Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1893-12-21

des,-a n know how far the present mlllste! any
naval commander may devlate rom es.a ons,.;n
international rules and precedeHts ~ -, C AZ
genc1es indicated III .ho ni' 20
TO minister of this temper, full OF zeal 1or
annexation, there seemed to arise IN Jalu:',s
1904 the precise opportunity for when ne was va,
ro stccbfi,Ilv waitingIan opportunity which by
timely deviation from established i n.eriia
tionai rules and precedents mg aat pI in
vIew: and we are quite prepared for the exult-
ant enthusiasm with which i'll letter 70 the
state department. dated Fepruary L. rog' , w rine
and this is the golden hour for the ohlteo oa''cs
to pluck it. "a. - +bis
As a further illustration Of the acti!lty OF lhls
dinlomatic representative attention Is calieu "
the act that Oh the date the above letter was WIZ
ten. apparently unable longer to restrain ms
ardor he issued Il proclamation WhefeD! III .do
M me of the United States he assumed inc pro,
tcction of the Hawaiian Islands and declared
that said action was taken pending ana supJece
to negota tons at Washington OF course tnis
assumption Off protectorate was pIollp;;s u a
vowed by our government, but the American nag
remained over the government 6ulldlns at non non
olulu and the forces remained on guard ulLll
April and after Mr. Blounts ARRIVAL Oh .ne
scene when both were removed.
CLEvELAND's VIEW OF THE REVOLT:
A brief statement of the occurrences ina leu
to the subverson of the constltutlonai s onor a.
ment of Hawaii in the interests or anneAa-
ton to the United States will exhibit the rue
complexion of that TRANSACTION on eaturuay
January II, 1898. the Queen or hawaii wno llnu
been contemplating the proclamation or q new
constitution, had, in Difference to the WISHES anu
remonstrances of her cabinet, Ienounceu inc
project tor the present at least. lakliie tnis re-
fnquished purpose basis of action, cltizens
of Honolulu numbering from 5o TO loo, lnosu!
resident aliens, met IN private oiitoo
and selected socalled cominlttee OF ,E Ialu
ty composed of thirteen persons. seven OF Wnoi'
we're foreign subjects and consisted OF hVc Amer
leans, one Englishman and one German. ms n,
committee, though its designs were not reVcaieu,
-; y)fScf
United States, and between saturday the l4lh
and the following Monday, the 10th Of January
though exactly what action was taken may
not be clearly dscloscd-they were certainly III
communication with the United States minister.
On Monday morning the Queen and her cabinet
made public proclamation, with a notice when
was specially served upon the representatives
OF all foreign governments, that any changes
i'm the constitution would be sought only in the
methods provided by that instrument. Never
thcess at the call and under the auspices OF the
committee of safety. a mass meeting of citizens
was held on that day to protest against liie
Queens alleged illegal and unlawful proceed
ings and purposes Even at this meeting the
committee of safety continued to disguise their
real purpose and contented themselves with pro
curing the passage of II resolution announcing
the Queen and empowering the committee 10
nent maintenance of law and order ana the
protection of life, liberty and property IN ia,
vail" This meeting adjourned between ana
4 O'Clock in the afternoon. On the same day
and Immediately after such ADJOURNMENT the
committee, unwilling to take further steps
without the cooperation OF the unteo
States minister, addressed note rep
resenting that the public safety was
mcnaced and that lives and property were i'll
danger and concluded Us follows: 1--WE are I'M
able to protect ourselves without aid and there
fore pray for the protection of the Uuitcd States
forces" Whatever may be thought of the other
contents of this note the absolute truth of this
was written and delivered, the committee
SO far it appears had neither
Il man nor a gun at their command and after It's
delivery they became so panic stricken at their
position that they sent some of their number to
interview the minister and request him not to
land the United States forces till the next morn,
g 9 n1a re 'ead vhe at the the troops
ife s s %snf a 9fe' place And So nf
that on the 10Th gay G anupyg 1872 $780,
tachmcnt of marines from the United states
steamer Boston with two pieces of artillery land
cd at Honolulu. The men, upward Of 100 in
all, were supplied with double cartridge belts
filed with ammunition, and with ha"er-
sacks and canteenS, and were accompanied by
hospital corps with strctchers ana medical
supplies.
WAS AN ACT OF WAR.
This demonstration upon the soil of Honolulu
was of itself an act of war unless made either with
the consent of the government Of Hawaii or for
the bona tide purpose OF protecting the Imperfect
lives and property OF citizens OF the United
States; but there is no pretense of any such
consent on the part Of the government of the
Queen, which was at that time undisputed and
was both de facto and the de jurc government.
In point of fact the existing government, instead
of requesting the presence or an armed force
protested against it; There is s, as litt?e
forces were landed for the security OF
American life and property. If so they should
have been stationed i'll the vicinity of such
n ad Sc SO P,Ses ID Hh e H.
government building and palace. Admiral
Skeirctt, the officer in command of our naval
force on the Pacific station, has frankly
stated that in his opinion the location of the
troops was inadvisable if they were landed for
the protection of American citizens, whose resi-
t1 and places of business as we'll as
TAFT mart Of the city: tutt et Tie location ton
selected WAS u wise one if the forces were
landed for the purpose of supporting the
provisional government. 1fnny peril to life and
prnpcrty calling for any such fnertia! array hHd
interested would not have been behind the
United States in activity to protect their citizens
But they made no sign in that direction. When
these armed men were landed the city of Homo
peaceful condition. There was no symp-
eref Of Men, Or vos s!ur0n a"S and ney
were about the streets as usual and nothing
varied the ordinary routine Or disturbed the or
binary tranquility except the landing of the
Boston =, 1.aTlhes and their march through the
that after having called for the landing Of the
United States forces the plea of danger to life
and property the committee of safety themselves
requested the minister to postpone action eX-
posed the untluthfulncss of their repre-
sentatlons Of present, peril to life and
property. The peril they was
an anticipation growing out of guilty
intentions on their part, and something which,
though not then existing, they knew would GER
tainly follow their attempt to overthrow the
government of the Queen without the aid of the
United States forces Thus it aDpearS that
Hawaii was taken posse sson of by the United
States orces without the consent or wish of the
government of the islands or anybody else so far
as shown, except the United States minister
Therefore the military occupation of Honolulu
by the United States on the day mentioned was
wholly without jurisdiction, either as an occu-
patton by consent or as an occupation neces-
Stated by dangers threatening American life
and property. 1t must be accounted for in some
other way and on some other ground: and its
real motive and purpose are neither obscure nor
tnf to seek.
THE REVOLT AT HONOLULU
The United States forces being now on the