The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1893-11-12
A -DIsGRACEFUL LETTER.

cllOIl 10 put the adIIlSOH ~
in the wrong, and bears internal evidence
of being a thoroughly disingenuous and one
sided statement. The Secretary could not
put the administration in the wrong with
out putting his own government in the
wrong, but this he does not hesitate to do.
passing indiscriminate censure on our min
lister to Hawaii, on the American resi-
dents of the islands and on the captain and
men of the United States cruiser Boston.
The statement is based on the ex parte
report of Special Commissioner Blount, who
| evidentlysknew what kind of a report was
wanted. and did his work zealously. On
| the strength of his report the Secretary Of
State issues a broadside of SANDER against
men who have been trying to uphold the
| honor and interests of the United States,
and virtually charges them with having
been engaged in a conspiracy to foist them
selves into power on the ruins of the Ha-
waiian government.
The gist of the Secretary's letter is that
there was no popular uprising against the
| Queen, that the revolution was worked up
by a few conspirators, that the provisional
| government owed it's establishment to fear
of the military power of the United States.
and that Queen Liliuokalani would never
| have been deposed had it not been for the
landing of United States marines from the
United States steamer Boston. All these
assumptions rest on the unsupported state
ment of Commissioners Blount, and none of
them is sustained by contemporary evil
dence. The Secretary says, "a majority of
the committee of public safety, including
five Americans, were aliens The evident
purpose of this statement is to discredit
them. As a matter of fact, fully three
fourths of the business interests of the
islands are in the hands of American resi-
dents. and they have a perfect right to
have a voice in the control of affairs.
Again, the Secretary says Of the mass
meeting which condemned the Queen and
| approved the acts Of the committee Of pub
lie safety. that it was composed largely
of aliens" Here Is what the Hawaiian
| Gazette Of Jan. IS said of the meeting:
The leading citizens OF every political
complexion hurried together. their number.
every instant being augmented by fresh
! accessions, and held hurried consultations
as to the course to be pursued There was
but one mind among all those gathered to-
gether; tradesmen. lawyers. mechanics and
workmen were of enc opinion. Unanimity
of sentiment reigned such as has not been
Witnessed here for years. and 1t was agreed,
without a dissenting voice, that it was the
4 dnfv Of oVQrV citizen without distinction
of party, to support the law and liberties
| Of the people and to resist the revolutionary
encroachments of the Queen.
This is the testimony of a Honolulu paper
in regard to the meeting which Secretary
| Gresham slurs by saying it was composed
mostly Of aliens" He also argues at con-
siderable length to prove that the abdica-
ton of the Queen and establishment of
the provisional government was due to the
landing of marines from the United States
steamer Boston. According to the Hawaii
an Gazette the Queen had abdicated and
the revolution was an accomplished fact
before the marines landed. In its contem-
poraneous account it says the Queen aban-
doned her attempted coup d. etat and made
ner speech OF aDQlcdtlOH at 4 CLOCK Ol
the afternoon of Saturday, JAM. 10, while
the troops from the Boston landed about 5
O'Clock. The troops were armed, but the
| Gazette does not intimate that they made
any threatening demonstration. Mr.. w. c.
Wilder, one of the Hawaiian commissioners
to the United States, said, in an interview
printed in the Journal of Jan. %: 1--WE were
| glad to have the United States steamship
| Boston In Honolulu harbor. She was the
only man-of-war in port, and, while she
did nothing beyond landing armed soldiers
| who patrolled the streets. yet the moral ef-
| feet was good, and probably quelled any
disposition to fighting on the part of the
natives, had there been any, There is no
, evidence outside of Secretary Gresham's
statement, based on COMMISSIONS Blount's
| report, that the troops from the Boston did
anything beyond protecting American inter-
ests and preserving the peace.
Queen Liliukolani was deposed because
she was herself trying to accomplish a
revolution by forcing upon the people a
/ constitution granting ueI dDSOlulc dulnOrl-
ty and DISTINGUISHING all white voters. 1t
was part of her plan, first, TO disfranchise,
and ultimately expel from the islands all
foreigners. She had surrounded herself
with a corrupt clique who were perfectly
subservient to her wishes and utterly with
out conscience. She herself is but little
more than half civilized, and is a woman
of british instincts. One of her last acts
was TO sign a bnl granting a concession for
establishment of a lottery in the kingdom.
which would have added greatly to the
Generalization of her people. 1t was this
and her attempted coup d. etat which led
the decent people of the islands to unite for
the overthrow Of the monarchy. The Hon.
Joseph Marsden. one OF the commissioners
TO this country, said: A the foreign ele-
ments In the island and the better class of
the natives are in hearty accord with the
provisional government" The support of
the Queen lies among the worst class of
natives.
Secretary Gresham closes his arraignment
OF the administration. our minister to Ha-
wall, the American residents of the islands
and the captain and men of the Boston by