The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1893-02-16
REVOLUTION IN HAWAII,
Editorial from the New York
Times, Jan. go, 1893.

DYNASTY in Hawaii was evidently |
only question of time, although |
it has come sooner than some for
eign observers had expected. In
the revolution of 1887 which re-
duced the sovereign to very limited
powers, Kalakaua only escaped de-
thronement by promptly acceding
to the terms imposed upon him =;
and believers in the maxim that
revolutions never go backward have
ever since held that the monarchy
was most insecure. Still, when, at
Kalakaua's death, his sister, Prin-
cess Liliuokalani, came to the
throne she was thought to have
temporary guarantee of stability
from the very rivalry of contending
factions and her relations toward
them all. She was perhaps consid-
cred specially friendly to the Brit
ish, among the foreign residents,
while her husband, the late John
o. Dominis, Governor of Oahu and
Maui-who, had he lived, might
have restrained her from her
last blunder-was relied upon to
keep her alive to American in
terests. The native leaders, too,
were known to have proposed that
Kalakaua should abdicate in her
favor, and her recent acts show
how much she sympathized with
the native rallying cry of Hawaii
for the Hawaiians." Besides, it
was not expected that the opium,
gambling, bribe taking, and other
scandals of the old administration
would be continued. Contests over
the sugar industry, the reciprocity
treaty, and the lottery business
might not be avoided, but there
was nothing threatening in them
to the Queens rule.
That she is dethroned to-day
seems clearly due, if the news as
we thus far have it is correct, to her
own folly and obstinacy. Like the
late king, she evidently regarded
the new constitution of 1887 as an
outrage, and the restriction of the
royal prerogatives under it as to be
submitted to no longer than neces-
sary. AS Kalakaua, shortly after
the revolution of 1887, insisted
upon his right of veto, and appealed
to the Supreme Court, which
affirmed it, so Liliuokalani prompt
ly insisted on her prerogative to re-
move her predecessors Cabinet and
appoint her own, and also got de-
cision in her favor. But her recent
attempt at coup d'etat seems t.
have been a general surprise. Ii
was an endeavor to use the native
element to overthrow foreign infiu
ence. restore the old order of thing:
and obtain more absolute power TO
/. the monarch. If we may credit thu
, current account, she endeavoret
about a fortnight ago to promulgat'
new constitution DISTINGUISHING
foreigners. She announced he
plan openly, trusting to the native
to sustain her. The weakness o
this element, though it could hav
hoped for relief from the griev
ances it suffered in the great i'm
; portation of coolies by the foreigl
sugar planters, and also for large
participation in the offices, at one
, received a fresh illustration Al
though the natives far outnumbe
the white foreigners, they seem t
have hardly struck a blow for tn
Queen, and she was promptly de
posed. This result is perhar
partly explained by the care take
to prevent the natives from armins
their entire lack of military organ
E. ization, their lack Of good politics
:, or race leadership, their long hab
:, of being ruled by a foreign mil
e, ority, and, finally. by the concer
=, ~ tration of the whole affair at Hone
lulu, where the foreign resident
are numerous and have the shi]
: ping to aid them. A landin
party from the Boston, which ha
been wisely left at Honolulu /
Secretary Tracy when Admir-
Gherardi's squadron set out fl
Atlantic waters, was an importal
3 element in keeping order. By tt
j.. folly of the Queen in precipitatir
N her overthrow-risking and losir
or her throne for a grasp at arbitral
powers still hard to unde
stand.
The question of annexation nc
= suddenly becomes pressin
through the arrival in this cou
try of Commissioners appointed
propose it. One novelty of t
IN proposal consists in the fact th
Hawaii is not a part of the con
nent, yet is nearly as accessit
as Alaska, which has foreign ter
le- tory interposed between it and t
rest of the United States, while,
80 course, she is vastly richer in {
veloped resources. The recip
ssGr' city treaty has increased tenft
the sugar product of Hawaii
at from the $4,000 tons of Is
to the 10000 tons
1890. On our part a growth of {
ports to Hawaii has occurred
the same period, the Pacific CO.
especially profiting thereby.
II n