The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1894-01-07
And Now His Course Will Be
Promptly DiSavowed.
WHAT TIE CORwIN BROUGHT.

WASHINGTON. Jan. 6-President Cleve-
land aud Secretary of S ate Gresham are
to-day in most embarrassing. not to say
pitiable plight, yet very few expressions OF
sympathy are heard in any quarter, either
among Democrats or Republicans. These
are some OF the comments wherever the
Hawaiian matter Is being discussed;
Poor old blunderhead Cleveland"
Serves him right, the blOckhead."
Worse luck to the mugWump."
Nearly everybody now seems to believe,
and in fact it ls intmated in high official
circles, that the Auckland dispatch was
correct and that the Corwin's eff ,isl dis
patches to he State Department not only
fully confirm this report. but say further
that Pres dent Dole has refused 10 surren-
der. Ii is generally recognized that Cleve-
land and Gresham, realizing that they
have blundered terribly, are trying to make
Willis a scaDegOat BY accusing him of hav-
ing acted with bad Judgment; yet in the
face of Gresham'S dispatch to Minister
Willis, dated December 5, and carried to
him by the CorwiD, his reported action
would be entirely consistent with the in
structions be had received, which were in
substance:
'Should the Queen accede to the wish of
the Government that she grant general
amnesty aud the Provisional Government
refuse to surrender you will be governed
by your previous instructions"
1t ha1dly seems possible that in the face
of this dispatch the administration would
seek to sbiTk the responsibility and dis
credit its own diplomatic agent by declar-
ing that be should not and could not have
acted as he is reported to have done. In
view OF the fact that the Corwin must have
carried to him full particulars of the situa-
tlon in the United States and the sentI-
ment of the people IS reflected by Con-
Gress. and of the further fact that the
Presidents message left the whole matter
for Congress to deal with, vet, hard as it
seems to believe, it is probable that this is
precisely what Cleveland and Gresham are
attempting to do.
They are trying 70 make it appear that
they discredit the Auckland cablegram. In
fact Secretary Gresham not only declares
that there IS no truth in the Auckland
story, but says the report sent by tie press
dispatches to-day that a cipher dispatch of
1900 words in length was ielegraphed from
San Francisco to the State Department by
the Corwin's officers last night is erron-
eous, only short cipher dispatch being
wired, he says. The others were mailed
and will be received by Mr. Gresham IN
four or five days. The Secretary does not
credit the Auckland telegram because
he says such action on the part
Of Minister Willis would have been
utterly at variance with good judg-
ment. inasmuch as he was ad-
vised by the messages taken to him bv the
CoTwiu of the turn affairs had taken here
and Of the sentiment Of Congress. 1t is
said Mr.. Gresham pretends to believe that
the reports Of Willis action. as we'll as re-
ports of "a big row" in Hawaii were in
spired by Thurstnn and other annaxa-
tIonists who seek to EN- barrass the admin
istration. THE CALL CORE spoudent gath
cred this Information concerning Gresh-
ans belief, or pretended belief from one
who talked with the Secretary of State
to-day. and it therefore may be relied
upon as correct.
Representative Boutelle, when told what
Gresham was reported TO have declared.
said to The CALL correspondent:
"Oh. | can hardly believe that he would
have the audacity TO discredit the report
from Auckland " hen such action by Min
lister Willis would have been entirely in
accordance with Gresham's last dispatch
. OF instructions, dated December 3. and
carried TO Wills by the Corwin. They ara
trying TO shift the responsibility from THAR
own shoulders on to poor Willis. II ia
possible that the only excuse thew can
make is that they did not expect their
Minister to act as he did, because he must
have been fully advised that Presi-
dent Cleveland had left the whole
matter to Congress and that Congress
would probably not agree to the
overthrow OF the Provisional Govern
ment? If so. this is the flimsiest excuse l
ever heard. When man is in an eye
hole,' be will often make the most
absurd pleas in extenuation of a
bluuderIng or culpable action, but /
can scarcely believe that the Presi-
dent Of the United States and his
Prime Minister place so low an estimate
on the peoples intelligence. because every
BODY who has kept informed on the Ha-
= Wailan situation knows that the COrwin,
whlch carried the Presidents message
: to Congress to Honolulu, also carried
Gresham's dispatches to Minister Willis
iDstructing him to take precisely the
: course that he did"
NEW YORK, Jan. 6-The Posts Wash
= ington special says: Although no one at
the department will say so, it is obvious
=. that much disappointment is felt there
oyer the way in which Willis has executed
or failed to execute his delicate mission.
: a man of different mold, it is believed.
would have acted promptly on his arrival /,
and conducted his negotiations from the
outset with such formality that no rarty
concerned could have changed front, and
would have closed the whole question
within a few weeks Of his arrival IN Hon.
olulu. The Provisional Government, taken
by surprise. would have been likely to meet