St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1894-01-24

l ti0s iuCluQOo tlO Ah$A
| dent of pulling down the American flag.
| A distinguished American issued the
| order, If any man pull down the Amer
/, lean flag, shoot him on the spot" AT
| later day, by the order, il mistake not,
| of Gen. Butler, at New Orleans, one
man was shot for the same act, TOR
which another now receives the thanks
of the executive of the United States.
Another event in Revolutionary history
las certain parallel lines to the story of
the presidents
DETECTIVE IN HAWAII.
| Something over Il hundred years ago
| British officer of undoubted character
and reputation was selected as the spe-
cial commissioner of his government TO
| act the part which would complete the
betrayal of West Point and other Amer
| lean forts into the hands of the British.
Maj. Andre, the distinguished spy, was
apprehended and paid the penalty with
his life.
Whatever may be said of Decorating
| our flag Ill Honolulu, that was only a
humiliation to Americans and a self-ln-
| tiicted disgrace to this administration.
| But the stealing or an American spy
into Hawaii with credentials to the head
of the recognized government. ad-
| dressed "My great and good friend" =
| for the simple and secret purpose OF
plotting and negotiating with Mrs.
/ Dominis, then an enemy of that govern
| ment, and secretly and stealthily Ell
deaVoring to arrange for her re-en-
thronement upon the ruins of temporary
or provisional government, was not that
such an offensive act that the pro-
visional government would have been
fully justified under the rules of
war in declaring him to be public
enemy, and treated accordingly? In the
United States, treason consists in
| levying war against the government, OF
in adhering to its enemies, giving them
aid and comfort. What was Biount in
his relation TO Hawaii? Neither more
nor less than public enemy. PERSON.
ally, l am very glad to see the eX-para-
mount here i'll Washington, walking
safely about the capitol; but | must
confess that there would have been a
good deal of grim justice i'll the act II
the Hawaiian government had caused
his trial, either 10y the
| CIVIL AUTHORITIES
| or by court martial, at Honolulu, as
| would have been done in any other gov
eminent. Just look at it. Purporting
to be an ambassador, and accredited to
recognized government, his secret in
| StructioDS not even known made known
to this senate. if obeyed by him. put
| the most deSpicable OF offenders against
international proprieties. True, his
| otfense was that OF his superiors merely,
but the punishment is meted to the
| agent who is caught in the act. Maj.
| Andre suffered death. Commissioner
| BlOunt receives compensation from the
United States, but the world condemns
both him and his employers. The peo-
pie of the United States, of all shades Of
party faith, have discussed with bated
breath almost the series of events in our
diplomatic service initiated since March
| last, and have seriously questioned
the mental eq uilibfium of an executive
and cabinet which could. either by acct
| dent or design, have stumbled into such
unprecedented and incompreheasible
| errors.
In the Hawaiian affair the history OF
| nine months OF successive plumbers is
SO full of the tragic, the ridiculous and
the farcical. and the responsibility has
become so diffuse and generally uncer-
tain. that the country has reached the
conclusion that president, premier and
cabinet, with all their new-fangied par
| amounts and mysterious cipher dis
patches, are the mere tln-elad actors in Il
| StupendouS
COMEDY OF ERRORS. -
| But where is the man whose cheek
has not blushed with bitter shame as
day by day lie has been forced to read
the humiliating story of our laundering
Hawaiian policy? Where is the living
man whose very heart has not swelled
with indignation as he has witnessed
the preparation of inexcusable and un-
precedented outrages upon weak and
struggling people? OutrageS which.
unjust and criminal as they were tow
| ards that little band, were a thousand
times more diSgraceful and criminal
| against our own American citizenship.
The shield and panoply of honor, which
had shone like star over the pathway
| OF American glory, has been blackened
| and furnished, while our entire people
are doing the penance of humiliation
and shame.
The ridiculous mantle of secrecy
which had hidden for months the action
OF the executive has been removed,
and the patchwork policy is fully re-
Vealed. How now appears that sham
| and Shoddy management which, ac-
| cUrding to the public press, marsfialed
the subordinate employees at the state
department en- masse in the halls of the
state building, and administered to the
charWoman, messengers, laborers and
clerks nOnstrous oath that they
would never reveal 70 the outside world
|
Hawaiian CORES pOndence? Was the
usual constitutional oath Of Office which
every one had taken of SO little value
| that Secretary Gresham could make the
! obligation stronger by neW-fangIed,
unlawful and wholly nugatory imposi-
| ton? Was all this necessary to impress
the beautlf I'll queen with the entire SIN
cerity OF an
| AMERICAN PRIME MINISTER?
| (lp h,. f.,l
| application sent to her Oh tinted paper.
! and Endorsed ''By the politeness of MIR.
! Willis" urging her not to cut off the
head of his great and good friend,u
might finally reach the American
| people?
But by the persistence of the repre-
sentatiyes of the people in congress
the electric light of public scrutiny has
been turned upon scene which until
now was only occasionally brought into
view. And what scene. Personal
mates and dlsilkes. partisan prejudices,
charges of unfaithful conduct against
an honest minister, offers to restore a
! fallen monarchy upon tie ruins or a
crushed republic, disavowals of Amer
lean manhood, treachery and unfair
deallng-all these things piled UP, each
upon the other, give the lie to an honor
able record of more than a hundred
years OF our national life What an
swer to these things do we hear from
these senators who tilnidly and with
soft steps and Whispering voices say a
weak defense for the admins tration
which has two or three years longer in
which to dispense its patronage? Up to
this hour the only attempted answer or
defense has been: "Charge it to
Stevens" or "What about Stevens?''E
| When Secretary Gresham reyels in
CIPHER DISPATCHES,
which take him days to translate, and
senators and press and public grow
weary of waiting and wondering why
he does not take the United States into
his confidence, some piping cuckoo
settles the whole matter by saying:
well, Stevens is to blame.''