The Portland daily press., 1893-12-19

6nc FlclnlGy Oh such properly ano %. @
to protect 1t, instead OF at a,s.S ME-
and SO as to command the hawaiian
government building and palace,
Admiral Skerrett the officer IN coin.
mand OF our naval force on the fac,nc
station has frankly stated tnat III ms
opinion the location of the troops was
III advisable if they were landea ioI ene
protection OF American cltlzehs Whoss
residence and places of business as Wen
as the legation and consulate were IN
a distant part OF the city but me .oca.
ton selected was a wise one II the forces
were landed, for the purpose Oh support
ing the provisional government. Ii any
peril to life and property calllng TOT any
such martial array had existed UfeaG
britain and other foreign powers III
terested would not have been behind the
United States in activity to protect
their citizens but those made no sign III
that direction. When these
Armed Men Were Landed,
the city of Honolulu was in its custom
AIRY orderly and peaceful condition.
There was no symptom of riot or disturb
ance in any quarter. Men, women and
children were about the streets as usual
and nothing varied the ordinary routine
or disturbed the ordinary tranquility ex-
cept the landing of the Boston's marines
and their march through the town to
the quarters assigned them. Indeed the
fact that after having called for the
landing of the United States forces on
the plea of danger to life and property
the committee of safety themselves re-
quested the minister to postpone action,
exposing the untruthfulness of their rep
resentations of present peril to life and
property. The peril they saw was an an
t1clpatlon growing out OF guilty lnten-
tlon on their part and something which
though not then existing they knew
would certainly follow their attempt to
overthrow the government OF the Queen
without the aid of the United States
forces Thus it appears that Hawaii
was taken possession of by the United
States forces without the consent or
wish OF the government of the islands
OF of anybody else SO far as shown ex-
| cept the United States minister.
Therefore the military occupation of
Honolulu by the United States on the
day mentioned was wholly without just
itication either as an occupation by con-
sent or as appropriation necessitateu by
dangers threatening American life and
property. 1t must be accounted for in
some other wayand on some other ground
| and it's real motive and purpose are
neither obscure nor far to seek. The
~ ulUCo . UdUCS lOTCGS DCluS AON III Uuc
scene and favorably stationed the COM
mittee proceeded to carry out their
original scheme. They met the next
morning Tuesday the 18th perfected a
temporary government and fxed<upon it's
principal officers ten of whom were
rawn from the thirteen members of the
| committee of safety. Between l and 2
to avoid notice and having first taken
the precaution of ascertaining whether
there was any one there TO oppose
them, they proceeded to the govern.
ment building to proclaim the new gov
eminent. No sign of opposition was
manifest and thereupon an American
citizen began to read the proclamation
from the steps of the government build
ing almost wholly without auditors. 1t
is said that before the reading was
finished quite a concourse of persons
variously estimated at from fifty to one
hundred, some armed and some I'M
armed, gathered; al bout the committee to
give them aid and confidence. This
statement is not important since the
one controlling factor.1n the whole affair
was unquestionably the United States
marines, who, drawn up under arms and
with artillery in readiness only seventy
six yards distant, dominated the situa-
tion.
The provisional government thus pro-
claimed was py the terms of the proela-
nation to exist until terms of union
with the United States had been nego-
tiated and agreed upon" The United
States minister, pursuant to prior agree
ment, recognized this government with
in an hour after the reading of the pro-
clamation, and before 5 o'clock in answer
to an inquiry on behalf of the Queen
and her binet, announced that he had
When our minister recognized the pro-
visional gayernmentsthe only basis upon
which it rested was the fact thai the
committee of safety had in the manner
above stated, declared it to exist. 1t was
neither government de facto nor de
jure. That it was not in such possession
of the government property and agencies
as entitled it to recognition is conclu-
sively proved by a note found in the files
of the legation at Honolulu, addressed
by the declared head of the provisional
government to Minister Stevens, dated
January II, 1888, in which he acknow-
Lodges with expressions of appreciation
The minister's recognition of the provis-
ional government, and states that it is
not yet in possession of the station house
(the place where large number of the
Queens troops were quartered) though
the same had been demanded of the
Queens officers in charge. Nevertheless,
this wrongful recognition by our minis
Ter placed Ine government OIL Cne Queen
in position OF most perilous perplexity.
On the one hand she had possession of
the palace, of the barracks and of the
police station, and had at her command
at least 500 fully armed men and several
pieces of artillery. Indeed, the whole
infantry force of her kingdom was on
her side and at her disposal, while the
committee of safety, by actual search,
had discovered that there were but very
few arms i'll Honolulu that were not in
the service of the government. In this
state of things if the Queen could have
dealt with the insurgents alone, her
course would have been plain and the
result unmistakable. But the United
States had allied itself with her
enemies, had recognized them as the
true government of Hawaii, and had put
her and her adherents in the position OF
opposition against lawful authority. She
knew that she could not withstand the
power ofsthe United States but she be-
iieved that she might safely trust to it's
justice.
Accordingly, some hours after the
recognition Of the provisional govern
ment by the United States minister, the
palace, the barracks and the police
station, with all the military resources
OF the country, were delivered up by the
queen upon the representations made to
al II