Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1893-12-23

ing dtlleNdNNu, tiitNlAA- lAthl a ittNtA
written 10y him 10 the secretary OF
state in November, 1872, setting forth
the Ges!rabiIity Of annexation on va
rious grounds and decrying the mon.
archy and declaring that Hawaii had
reached the parting of the ways and
that two courses alone seemed 10 re-
main open; enc bold, vigorous meas
ure for annexation. the other for a
customs union, an ocean cable TO
Honolulu, pearl harbor especially coed
IA TO The United States, which implied,
but not expressly, stipulated Of an
American protcCtorate with 4 prefer
cnce for the former. This, the prcSi
dent says, is worth consideration as
showing the feeling Of Stevens in re
lation To the matter, and rs likely TO
influence his acts in case of revolution,
Moreover the president quotes from \
letter written by Stevens TO the Secre-
tary of state In March, 1892, nearly a
year before the revolution, in which he
speaks of a probable political oycrturn,
points out that in view of the cNcep-
tional relations between the United
States and Hawaii, United States Of
ticials heretofore took somewhat cNcep-
tioual action in case of disorder, and he
desired To know how far the present
minister and naval commander may
deviate from established international
precedent indicated in the first part
of this dispatch" The message points
out the contingencies precipitated in
Hawaii when stevens eXultingly tele
eraphed the state department; The
Hawaiian pear is now ripe and this
is the golden hour for the United
States to pluck it, and in frtherance
of this desire he February last, as
Supcd protcctorate over the islands
in the hame Of the United States and
ran up the American flag over the
government house where it remained
with government forces on guard till
Blount arrived and removed them.
The president then reviews the history
Of the movement for the queens over
throw; says the committee Of safety
was composed of thirtecn persons,
seven of whom were foreign subjects,
five of whom are Americans, one Eng
lishman. one German; that they acted
secretly, and a. late us the afternoon
of Monday, the day before the pro
visional government was declared, the
committee appealed to Stevens saying:
I'VE are unable to protect ourselves
without aid and therefore pray for
the protection of the United States
forces" Then they became so panic
stricken that they asked him not to
make landing till the next day Bun
he replied that he would land them,
cad did, against the protest of the
queens government, then the existing
government This, says the president,
was an act of war, unless done solely
to protect the lives and property Of
American citizens. That this was
not the object is shown by the DISPOSE
ton of the troops far from property
10 be protected, but so as to command
the Hawaiian government house and
palace. Admiral Skel1lt frankly ac-
knoWlcdged that such was the fact
in the disposition of the troops. There
was not the least evidence of excite
y
when the marines landed and
no soldiers from the vessels OF
other foreign nations in the harbor
landed as would have been the case
had danger Threatened The fact
therefore seemed to he that the troops
landed without the consent or the
wish of anyone except the United
IT, ms minister The occupation there
fore was wholly unjustifable, but the
troops landed and com
mittee of safety, with a
small following proceeded the
next day to proclaim the provisional
government Ito exist till terms with
agreed upon" They did this with the
United States troops drawn up only
seventy-siX yards away, commanding
the situa ton. The persons taking
part in the proclamation went to the
government house in small squads TO
avoid observation, having first made
sure that none of the queens support
ers were there. Meantime the queen
had 800 troops ana several cannon
anG could, but for the presence Of the
United States troops have dealt sum
marily with the insurgents, for the
fact was there were very few arms
in the islands except those in the
hands Of the queens supporters The
United States minister recognized this
government within an hour after the
proclamation, and while the queen $
forces were stiH in possession Of the
palace, barracks and police stations,
with all the government arms. But
the recognition by the United States
and the presence Of United States
troops dominated the situation, and the
queen, recognizing that she could not
contend against the United States, alb
dicatod under protest III writing, in
which she submitted her ease to the
sense of justice of the United
States This protest was delivered to
the chief of the provisional govern
ment and endorsed by him Yet this
provisional government at once began