The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1894-04-03
Rev. 0. P. Emerson Speaks on
That Subject Last Evening.
OPEN MEETING OF AMERICAN LEAGUE
An Interesting Account of the Strug-
giles the Government Had to Get
Its Case Before the President
and the People Of the United States.

The rooms of the American
League were fairly well filled last
evening at the open meeting held
by that organization.
A short secret session was held,
and then the doors were thrown
open to the public.
1t was expected that there would
be three addresses made, but the
Rev. o. P. Emerson was the only
speaker who made an appearance.
He spoke on Hawaii at Washing
ton," and his address was listened
to with a great deal of attention,
and was frequently interrupted by
applause.
Mr.. Emerson spoke as follows:
was much impressed the other
evening by the words of a friend. We
were talking over the experiences of
the Hawai;ans who were recently at
WASHINGTON, during the days of
the discussion of the late Ha-
waiian revolution. l spoke of the
eagerness of the public to hear what
we had to say; how papers and plat
forms were open to us; how Senators
and Congressman were willing to hear
what we had to say; how everybody
who knew anything about Hawaii
and who was interested in her welfare
began to be importuned to talk and
write and even lecture. 1 was a little
curious to know what my friend
would say. / was interested to find
out the color of his thought, for he
had been a prominent figure in the
events that had transpired. It was no
less parsonage than the President of
the Provisional Government, and he
made this strikingly characteristic
remark: "It was an opportunity"
That is my text this evening; our
opportunity; an opportunity of doing
ones country service; an opportuni-
ty of making coming generations our
debtors; an opportunity it is for the
putting away of grievOus ills; of heal
ing sore rents and bad bruises; of
cheering up the hearts of a distressed
people, and of making q fair State out
here in which it shall be a pleasure
to live and a credit to hail from; a
State, it may be, that shall some day
shine as a bright star in the American
constellation.
We have all had latterly an oppor-
tunity to do brave deeds. We have
hewn out State in the rough; now
there is a call for some fine chiseling.
/ wish we might come to the full
consciousness of the fact. We have
opened an interesting episode in Ha-
waiian history. We have now to
round it out and complete it. The
hardest work is yet before us.
r alyn
point and bring out what / have it in
my heart to say than by putting the
situation as we saw il who had been
studying it with such intensity of in
terest in the United States and from
an American standpoint.
We came to realize that those
anxious, perplexing and even painful
days which we were spending over
there, while you were here face to
face with the enemy, were an oppor-
tunity. We did not at first know
what to do. We feared that we could
do nothing, but our anxiety was so
deep that we could not remain pas
sive. We felt compelled TO attempt
something.
The case seemed almost hope
less. The tide was against US. What
could we do to affect public senti-
ment? The great American people
WHO, huSH tuSy Stl "dhtu up
insist on fair play, did not know the
facts. Most of the people did not, at
first, care for them. They were will
ling, then, to leave the matter in
Cleveland's hands, and, for time, he
had it all his own way. Even Con-
gress was slow in taking in the issue.
The press was non-committal or basely
subservient to the Administration.
An exception must be made in the
case of two great newspaper men.
refer to Whitelaw Reid, of the New
York Tribune, and to Mr.. Dana, of
the New York Sun. They were
creators of public opinion, and were,
from the first, alive to the situation. |
The religious press mostly stood off, |
and let US be called a pack OF buc- |
cancers. Clergymen and editors whom |
/ knew to have been heartily in SYM |
pathy with the work of the mission |
AIRY fathers of these islands began TO |
look askance, as if the sons of these |
missionary fathers had proved them |
selves an unworthy lot.
The heroism of the situation did not |
at first dawn upon the minds of the |
American people, although it did |
later. They did not know the facts.
Most compromising questions were
put to Us by our friends. We finally |
bad to speak out, for, as the wife OF q
Washington clergyman put it, our
nrOt tpQSIOnQl rannfatIny, xxyoc |