Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1893-02-10
The Hawaiian Islands and Annexa-


To the Editor of the Alexandria Gazette:
The views of the GAZETTE adverse
to the proposed annexation to the Uni
ted States of the Sandwich Islands
should command the assest of every re-
ilecting man. Indeed, great as is the
facility of the average American Jour
nalist for going off half cooked, it Is not
easy to remember when more ofiil con-
sidered, not to say silly, opinion on any
subject has found expression than has
of late been given to the world in favor
of this wild project 1t is charitable to
suppose that now the true status OF al
fairs in the little kingdom is better un-
derstood, there will be sober second
thought in behalf of wiser counsel.
This true status is clear from copy
of the HaWdiian Gazette OF January
18th, in which appears a local account
of the late revolution. 1t is briefly
this: The queen proposed to proclaim
new constitution in lieu Of the one re-
Gently forced on the natives by foreign
ers: or rather. TO restore the old constl-
tuition under which her predecessor,
the late King Kalakana, had governed.
This old constitution allowed the natives
to vote, a right ofwhich they had been
deprived because it limited the power
to conduct the government in the in
terest of foreign capitalists. Upon it
being known that this so-called new
constitution was to be proclaimed, an
insurgent body, composed of course OF
foreigners, set up provisional govern
ment and deposed the queen, being en-
abled to do it with impunity by the
landing of three hundred armed men
from the U. S. ship Boston which lay
in the harbor of Honolulu and acted
under the instructions of the American
minister. The queen publishes at once
solemn protest against such action on
the part of a friendly power, says she
Yields to force only and attempts no re-
sistance.
1t would appear from this that all the
right is on one side as clearly as all
the mi ght is on the other; but, waving
this question entirely, let us inquire in-
to the eXpediency of anneSinga coun-
try not only not part of our CONT
nent but two thousand miles away
from it-nine days run, the map says,
from San Francisco. \ proposition so
utterly novel and unprecedented might
we'll give lis pause on that ground
alone, but there are others. An exist
ing treaty with the Hawaiian govern
ment gives us everything-except pay
ing the expenses of that government
that annexation could possibly confer,
i. e. free trade, a coaling station and
protection a ,ainst foreign intrusion.
If the islands became part Of
the United States it could only
be at first as territory;
A Governor would be appointed and
judges designated by the President,
territorial legislature elected and dele
gates sent to the House of Representa-
tives at Washington. There are in the
islands altogether about 100, people,
including 43, 1000 natives, 80, 600 Chinese
and Japanese and 10000 Portuguese. Of
the remainder, we suppose o majority
are from the United States, but, if not
half, our countrymen are the capitalists
and have the controlling influence in
the islands How, under the constitu-
ton of the United States, could the
right of suffrage in this new territory
be denied by reason of race or color to
any of the motley mixture of races who
inhabit it?
But, conceding that the territorial
stage Of existence were harmless to us,
how long, Judging from recent eXpe.
rience, would it last ? Only so long as
one party or the other wanted two
more Senators and thought the pros
pect of getting them from Hawaii rea-
sonably assured. Just so soon or soon
err would agitation begin in behalf of
statehood AN agitation sure to be speedi-
" successful, and we should see
another fledgling added to the family of
States, and white population less than
half that of the city OF Richmond with
two seats in the upper house of our
federal observation-disclosures rotten
borough, y as the st. Louis Post-Dispatch
says, "Claus Sprcckels and one of his
tools as Senator'S" And what sort of
State government, with the power of
deciding Presidential election in case
of a close vote in the electoral college,
would it be? Just such an one proba-
bly, as would fairly reflect a popula-
ton of which but 1.-THE spoke Eng
fish and less than a fourth had even
Caucasian blood. Are we prepared to
extend to such a community, at the
price of their serious impairment to us,
share in the political privileges we
enjoy? l.. NJ. u.
Fairfax county, Va, Feb. s, 1893.