The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1893-05-05
Continued from Thiyd PdgeJ

Is not the American system OF govern |
ment.
We hope that all students of the
Constitution, and all admirers of the |
system which the Founders gave us,
will devote some little attention to the
question there raised. 1t is not per
tlnent to reply that Mr. Cleveland as
a reasonable man and a good citizen,
can never be expected to carry the new
theory of paramount authority to the
extremes which we have indicated; that
he would be the last person to abuse
the novel and unlimited power which
he has practically asserted in the case
OF Mr. Blount That is very well; but
the barriers which the Constitution sets
up against Executive aggression were
not intended for times of peace, and
reasonableness, and good citizenship,
in the White House. They were built
for an emergency The emergency
will occur whenever the White House
holds a strong wlIled, self opinionated
man, whose ambition or love Cf power
is stronger than his respect for existing
institutions; and when the habit of
foolish aduIation and easy-going indif- |
ference has weakened the public sen
sltlveness to aggression on his part.
Against such an emergency, it is best
that the constitutional safe guards shall
be preserved entire and intact, in their
original strength.
More About Mr.. Blount
A New York paper contains the fol-
lowing editorial discussion headed "The
Mystery About Mr. Blounts Functions
in Hawaii"
There is no novelty in the employ,
ment of special Commissioner to
gather information for the Department
OF State, or to carry out definite instruc-
tons from the Executive. A good
many newspapers are talking wildly on
this subject. They seem to regard
Commissioner Blount as an anomaly
and bold innovation in our diploma
tic service, and to wonder how it can
be that he, an inferior officer appointed
by the President without the advice and
consent of the Senate, can order down
the flag which was raised by his supe
nor in diplomatic rank, the Envoy EX
traordinary and Minister Plenipotentia,
ry to the Hawaiian Islands.
The Special Commissioner is simply
a special agent, through whom the Ad-
ministration acts directly in interna
tlonal affairs, or acquires information
by another than the ordinary channel.
Sometimes he is styled Special Agent,
sometimes Special Commissioners
An exact precedent and a striking
parallel to what Mr. Blount has already
done at Honolulu, are afforded by the
act of Commissioner George H. Bates,
sent to the Samoan Islands in 1886 by
Secretary Bayard, during Mr.. Cleve-
lands first term.
Greenebaum, our Consul at Apia,
had declared an American protectorate
over Samoa, proceeding on his own
responsibility and without instructions
from Washington. Mr.. Bates was sent
out to haul down the flag which Greene
baum had hoisted, to investigate the
condition of affairs in Samoa, and to
report his conclusions.
Mr. Bayard's letter of instructions
to Special Commissioner Bates, dated
July ~, 1880, informed Mr.. Bates that
he was employed as a special agent by
direction of the President. "You are
the representative of the United States"
wrote Mr. Bayard The Secretary
recited briefly the history of the Samoan
complication, and then specified the
duties he was expected to perform:
"You are, in the first place, authorized to
disavow the action Of Consul Greenebaum in
assuming a protectorate over Samoa in the
name Of the United States"
Name and place being changed, that
is exactly what Commissioner Blount
has done at Honolulu We note two
points of difference, however, between
the cases of Commissioner Bates and
Commissioner Blount.
Mr.. Bates dsavowed the act of his
inferior. Section I,674 of the Revised
statutes provides that agents and COM
missioners shall rank as diplomatic
officers" while Consuls do not rank as
such. Whether Commissioner Blount
ranks as the diplomatic superior of
Minister Stevens or not, is not deter
minable from the statutes. The only
inference that can be drawn is from
section 1915, which fixes the salary
of Commissioner at seventy-fve per
cent. of that provided for the Minister
regularly stationed in the country to
which the Commissioner is accredited
A Charge d'Affaires gets only fifty per
cent. of the Minister'S salary Accord
ing to the established compensation,
therefore, a Commissioners diplomatic
rank would be midway between a
Charge d'Afaires and a Minister.
The other and more important point
of difference is that while Mr. Bayard
described Commissioner Bates as "the
representative Of the United States,
and stated explicitly what he was au-
thorized to do while in Samoa, Mr..
Cleveland's letter of credentials to Pres
ident Dole describes Mr.. Blount as
'Uly special Commissioner" and adds:
In all matters affecting relations with
the government of the Hawaiian Isl.
andc his 0UtbOyjtp iy bJy1Uy0VVJu