The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1894-03-20

land, amid the create st cruelties, have
been sacrificed in settling pretensions tC
the crown. 1t was these conflicts and
this distress OF innocent sufferers that
= caused the people to claim through the
judges the protection of the doctrine
that service rendered to the king who
held the scepter was lawful, although he
. was not rightfully in possession OF the
crown. No greater liberty of the people
was ever devised or granted than the
right Of protection under king de fdctO
against king dc jure.
De .jdctO governments, when they
seek TO supply the gap created by an in
terregDum, are favored in the interna
tional law, and when they are also based
on the right OF popular government in
conflict with regal government, or to
prevent its establishment, once it has
disappeared in a State nj the Western
! Hemisphere, II = 50 ryU ed and estab-
listed in the foundations OF the righlful
authority 0 rule that il is justly u be
ranked among the cardinal liberties CT
the reople.
This doctrine is not new, and yet it is
aodern in England, where the right to
the crown and its prerogatives have bled
the people for fifteen centuries. The
stringent doctrine that de fdct0 gov
eminent must be tabIished firmly in
all respects befo it is entitled to recog-
milton by another sovereign and indie
pendent power had no application to the
facts and circumstances that attended
the recent revolution in Hawaii; more
over, if the revolution there had been
| directed against the entire government
| ~ Ha ~ fba
OF 1887, and all monarchic rule, if it was
q sincere, strong, earnest and successful
movement Of the people for the recovery
OF their natural right to rule themselves,
they should not be narrowly questioned
and held TO rigid account for a proper
| and discreet perio nance OF every act
necessary to their resum option Of their
natural rights, but all america must
unite in the declaration that, under such
circumstances, the presumption OF law
should be favorable to such movements,
rather than unfriendly to the establish
ment by the people of the foundations of
their liberties, based upon their right TO
govern themselves.
The parliament OF Hawaii had been
prorogued by the Queen on the l4th day
OF January, and could not be again
assem- bled under the constitution, except
by the chief executive authority. Until
that authority was supplied in some way
therefore, the Legislature could no: be
reconvened. 1t was the establishment
OF that authority, the chief executive
head OF the nation, which was the oues-
ton at issue, and when that was decided
an appeal to the Legislature OF Hawaii
Tor its confirmation or ratification was
not only unnecessary, but might have
resulted in counter-revolution. 1t was,
therefore, IN the interest OF peace, good
order, and right government, that the
people OF Hawaii, who were unopposed
IN their process OF organizing an execu- !
tive head for the Government, should |
proceed to do so as they did, regularly |
and in an orderly, firm, and successful |
manner. Thus the abdication OF Liliuo- |
kalani was confirmed and has SO contin- |
ued from that day to this. the Govern |
ment of the United States has on various |
occasions recognized the succession to |
the executive authority as residing in the |
Provisional Government initiated at that
public meeting at the arsenal and con-
summated on the 18th day OF January by
public proclamation. Then, on the 18th
day OF January, according 70 the recogni-
ton OF the United States from which
there has been no dissent or departure,
the interregnum ceas ed, and the execu-
tive head of the Gov -rnment OF Hawaii
was established. { It'll this was COM
pleted, on the 18th day OF January, by
the proclamation OF the Provisional
Government, the United States was still
charged, under every principle Of law
and justice, and under the highest obli-
CATION OF duty, to keep her forces in
Honolulu, and 10 enforce, in virne OF
her sovereign authority, the rights OF her
citizens under the treaty obligations and
also under the laws OF Hawaii, relating
to the safety OF person and property an
the rights OF industry, commerce, and
in their free pursuit d en-
joyment. And when the Provisional
Government was thus established, it
rested with the United States to deter
mine whether the Government of Hawaii
was SO far rehabilitalen and SO safely
established that these rights OF her citl-
zens could be intrusted to its keeping
The recognition of such state of affairs,
within a country whose executive de
partment has been made vacant in con-
sequence of domestic strife, is quite :
separate and different proceeding, both !
in form and effect, from the recognition [
Of the political independence OF govern {
nent that is complete in its organization.
In the latter case the recognition ex- '
,ludes all right OF interference in its
domestic affairs, while in the former it is /
he right and duty OF supplying the pro-
ection of law to the citizen that makes q
necessary as well as lawful 7
The independence of Hawaii as a SOW d
reign State had been long reg 7
lized by the United States,
md this unhappy occasion did nor c
suggest the need OF renewing that de- S
.laration. The question presented in i
honolulu on and after the 18th OF Janu- I
ny, 1898, was whether the Queen con- t
inued to be the executive head of the 4
government of Hawaii. That was a a
question of fact which her conduct and [
hat of her people placed in perilous L
Ioubt until it was decided by the pro. b
lamation OF a new executive Pending e
hat question, there was no responsible a
Executive government in Hawaii. On .
he 17th of January that doubt was re-
olved to the satisfaction of the Ameri- a