Hawaii holomua = Progress. [volume] (Honolulu) 1893-1895, 1894-01-31


If would have been more decorous
for her to wait until all these
minor matters bad been settled
tn the satisfaction of Mr.. Stevens
and the Provisional Government
He saws that the Queens protest
was a "quibbling trick which
now makes clear to many OF Us
what we then considered her
..cowardly surrender indie
pendently of the fact that this
sentence is unintelligible, for
.ouibbling trick" is not apt to
make clear a "cowardly surren-
der" it does seem unfair to her
TO use these hard words where
her conduct was so obviously
proper and natural. But he
pours out a good deal more strong
language upon her nnProtected
head and upon those who ven
tured to stand by her to aid and
abet her in her disaster. They
were tricksters'' they ineorpor
ated a "wanton lie but "that
lie did not act as an estoppei
and he winds up with the preg-
nant information to the Secre-
tary that national affairs are
not controlled as litigations IN
counts of law" Unfortunately,
this is true. National affairs are
not always controlled by sound
rules of justice and of truth. The
weak are not always protected;
the strong are not always bearing
and prudent. Judgment does not
always follow justice. Mr.. Car
ter is, no doubt, very able and
intelligent man, whose character,
50 far as we know, is unimpeach-
ed and unimpeachable, but his
defence of Mr.. Stevens and the
insurrectionists would have been
quite as strong if he had said less
about the tricksters' and their
wanton lies. and had more clearly
demonstrated 1.-The mighty truth
that inspired the course" of the
insurrectionists.
One of the points most hotly
contended for by the defenders
of Mr.. Stevens is that he only
gave his recognition of the Pro
visional Government as the de
tdct0 Government of the islands,
after the Committee of Safety had
taken possession of the Govern
ment buildings, archives and
treasury, and after the
Provisional Government had
been installed at the heads
of these respective depart
ments. Possibly, this may be
true, although very stong
evidence to the contrary is offered.
1t is possible that Mr.. Stevens
may have actually deferred recog
milton of the provisional govern
ment until such occupation of the
public buildings, but that does
not seem to be the only, or
indeed the important, question
in the case. If by his action, he
coerced the feeble administration
of the Queen to yield up its
power and to succumb before the
authority of the United States
then to argue that he should
escape criticism because of these
delays, is simply pettifogging;
The expression may be harsh.
but it Is a proper one. The truth
seems to be that he had arranged
the matters with the insurrection-
lists; that the soldiers had been
landed, that the moral forces at
his command were used and the
forces held ready for
action, and when, nnder these
combined influences the govern
ment resigned, he appeared for
the first time formally to recog-
nlze, an administration of his
own creation.
But even this attempt at palli-
alton is disposed of by Judge
Dole. a gentleman in whom Mr..
Stevens places the highest con-
fidence, and whose veracity he
must be the last man in the
world to impeaeh. Judge d lie
writes on January 18th. 1893, tie
rei.y day on which Mr.. Stevens