The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1894-02-20

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on board the flagship Philadelphia, wher
he expressed his appreciation OF my nc.
ton. on the following morning you
called at this legation. and being Informed
OF the facts, and as stated In your letter
You expressed your satisfaction and ap-
prevail Of what had occurred Tho repre-
sentatives OF the foreign governments and
many prominent citizens exprcssed thcm-
selves TO the same eject, The action taken
was meant and understood at the time as
in the interest OF peace and humanity and
good order and Will after this explanH-
tion, l hope, be no longer considered an
evidence OF hostility.
Paragraph 6Oi contains extracts from re-
marks published In local paper OF the
l7th OF last November, purporting TO have
been made by me 10 a delegation OF the
American league and which YOU accept as
correct. ! state now that nothing was
said on that occasion which was Intended
or which could be construed into an un-
friendly sentiment towards you or your
government AS to the written connnunl-
cation, the language used will answer for
Itself. Crhe minister at this point quotes
the reports of his interview with Dole
and Attorney General smyth)
You further In paragraph IS, refer 10
your communication OF November 90 res
| voking the general permission heretofore
granted to United States forces TO land
to drln' You assign no reason for such
action and | know OF ncpe. You were
| promptly notified that such privilege would
| not thereafter he exercised. and to This day
| no armed soldier OF our government has
been landed for that or any other pur-
| pose,
Under our constitution. as You are
| aware, conSre1s alone has the power TO
! declare war, AS the president distinctly
/ announced that he would only "act within
| the constitutional limits OF executive pow
/ err" he preclu1ed the idea OF using force
end affirmed his declaration or November
| 1, delivered through Secretary Gresham
| not TO do anything which would cause
| Injury to life or property Of any one At the
| Islands," II these Visiting citizens" who
! describe the preparations. drlll etc, on
board our naval vessels had inquired Of
the officers in command, their apprehen-
! slons would have been promptly ullayed
| by the Information that what they saw
on that Friday they could have seen on
any uhird Friday in the month, Il be,nsy the
usual squadron routine drill," viz; boat
| drill, fire party. armed and away, relulrinf,
the packing Of krapsacks" and other
| preparations which you meatou. M
pend two letters OF Admiral Irwin, dated
18TH and nth instauts, in which the fol-
lowing statements are made by he adj
mTal 70 the specifications as given in
I your coInmunlca don;
]. No different preparations for landing
nave ever been made since / assumed COM
-'ff%fAN
ny my predecessor, Admiral Skerrtt
which We're intended to suppress riot ana
10 protect the iife aud property OF Amerl-
cans ana EnS,ishmcn.
:, As TO The stoppage OF shors leave, he
explains II did, as matter OF precau-
I ton, suspend liberty TO the crews until
| colld ascertain whether II would be pru-
dent to permit them to land without dan
ger of collision. After coming ashore and
having satisfied myself on that point,
which ! did in less than an hour, the order
was revoked BY telephone"
! 8, on December rs, as the excitement on
shore was very great and as quite mob
had gathered at our landing, gave orders
for our officers to wear their uniforms on
b, shore, which is the usual precautlon taken
| in foreign countries IN times of great pub
/ lie excitement 1t Ia proper to add that |
/ had been informed by Captain Rookie OF
I the British cruiser Champion that he had
1 given a similar order.
4. The great guns of the Philadelphia
I have never been loaded since their last
/ target practice at eea. The usual hurbor
I drills have been kept up as required by
I regulations, the exception being that our
1 men have not been landed for the pur-
1 pose Of drlil since my acceptance of COM
maud.
&. The reply quoted as made by the off,
! GERS OF the Philadelphia. thnt no one on
1 board knew what orders would be ra-
] tttfFtls hNpuAl convince any reasonable
! person that no order had been given.
The ndmiral's conclusion: 'As yon are
aware, l have studiously avoided doing
! anything that would have a tendency 10
! increase the excitement prevailing In
/ Honolulu and l distinctly state that the
naval force under my command Is IN no
! way responsible for The feeling now exist
| ing"
The only warlise preparations seemed
( 60 have been confined to one December II.
and THIS MS inst shown. were not subject 10
any mnfrtendly construction. In this con-
/ nectlon 80 may not be improper to mention
I the Conduct Of our naval forces during the
( trying circumstances succeeding the eiM
I of last November The many rumors as
to their purpose Of landing and attacking
! your people the feeling Of resentment,
naturally resulting from the honest belief
| by a large part OF the community that
such was their Intention, the eplthets that
were freely employed, brought about such
n critical condition that for a time, ar
Admiral Irwin states, It became necessary
for all our officers gong ashore to wear
their service uniforms as a protection
against Insult and attack During the
whole Of this unfortunate and regretable
situation, the deneanor OF officers and
men was one of forhearapce and seif-con-
troll.
] desire to state that the only commu-
nication of n political character which
have had with the the queen were limited
to two occasions, The sole purpose Of these
communications were. as you knox. 10
secure proper guarantees from the queen
as TO the office and property OF oil con-
nected with the overthrow OF the mon
archy, These having been secured, / then
under the instructions Of the president Of
the United States presented his decisions, |
setting forth the reasons therefor and sub |
uniting to your government for us yolun-
tafy action. Mr. Carter was invited by me |
to the last interviews with the queen, De- |
cembcr l6 and IS. He knew nothing until |
then Of the interview Of November Il, AS
u native Hawaiian Of American parentage |
whose character for integrity and intelli- !
gence, which IS acknowledged In the COM
munlty considered him a proper person |
TO be present.
You state "it was the almost wen nigh
universal belief in the city that you were |
about to attempt 70 land the naval forces
Of tho United States TO enforce the exc |
cution Of the presidents policy"
My answer is that my government one /
month previous 10 the time referred 10
had given V0u Information naf,a ttt,f.... a..