The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1893-01-31


aud that it could be retained no matter what
the action of this country might be upon other
questions Now, Ia point OF fact, the Mckinley
bill threw the American market open TO all the
sugar p\Aduciug countries OF the world, and
this deprived the islands of the only real
advantage which they had acquired under the
treaty. This measure, which was considered
by many of the business men OF the islands Is
really an indirect violation OF the rights which
they supposed were secured to them by the
treaty, together with a succession of political
troubles. has rendered the business interests of
the islands very unsettled and unsatisfactory
for the past few years.
The back bone of the community Is composed
OF steady, conservative business men, who, as a
rule, pay but little attention TO the petty poll
tics OF the kingdom, and heretofore have cared
but little what the form of government As
long as their interests were not threatened. The
last cabinet that was formed composed of
such men as 3. b. Dole. 7. c. Jones and
number of others of recognized staEd-
ing and ability. They are not at all
the kind of men TO act rashly in
such a matter, but when they considered that
the proper time for action bad arrived they
acted IS men of character and determination,
and quickly put an end to all the petty political
plots aud intrigues which had doue SO much to
hurt the prosperity OF the country. The queens
request that they resign precipitated the whole
affair, but they were not the men to kuuckle
under when matters came to climax,
and when not only their own prosper
i,y, but that OF the whole country was
i'll jeopardy. When the queen brought on the,
revolution they met her squarely and proved
that they were the stronger; more than
that, they told her plainly, both by
their words and actions, that the exist
ing state OF affairs must cease; that they
were tired of her and her ceaseless petty
schemes and intrigues, and had determined to
put an end TO them. Much has been said, par
ticularly by English papers which ref ects upon
the action OF the Americans, and II Is stated
that the whole trouble was planned and excited
by Yankees. SO as to bring about
annexation to the United States The
answer to such charges is very simple
Not only is the United States more largely rep
resented than any other foreign country in the
population of the islands, but three -fourths
of the capital invested there il Ameri-
can. Now, suppose the English resi-
dents did favor the annexation of
the islands to the United States, how
could they take any steps in that direction ii
the American residents were hanging back? I
have no doubt at all but that the English mer-
chants favor annexation, for they have
reaped the benefits of the increased
prosperity of the islands under the reciprocity
treaty, and must know that the same results
would be reached by annexation. The trouble
in the islands is simply this, the natives
are incompetent to govern themselves. The
native elemeut no longer represents the vital
interests OF the community. Civilization and
commerce. by the hands of foreigners, have
built up interests vastly greater than were ever
devised by the natives, and II is only natural
that the creators of these interests should look
out Tor and protect them. One of the reasons
which accounts in part for the Inability of the
natives to govern themselves is the extinc-
ton OF the royal blood of the islands.
Such men as Kamehameha are not now to be
found in the country to be put at the head of
the government II such men could be found
there might be some chance of al
lowing the natives to regulate their
own affairs All the kings of the
Kamehameha line did we'll and proved them
selves to come OF q superior stock, but neither
Kalakaua, or his sister, the ex-queen, were of
his blood The common people are lazy, indoient
and shiftless. A great part Of them are heavy
drinkers, and are only disposed to work enough
to keep themselves supplied with liquor and
the bare necessities OF Iiie The attacks by
English papers upon the leaders OF the proyi-
sional government can best be answered by an
ILLUSTRATION. Suppose that the islands were
lying of the coast of some of the British pos
sessions and had q large proportion of English
men among their foreign resdents, a. well as
three-quarters of the capital of the
country English. Would they see
anything wrong in these English
cal troubles, or seeking to put the country on
firm business basis by bringing it under En-
glish control? think that in such case they
would have acted just as the Amer
leans have done, and would not
have waited for the Americans TO
propose annexation to England. If the visit of
the commissioners to this country should prove
unsuccessful and thsy should appeal to Eng
land to be taken under the protection OF the
English flag. these very papers would
sing a totally different song. What the
islands need is to have powerful and recog-
nized head, and personally, should the United
States refuse to listen to their proposals for an
nexation, l would rather see them an English
colony than have matters continued in the
state that they have been in for the last
few years. Ii the United States is not disposed
to annex the islands it il to be hoped that it will
not offer objections to allowing some other ma
tion to step in and put an end to the
vexatious troubles that are doing so much
injury TO their prosperity The English
would be only too glad to get the islands. and
would not hesitate on account of any compi-
cations that might arise. The English papers
say that there is no reason why the queen
shoult have been deposed. The reason was
that the queen abrogated the constitution o. the
existing government and requested the
resignation OF the very ministers who
had done so much TO better things,
and who enjoyed the confidence OF
all those in the community who had any inter
ests to be preserved, or who were possessed OF
enough intelligence to see in what direction the
real advancement OF the country lay.
The dethroned queen. Liliuokalani, Is sister
to the late King kaiakaua, aud when she came
to the throne every one wondered what she
would do, Investigations had shown
that che was the prime mover in a
revolution, which had similar object
to the last revolution. during her
brothers. reign. Much TO the surprise of every
one, she pretended great pety on her accession
to the throne, fitted up pew at the different
churches and attended them in rotation In ad-
dition to this, she became president OF
the women's Exchange and interested
herself in charities OF various kinds Every
one suspected that she up to something,
but could not decide upon what it was. Unlike
King Kalakaua, the ex-Queen had but
! Little influence, and comparatively
small following among the better Classes
| of tho natives. Kalahaua did many foolish
things, but was a man of such personal magne-
| tism and charm of manner that he was able 10
win over even the men whom he had most In
! jured. The dethroned queen is utterly lacking
in this quality and. in fact. is bad all through.
When the treaty between the Islands and
| Germany, France, England and the United
! States was ratified. by which the autonomy OF
the islands was assured, it was provided that
| equal rights should be granted to al, including
| an equality in the matter OF duties on i'm
| ports The reciprocity treaty allowed America
batter terms than the other countries, which
they claimed was u violation OF the treaty. Bis
marck ordered maa-ot-war to proceed to the