The climax. [volume] (Richmond, Madison County, Ky.) 1887-1897, 1891-03-11

out cable line to those islands ? / have
| searched in vain for good reason for this
subsidy.
Those who are advocating the subsidy
say ''it viii improve our commerce"
! We have not much commerce with the
Sandwich Islands. There are less than a
hundred sugar plantations on the Hawaii
an Islands. We gave the Hawaiian
Kingdom, under the treaty that we made
some years ago, great many privileges.
We allowed the inhabitants to send their
sugar to this country free of duty. Since
that treaty was made they have made
| millions of dollars on account of the priv
ileges we have extended them, but our
| country has been but little benefited. 1t
is said by others eve need a ship harbor
at the Sandwich Islands" We have now
a ship harbOr there called the Pearl River
Harbor; and doubt whether an Ameri-
can vessel has been in the ship harbOr
for months. The Sandwich Islands are
on the line from San Francisco to Samoa,
Japan, and China, and vessels carrying
the United States flag are not numerous
on this line
Another argument relied on by the
friends of this subsidy is that if we do
not speedily build this line Great Britain
will build a line from Canada to the
Sandwich Islands under a concession
| granted by the Hawaiian Kingdom to a
man named Albert Hartwell, and we will
be shut out forever.
This is the same old John Bull threat
which has become too common in the
/ American Congress. 1t is untrue and un-
worthy to be used in this discussion.
There is nothing in it; and l call the at
tentiOn of members of this House to the
| treaty which now exists between the
United States and the Kingdom of
! Hawaii. I read from the treaty of 1891,
which l think will satisfy any impartial
mind that the Government Of the United
! States now has the right, conceded by the
! Kingdom of Hawaii, to lay and land a
| submarine telegraph line to the Hawaiian
| Islands
Article II Of the treaty of 1884 is in the
following words:
His Majesty, the King Of the Hawaiian Islands,
grants to the United States the exclusive right
enter the harbor Of Pearl River in the island Of
Oahu and to establish and maintain there coaling
and repair station for the use Of vessels OF the
/ United States and to that end the United States
may improve the entrance 70 said harbor and do all
other things needful to the purposes aforesaid.
There can be nothing clearer than the
authority granted us under this treaty
! between the United States and the
Hawaiian Kingdom to construct the sub
marine cable to Pearl River HarbOr, and
/ this harbOr Is only y miles from HOnOlu-
/ In, the capital and principal city of the
Hawaiian Islands, and an overland line
can be built to that city if desired.
1t has only been a few days since We
were called upon to appropriate SIS, 900 in
/ the naval appropriation bill to enable the
! President Of the United States to cause
| careful sOundings to be made between
! San Francisco, Cal, and Honolulu, in the
! Kingdom of Hawaii, to ascertain the
practicability of laying a cable line be-
! tween those two points and the Presi-
dent was also authorized to direct the use
| of any vessel or vessels belonging to the
/ United States in making such sOundings.
! Mr.. Speaker, when $4,000 was asked
] to be placed in the naval appropriation
/ bill for the purpose Of making this exam
/ nation, it was then stated that we desired
| to ascertain if a cable line could be laid /;
! but now, in less than two weeks from
| that time, we are asked to appropriate
! 100000 TO authorize the construction
Of the cable line.
! Another singular and unusual fact con-
nected with the Senate amendment de
! serves to be stated, and it Is this: When
/ the proposition for Government aid first
/ came before the Committee on Foreign
| Affairs of the House, the majority of the
/ committee agreed that $4,000 annually
was sufficient for the United States Gov
! eminent to pay the Submarine Cable
! Company.
When Mr.. Hartwell, the man who
| claimed to have the concession from the
Q H.Fef,
committee he asked for 100000 per an
mum, but the Senate, when considering
/ the diplomatic and consular apprOpria-
ton bill, followed its usual generous
course and appropriated S250000 per an
mum, or more than was asked by the
gentleman who had the concession, and
more than the Committee on Foreign
| Affairs of the House believed was neces-
sary.
Mr.. Speaker, this whole scheme de-
serves to be voted down. 1t deserves to
be condemned. It deserves to be de-
feated as we defeated that colossal
scheme last night, the ship-subsidy bill.
If our Government now embarks in the
construction of submarine cables when
will it end and where will it lead to? If
100000 are donated to a private cor
pOratiOn to construct cable line from
San Francisco to the Sandwich Islands,
how long viii it be before millions are
asked to construct other cable lines?
If the Government Is going into the
business of constructing cable lines under
the water, why not embark also in the
business of constructing telegraph lines
on land? Why should it not construct
railroads in every part of the United
I F-Ar to Il
South America? That is where the pro
posed policy will lead. In 1876 the Con-
gress of the United States incorporated
a company and named Leland Stanford,
now a Senator from California, as one OF
the incOrporators and Captain Mareno
| another That company was author
lied to construct a submarine telegraph
, line from San Francisco to the Hawaiian
Islands. This line will be constructed by
r private enterprise if we let it alone
Whenever it is necessary to have a sub
marine cable line from San Francisco to
) the Hawaiian Islands we viii have it.
Senator Leland Stanford was elected
! president of the company authorized I'M
+ der the act of 1875, but now it is sought
TO set that company aside, and the Gov
eminent is asked to pay three millions Of
dollars towards the construction Of this
= line, although it is 10 have no ownership
or control over it and no management Oh
it, and the cost of the construction Of the
! entire line was placed as low as 8, 100000
+ by careful estimates made in 1889. / am
not in favor of Government subsidies
and am opposed 10 this scheme and all
others like it.
J If the object of the pending PROPOSE
! ton is to benefit US by giving US connec
ton with a great harbOr where our ships
are to anchor, then we certainly ought &c
} have control Of the cable line that is tC
connect us with our ships in that harbor
J To-day there is probably not a ship il
that harbOr, we have no shipyard there
there is no talk about establishing a ship
J yard there, and there is no necessity for
i shipyard there. This amendment has NJ
proper place on the diplomatic and con
, sular appropriation bill and it ought to bt
; stricken from the BILL
/ Mr. Holman-It is there in violation oil
the rules Of the Senate
) Mr. McCre.uy-Y Mr.. Speaker, az
! the gentleman from Indiana very proper
] ~ suggests, this amendment has been
? placed on the bill in violation Of the rulel
: Of the Senate This is another illustra
] ton Of the idea that has been dominating
{ this Congress from the beginning: 'Hav,
subsidies at all hazards spend the PEG
r pies money in order and out of order.
f Such conduct as this, coupled with the
! imposition Of burdensome taxes and i'm
Z proper interference with election laws
z land reckless disregard Of the people,