The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1894-02-09
THE HAWAIIAN POLICY,
TIE IMPRESSION IT HAS MADE
ON A FOREIGNER.
American Party strife should stop at
the waters Edge Views of u Diplo-
matte aud Naval Expert.

as to the outlook of matters in the
Mediterranean between France and
England | have already given you some
account He accosted me with this
question: "What is the meaning of
paragraph Isee in the KoiniSche Zettung,
from which it appears that your Gov
eminent in the United States has re-
fused the request of the Hawaiian ISL
ands to he put under the American
aag?' / could only answer him, so far
as / knew, the request of the Hawaiian
Islands, after being favorably considered
nv the recent administration of the
United States under President Harrison,
had been left to he finally dealt with by
the present administration under Presi-
dent Cleveland. Any action, therefore,
taken on the subject by the present adj
ministration had probably been affected
Inv considerations drawn from the re-
lations of political parties in the United
States. President Harrison having been
Republican aud President Cleveland
having been elected by the Democrats.
"Ahl" he responded, 81 can under
stand that. That is one of the many
beuignant and beneficent peculiarltles
of what in England and America you
call party government But had sup
posed that in America. your party lines
ended at the waters edge! If l am
mistaken about this. and if you carry
your party quarrels lnto your lorelgh
policv, am sorry for you. On every
foreign question of any real Importance
to YOU, YOU will find yourselves hope
lessly handicapped and at the mercy of
Governments which deal with such
questions from practical and national
and not from local and partisan points
of view. | see you have been sending
some Of your new ocean cruisers, the
Chicago, the Bennington Doth OF them
fine ships of their classs and others INTO
the European waters, and have sup
posed that the election OF President
Cleveland last year meant reversal OF
YOUR anti commerclal protectlohist
nolicy involving IA curious attempt on
your part to recover your position
as n maritime and commercial nation,
You allowed that position to be taken
from YOU thirty years ago by Great
britain. with the help of the Alabama
and other Confederate cruisers. and If
Won really Intend to win it back again
Won cannot afford to throw away
anv opportunity of Strengthening your
selves AS Il sea-going power under the
actual and prospective conditions OF
naval strength. How, then, Is it pos
sible that you should consider any
proposition made to you by the Ha-
waiiau Islands, of all countries in the
world, from any point of view;
directed by your domestic party
politics
HAre YOU not one of the three great
est mowers holding line of sea coast on
the Pacific ocean, and are not the Ha'
waiian Islands the key to the naval con
troll of that ocean, between the Equator
and the Polar seas! think your Gov
eminent has conditional ceSslon oi
lease of Pearl harbor Ms naval station
in those Islands, though do not know
whether you have taken any practlca
steps toward making it available ant
useful to you. Why then, afler yol
have thus avowed to all the world you
sense of the unquestionable fact that {
footing of naval power in the Hawailal
Islands. if necessary to the safety o
your Pacific coasts. aild to the develop
ment of your commerce on the Pacific
should YOU hesitate to accept Il proteC
torate which ought to plant you ant
your flag more snlidly i'll those Island
tbau the flag of England was planted il
tbe Ievant by the English pro.ectorat
of tiIh.-septinsular republic aud the tortl
fication of Corfu? | know enough o
your Federal constitution to understand
WHY YOU might hesitate to annex tn
Hawaiian islands AS a State or even as
Territory of the Union, though mus
confess, speaking Us a foreigner, that
cannot very clearly see why this shout
trouble YOU any more than it ha
troubled YOU to convert the Russia
settlements at Alaska into Territor
of the United States.
IF YOU are never to he great naVa
power, your flag must always be |
greater danger in Alaska and over tn
Pribylov Islands than at Honolulu.
YOU mean to be great naval power tn
control of Honolulu is absolutely e'
sential to that purpose, so long as you
flag floats, not only over Alaska an
the Pribylov Islands, but over Portlan
in Oregon and San francisco III Cal
forpia," While | could controve1
none of these statements, j observe
that our relations with the Hawalia
Islands were necessarily. perhaps MOI
or less complicated 10y our understand
ing in regard to them with Gret
Britain. the Hawaiian monarchy havin
been established originally as the resu
of a sort of compromise between En-
land and the United States. lyon ma
cali it compromise if you like" +
piled my expert, "but it was compr
mise, all the honors of which we
carried off by England. Look at Il
flag of the Hawaiian monarchy, al
you will see that it carries, not the sta
of your Union, but the cross of 5
George combined with the cross of :
Andrew. Doyou suppose that symb
means nothing TO the kanakas!
$50 long as the flag of that hybr
little half-caste monarchy floats Owe
Honolulu, you may take my word f
il that the Sandwich Islanders in the
hearts will think of your people VIII
the Chinese of Canton and Shangh
used to think of them when they d
scribed the Americans as being on
second chop English If you me-
ever to be first chop on the ocean al
especially on the Pacific Ocean, "
must forgive me for saying that "
are making a tremendous blunder VIII
YOU repel the propositions which appe
10 have been made to you by t
present authorities in the Hawaiii
Islands. AS j said to you the 9th
day, it is perfectly certain that RUS
intends. as soon as she is ready,
assert her position as a great nav
power on the Pacific. 1t is not IL
certain that she intends. as soon as S
is ready, to assert her right as gre
power on the Pacific, TO an open wat
way between her fleet on the Euxi
and her fleet in the China Sea by way
the Suez Capal the Red Sea and
Indian Ocean. 1t is now clear that
asserting these obviously legitimi
pretentions Russia may hencefol
count upon the support
France, which already holds pc
tions in the Indian Ocean and
the China seas. In the affair
Siam, France, as you know, has got
better of Great Britain and the Q
d'Orsay is now messing the Brit