The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1881-09-17
THE PACIFIC
Commercial Advertiser.
SEPTEMBER Il, 1881.
RDAY

Is IA Californian for the present month,
appears an article by James O'AIeara, en-
titled Schemes To Annex the Sandwich
Islands, II contains what purports to be
a circumstantial account OFF, negotiation.
having ia view the annexation Of these
Islands 10 the United States, which took
place ~ Is54, during the closing months OF
the reign Of ~Kamehameha III. At that
time commissioner Gregg represented the
United States in this country, and Nh.
O'NIeara writes a. if he would have his
readers understand that he was on such in
innate terms with the commissions az
to have obtained a private view, from be-
hind the scenes, of the affairs he describes.
He relates, how in the year 1850, a PROPOSE
ton for annexation was made by the
King to the United States, but was not en-
tertained, and how in 1854 the project was
renewed, the proposals coming this time
from the United States through Commits
sioner Gregg. He describes the position Of
affairs in the Kingdom. and the men, native
and foreign) who occupied positions Of in
fluence at the time. He claims that "Dr.
Judd was the ablest advocate of the treaty"
and that Mr.. Wylie. then Minister Of For
eign Relations, was Jealous in promoting
the project" while Chief Justice Lee "sanc-
toned it." He further claims that though
Lot Paki and John III opposed the project,
"otheT Chiefs and Mobiles favored it," that
the King " favored it-wanted it, and was
ready to sign the treaty if his nominated
heir to the Crown, Prince Alexander, con-
scented to it. That Prince is described as
wavering, but as ultimately, in response to
the Kings urgency, signing his assent
"a few days before the old Kings death.
The influences which kept the future Ka-
mehameha " from giving his assent ear
lier are described, the chief among them
being that Of the lady 10 whom he was affi-
anced, (now Her Majesty the Queen Dow
ager Emma), who is enormously de-
scribed as the daughter of Dr. Rock. The ma
rative closes with q sensational story about
the last illness and death of Kamehameha
III. The Kings death is also said to have
occurred on the very day, December 18th,
1854, which had been fixed upon by the
Privy Council for the signature of the
treaty. Prince Alexander succeeded to the
throne as K~amehameha ", and our histor-
ian quotes, from a note which COMMISSIONS
Gregg received the day after the corona
ton, the following finale to the negotiation:
"Sir: All negotiations pending between
the Government of the United States and
the Hawaiian Kingdom, in relation to the
subject of annexation, are hereby declared
at an end" AS a moral to his tale Mr..
O'Meara concludes his article with the fol-
lowing enigmatical utterance: "NOw reigns
Kalakaua. He declares he will never sell
his Kingdom. 1t remains to be seen what
he will do with it,"
The writer of this article is we'll remem-
bered in Honolulu as a booty politician, and
the many inaccuracies in his statement
cause no surprise to those who knew him.
Their is some truth but also a great deal of
untruth in his recital Of events. 1t is well
understood that Commissioners Gregg sue
ceeded in persuading King Kamehameha
III to favor a scheme of Enumeration devised
by himself. In this he was undoubtedly
assisted by DR.. Judd. But the statement
that Mr.. Wylie gave his assistance to furth-
or this scheme is certainly untrue. In his
capacity as Minister Of Foreign Relations,
il was necessary for HIM to obey the COM
mands Of the King so far as to take part in
some of the preliminary negotiations. He
was, however, thoroughly opposed to the
whole scheme from the beginning, and Mr..
O'Meara's statements to the contrary are
totally devoid Of truth. Equally untrue is
the statement that either Of the young
princes, Lot and Alexander, at any time
gave their assent to the proposal. Even as
4 to the conduct Of King ~amehameha III,
what MI. O'Aleara has to tell is not reliable.
lie would To have his readers believe that
the scheme which was worked into shape IN
1854 was no new idea on the part of the King,
but only a repetition of a proposal made to
the Government of the United States so far
back Is 1850. If Mr.. O'MeaTa believed this
to be a fact he took il upon hearsay, for he
himself tells us that he only arrived in this
country i'm October, 1854. That any such
proposition was made during the Presidency
of Taylor is not true, and we take leave to
doubt that il was even talked about between
the King and his advisers. The idea, of
which we find him such an ardent support
er at a later date, may have suggested itself
to DIR. Judd during the mission from which
he returned in 1850, or even at some far
earlier time, but that the King had then
looked favorably upon any such project,
there is no evidence to show, whilst there
is much TO show that no thought of such n
thing was entertained. He had but just
concluded a new treaty with the United
States which, except for its verbosity, diff
fered in no essential way from those negOti-.
ated with other countries. Moreover, had
any proposition on the subject of annexa-
ton Oeen tentatively put before FIeSluehl
Taylor we should not find him saying in
his message to Congress, IN 1850: I'VE de-
sire that the (Hawaiian) Islands may main
tain their independence and that other
nations should concur with us in the senti-
ment." Nor should we find Kamehameha
himself, in his speech to the Chiefs and
Representatives when assembled during the
same year, referring to the appointment of
confidential agents to procure a convention
with Great Britain, France and America,
more favorable than hitherto to his indie
pendence i'm matters Ofdomestic policy. But
the best answer TO the insinuatiOn that this
annexation scheme was n lOng-cherished
hobby Of the Kings lies in the fact that the
origin Of IL is w~ell-knOwn, and that neither