The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1893-02-10
FIR. BLAINE ON HAWAII.

A letter written by Mr.. Blaine
while Secretary of State in 1881, has
been unearthed from the diplomatic
correspondence Of that time. 1t was
written on Dec. /, 1881, and was prob
ably one of his last acts while in the
department at that time. The letter
was addressed to Mr.. Comfy, then
Minister Resident from the United
States to Honolulu. 1t doe not dis
cuss the question of annexation, be-
cause nothing of that kind was
thought of at that time, but was call
ed out by an apprehension that Ha-
wall might gravitate toward and be-
come a part Of the Asiatic system.
But in the letter was proposition,
broad ia its nature, illustrating the
farsightedness of Mr.. Blaine, and his
steadfast Amerlcanism. His propo-
sition was that ''if they (the Ha-
waiian Islands) drift from their indie
pendent station it must be toward
assimilation and Identification with
the American system, to which they
belong by the operation of natural
laws and must belong by the opera
ticn of political necessitv"
Were Mr.. Blaine alive and in the
State Department today he could not
state the case on the present emer-
gency more clearly. He has marked
out the path along which settlement
Of the question must come. The drift
there must be toward America. No
foreign power must be allowed to Sc
cure even partial control thereof.
Mr.. Blaine in his letter also gj yes a
historical review of Hawaii, going
back to the time the islands first
came to have place in the civilized
world in 1889 He refers to the treaty
relations that were established, the
acquiring of the Pacific coast terrific
~ by the United States, and the re-
newed interest this gave this coun
try in those islands, and in this
nection he said:
When we survey the stupendOuS
progress made by the western coast
during the thirty years of it's national
life as a part Of our dominion, it's
enormous increase of population, it's
vast resources of agriculture and
mines. and its bOundleSS enterprise,
it is not easy to set limit to it's com
mercial activity. or fOreSee che * TO
it's maritime supremacy in the waters
Of the Orient. SO long as those aterS
afford, as now, a free and neutral
scope for our peaceful trade. In thir-
ty years the United States has &C
CURED legitimately dominant influ
ence in the North Pacific when it
can never consent to see decreased
by the intrusion therein of any ele-
ment Of influence hostile to it's own. |
The situation of he Hawaiian Is
lands, giving them the strategetic |
control of the North Pacific, brings |
their possession within the range Of |
questions of purely American policy, |
as much so as the Isthmus itself
Hence the necessity, as recognized in !,
our existing treaty relations, OF draw !
ing the ties of intimate relationship
between us and the Hawaiian Islands |
so as to make them practically part
of the American system without der
ogation of their absolute independ-
ence,
The question TO be considered is
just what relation to maintain with
the islands, whether 1T will prove
more beneficial to the United States
to annex or guarantee some independ-
ent form of government, it is a ques-
tion which should not be hastily de-
cided, but should be closely studied,
and all the possible embarrassments
arising from possible annexation,
duly considered. From mere STRAIT
egetic point the question will admit
of but one answer, but that is not the
only point to be considered, though
one of the most important.