The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1893-11-23
BLOUNT'S REPORT.

The statement of the Hawaiian minis
ter throws flood of light upon the oper-
ations of Paramount Blount in Hawaii
and fully confirms the suspicion that has
long been entertained that Paramount"
was not sent to the island to ascertain
the facts but to gather testimony on
which Cleveland and Gresham could dis
credit the action of Minister Stevens and
the policy of the last administration.
At the foundation of an impartial inves-
tigation is the hearingof both sides. But
Paramount was not quite certain that if
he heard both sides even his prejudiced
mind would be able to lean sufficiently
toward the preconceived administration
view, and SO he concluded to hear but
one. This was undoubtedly wise pre-
caution. Another precaution which
Paramount took was to hear the
witnesses privately, so that their testi-
mony could not get out in season for
effective contradiction. Another pre-
caution was to frame leading questions
and to confine the witnesses strictly to
answering them, so that they might not
unwittingly say anything that would
conflict with the administration view
that the revolution was Matched entirely
by Minister Stevens and Capt. Wiltse,
and that it never could have succeeded
except for their assistance. 1t cannot be
denied that all these precautions were
wise in view of Paramount's purpose,
and that none of them could have been
disregarded without danger that his re-
port would not fully meet the views of
Mr.. Gresham.
But as matter of fact Paramount made
up his mind without making any investi-
CATION at all, for he had been in Homo
lulu only a week before he wrote to
Secretary Gresham letter in which he
"deplores the perverted influence of Min
lister Stevens and Consul General
Severance, to which he ascribes the ex-
istance of the Provisional Government. "
He knew what his masters wanted and
he gave it to them with indiscreet
promptness.
Unfortunately for Blount it has be-
come necessary not only to satisfy
Cleveland and Gresham, but the Ameri-
can people. 1t was doubtless intend ed
that the American people should know
nothing about Blount's report until the
great wrong was righted" and it was
too. late to protest. When Willis was
on the sea beyond reach of the telegraph
it was thought safe for Gresham to give
the people little inklingsof what had
been going on. Had the storm of protest
anticipated perhaps even Gresham s
communication would have been with
held and the public left to get there first
intimation of what was going on from
Hawaii direct. 1t is clear enough, how
ever, that it was never intended that
the public should have..an opportunity
to judge of the impartiality of Blount's
report until after the Queen was seated
ON her throne But the unexpected de-
lay of Minister Willis in carrying out his
orders knocked the administration pro-
gramme into cooked hat and laid it
had been consummated. Hence it has
been found necessary to make public
Blount's report in the hope that it
might appease the popular wrath. But
instead of doing that it seems likely to
only intensity it, for the very good
reason that it has been shown to be not
the impartial" report which Secretary
Gresham described it, but document
carefully prepared with the single pur-
pose of supporting the prearranged poll
oy of restoring rotten monarchy which
had been torn down because it had be.
come intolerable to the respectable white
people of Hawaii. Blount's report only
makes the Administrations position
worse, for. the plan on which it was.con-
structed makes it pretty certain that the
administration had determined to rein
state the queen long before it knew
what the facts were and sent out Blount
merely for the purpose of gathering ex-
parte evidence testimony with which to
defend it's action if it was assailed.