's Government defining the conditions of such
immigration from the East Indian possession of Her
Majesty the Queen of Great Britain and Empress of
India.
In regard to the first object, although 1 had the
valued assistance of Major Wodehouee, it was found
upon discussing the Protocol and Declarations based
thereon, that even with the best desire on both sides
to attain the object by such means any Declaration
which could be accepted by the British Government
in view of their relations with other countries could
not be signed by myself without exceeding the limits
of my instructions and infringing the constitutional
rights of the Legislative Assembly.
1 had, however, the pleasure of receiving the as
surances of Lord Derby, Her Msjesty's Principal
Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, that my ex-
plantations of the peculiar circumstances of the COM
mercial position of the Hawaiian Islands led Her
Maiesty's Government, as an especial mark of
friendship and good will, to propose a mode Of settle
ment, which he submitted to me. This proposition
involved a modification of our tariff laws, which
could only be made with the sanction Of the Legis-
lative Assembly, and | was obliged to point out that
objection to it. Owing to these limitations on both
sides, it became obvious that we could not meet the
wishes of the British Government without legislative
action.
On the 9th of November | had an interview with
Lord Derby, in which, after pointing out some of
the reasons which had led the Hawaiian Govern
nent to adopt the Interpretation of the Treaty of
1851 which it holds, and explaining the constitu-
tional and other objections to the proposed form of
Declarations, 1 suggested that so much of Article ~
of the Treaty of 1851 as formed a subject of differ
ence between the two Governments be declared in
operative by mutual consent, thus saving as much
as We could of a Treaty for which 1 assured his
Lordship We had q traditional regard, and had never
knowingly violated.
His Lordship expressed himself satisfied with the
intentions of the Hawaiian Government, saying that
Her Msjesty's Government did not accuse the Ha-
waiian Government of any willful neglect of its
Treaty obligations, and promising to give my sugges-
tons careful consideration.
subsequently had conferences with Lord Tenter-
den and other gentlemen of the Foreign Office, in
the hope that some form of Declaration might be
arrived at which would meet our mutual wishes, but
with the same result.
Lord Tenterdsn. in a = private note to myself,
dated December 2Sth, stated that my propositions
had been carefully considered, but that Her Ma
jesty's Government regretted that they could not
entertain them, as they were obliged to consider
them not only as regarded their relations with the
Hawaiian Islands, but also their bearing upon the
relations and engagements of Great Britain with
other foreign States. Lord Tenterden courteously
assured me that it was only on general grounds
therefore that they were unable to accept them. He
again repeated Lord Derby's assurances Of the
the friendly sentiments of Her Majesty's Government
toward Hawaii, and that they fully accepted the
statements had made in regard to the Reciprocity
Treaty with the United States, and stating that Her
No'"e'U' Government had no wish that the friendly