The sun., 1894-04-25

KAbAEAuA was compelled to grant In order
to he'd his throne. Tho right Of sufirnge
and Of holding oirlco under tile Constitution
Uf 1874 had Oeen limited to the mnlo sub
jects OF tho kingdom Of certain aEe and
possessing certain qualifications. The new
Consultation extended It to every malo resi-
dent Of Hawaiian or American or Euro
penn birth Of specified nRe and having
certain property qualifications. Il may hero
DO mentioned that the Constitution which
the lato Queen attempted to promulgate
proposed to restrict the right OF suffrage
and Of holding ofIlco as In 1874 But the
polnt to note now is that, shortly aftor the
Constitution of 1887 was secured. the ques-
ton Of the rights OF American citizens un-
der tho new instrument came up before Mr..
BAYARD ae Secretary Of State.
In aletter to Minister MERRILL. Secretary
BAYARD said that he had shortly before in-
structed Mr.. PUTNAM "that citizens OF the
United States who take the oath Of fealty
prescribed by the new Constitution OF Ha-
wall remain citizens Of the United States.
and are entitled TO be regarded and treated
as such by our consular and diplomatic OH
GERS" Such conclusion, he showed, must
have been contemplated by the Hawaiian
Government. as appeared from the last
sentence Of the oath: "Not hereby re-
nouncing. but expressly reserving. all
allegiance and citizenship now owing or
held by me-" Mr.. BAYARD made the fur
ther point, which is worth considering at
the present timo. that other Govern
ments allowed their citizens resident in
Hawaii to retain their nationality Of origin.
even when they took the oath OF fealty to
Hawaii, so that refusal on our part to do
az much would result In tho destruction
OF any political power previously possessed
by our citizens. and It's transfer to citizens
Of other asserting nations" Accordingly
Mr.. BAYARD requested Minister MERRILL
to &c relieve the minds Of all bona flde Amer
lean citizens who, while honestly desiring
to retain their American nationality. are. In
order to obtain the privileges necessary for
q residence Ia the Islands, obliged under
local law to take oath in support Of the Con-
stltutlon Of the Hawaiian Kingdom"
The existing case is not wholly Identical
with that which arose under Mr.. BAYARD.
The Provisional Government is not provided
for under the Constitution OF 1887. But the
essential fact is that the oath Of fealty. to
which Mr.. WILLIS refers. is one. as we un-
derstand It. to support that Govern
ment and to oppose any attempt to
reSstablsh the monarchy. 1t does not
refer In any way to the renunciation Of
other allegiance. 80 that the case In that re-
spectls more analogous to the one dismissed
by Mr.. .FaELrNoHUYsEN. Butitis well known
that those who overthrow the Queen and
formed the Provisional Government had
been among those who established tho
Constitution Of 1887. under which the oath
expressly permitted dual allegiance.
Indeed. II the Provisional Government
itself had raised this question. and taken
action to compel American residents to
renounce their nationality Of origin in order
to exercise political rights In Hawaii. the
case might be quite different: but We do
not understand that this Is proposed.