The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1893-02-14
OUR ISLAND NEIGHBORS.

There seems no doubt, says tn
New York Observer, of January Il
that the time is near at hand whel
the United States will be forced t,
consider seriously what permanen
relations it shall bear to the neigh
boring islands which, Independent
or owing allegiance to other ma
| tions. have by irresistible gravita
ton become its commercial depend
encies. With respect to Hawai-
final decision may be forced at any
moment by a revolutionary move
ment fatal to the reigning house
while the Cuban question is fast
becoming an American one in the
incompetence of the Spanish gov.
eminent to rule, the desire of the
people for annexation to the United
States, and the fact that the island
is already a commercial depend
ency of this country. The letters
of a staff correspondent of the Tri-
bune, of this city, leave no doubt
of the favor with which annexation
is regarded by all classes of the
population, save the meagre hand
full of officials sent out by the
mother country to administer the
government of the island, an ad-
ministration conducted with the
sole view of exacting the largest
possible amount of revenue.
This popular attitude is in
marked contrast to that which OBJ
tanned prior to the Civil War, when
the question of Cuban annexation
was raised by the Southern slave
owners, and is due to the change
in economic conditions which has
transferred the market of the island
from Europe to America, and
to the conviction of the people
that the only relief from mis-
government and ruin is to be
found in political union with the
United States. Indeed, so settled
is the conviction of the islanders,
Spaniards and native Cubans
alike. that both their material and
political interests are indissolubly |
allied with those of this country, |
that the fact has passed out of the
range of discussion no question
existing that as a part of the Am
erican Union a market would be
found for the sale of their produce
and. from which supplies could be
obtained free from taxation, and
hat their local government would
De conducted by the people for the
people. If the advantages to the
ISLANDERS are SO great and SO po-
ent that it is no wonder that they
ook to Washington for relief from
N almost intolerable position,
hose on the side of this country, if
lot so easily defined, are so consid-
rable that they should be care
ully weighed, without the preju-
ice which formerly obtained
gainst responsibility for outlying
With the extension of its do
lains from the Atlantic to the Pa
ific, the interest of the United
tates in Cuba, like that in Ha-
ali, has become a vital one, and
OF only from a commercial but
!ilitary point of view vastly supe-
or to that possessed by any Eu-
'pean power. The time is rapid
approaching when the Wash
gton government will control an
thmian canal, and whether it be
Their the Panama or Nicaragua
nal, the strategical position of c
lba will be of commanding i'm (
,rtance to it and the island one
the keys that should be in Am
lean hands. With the formid-
lie line of marine fortresses esta-
ished by England off the Atlantic
aboard, reaching from Halifax to
,rmuda and thence to Jamaica
d Castries, if the canal is COM
eted without the acquisition of +
mmanding naval station in the I
est Indies, Britain will control
entrance. With the nearest
nerican base of supplies at New
leans, and without a naval sta
n in West Indian waters, Eng
i'd, with her powerful fortifca-
ms at ST. Lucia and Kingston,
navy yards and coaling sta p
ms, can close the canal to Amer
n commerce and convert it into
English waterway at will. To
it to acquire properties capable
impregnable defence and afford =
! facilities for preventing such
ack, until the emergency requir-
them arises, will be to wait too
g, and it is serious question
ether the time has not come for
II