St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1893-11-14
Will We HAVE WAR?
Congress Will Take Up the
Hawaii Matter
IMMEDIATELY ON ASSEMBLING.
Cleveland and Gresham Con-
fer on Important Message.
ARRIVAL OF MINISTER WILLIS.
ARRIVAL OF MINISTER WILLIS.
Presents His Credentials to
Provisional Government.
GRESHAM'S POLICY A PUZZLE.

WASHINGTON, Nov 13.-The state de-
partment today received a communica-
ton from Honolulu telegrapned from
San Francisco. 1t arrived on the
steamer China early this morning. 1t
is written in the navy department CT
pher. Experts were set to work upon
the dispatch in the afternoon, and la
bored over it for several hours.
After securing the substance of this
official communication, Secretary
Gresham took copy of it out to Wood
ley for a conference over the matter
with President Cleveland. Nothing was
given out from the state department
during the afternoon as to the substance
of the dispatch.
+. p. Hastings, secretary of the Ha-
Waiian legation, was shown the Asso-
ciated Press dispatch from San Fran
cisco, containing the news of Minister
Willis arrival in Honolulu, and his ap-
pOintment to present his credentials to
President Dole. This news was obvi-
Dusly great relief to the minds of mem
berS of the legation. They declined to
talk about the matter, as usual, but the
satisfaction expressed at the presenta-
ton by Minister Willis of his credentials
to President Dole suggested that they
might have feared that
THE MINISTER
would be found to have been accredited
to the queen.
The plan of the Hawaiian representa-
tiVeS evidently is TO stand rigidly on the
rights they have acquired by the recog
milton OF their government. Minister
ThurstOn touched the marrow of their
hopes when he said yesterday i'll Chicago
that any attempt to Oyerturn the pres
ent government by foreign power
would be an act of war. An act of war
requires the consent or declaration of
congress. Congress will undoubtedly
take up the subject of Hawaii in some
way Immediately upon assembling in
December. The fight, it is said, will be
made on the administration policy on
this liEe-that it has declared war with
out the consent of congress, and has
therein done an unlawful act.
What effect it would have on this pro-
posed policy it the present government
should peacefully yield TO the perSua
sions of the American minister is also
discussed. The question involved is
whether SO peaceful proceeding could
be regarded as an act of war. 1t is
argued that it would be an act of aggreS-
sion OH sovereign power none the less
because the power peacefully yielded to
the threat of SO overwhelmingly superior
force. It still remains an unanSwer-
able problem to those of diplomatic ex-
perience how the American minister
accredited to the
HAWAIIAN GOVERNMENT
can, Immediately upon presenting his
credentials, set about to destroy that
government. This gives rise to many
Surmises, such as that the real
policy pursued by the state department
has not hitherto been announced at all,
but that Secretary Gresham's report to
the president was simply designed to
give opportunity to read the public sem
timent on the subject. 1t is not at all
probable that this is true, but it shows
that the policy of the Gresham report is
considered so entirely extraordinary
that iucredulity and speculations clus-
ter about it.
There is ShreWd surmise in Wash
tngton that the restoration of Queen
Liliuokalani to the throne may not be
followed by the entire withdrawal of
the influence of the United States, but
that, with the work of the last admins
tratiOn once umdone, protectorate may
be established over the monarchy.
One clear and certain result of the
present incident would seem to be that
annexation will never be proffered to
the United States by the Hawaiians
again. If there is ever to be anneXa-
ton, the movement will originate in
this country.