The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1895-02-14
A DEFENCE OF HAWAII.
Minister Thurston Issues a Statement Con.
corning Death Sentences


CerDing Death Sentences.
WASHINGTON, Feb. ll.--Lorain A
Thurston, the Hawaiian minister, has
Issued a statement in which he says that
he has received no direct communica.
tion concerning the death sentences in
Hawaii but he does know that all the
revolutionists will receive an impartial
trial, and that If there is any policy in
which the Hawaiian government has
erred, it is that Of too much lenienCy
toward those who have plotted for its
overthrow,
The penalty for treason from the
foundation to the overthrow Of the
monarchy. was death and confiscation
of all property. On the goth of Janu
ary, 1898, three days after its creation,
the provisional government passed an
act providing an alternative penalty for
treason Of fine and imprisonment, and
otherwise mitigating the harshness of
the former law. lie then says:
Although the rrvolution of 1893 was
caused by the attsmpt Of the queen to
abrogate the constitution aud disfran.
Ghise nearly every persoA intrusted
with the new government, she has since
been treated with the utmost considera-
ton by that government. She has been
allowed to occupy her comfortable resi-.
denCe in Honolulu, within q block of
the executive building, in peace and
without molestation, although she has
increasingly, publicly and privately,
plotted therein for the overthrow of the
government, and finally made it an ar.
senal, in which were discovered 40
rifles, two dynamite bombs, pistols,
swords and ammunition in quantity.
again, although Liluiokalani has
made no claim for compensation, the
annexation commission, in the interest
of harmony and to avoid even the APP
peaTance of harshness, secured the in.
sertion in the proposed annexation
treaty clause giving her an annual
pension of $50, 900, and until she began
to openly work for the overthrow of the
government the salary which she had
received as queen continued to be paid
TO her by the provisional government;
and until Princess Kaiulani came to
Washington to work for restoration she
also continued to receive her former al.
lowance.
THE ex-queen has twice applied to
the government for protection against
supporters of the government whom she
times being while she was in the act of
negotiating with Mr.. Willis for her
restoration and the overthrow of the
provisional government, Upon both
occasions a squad of police was detailed
to guard her from harm, for as long a
period as she desired them. The gov
ernment has at all times been willing,
in the interest of peace recognizing the
obligation so to do to grant the eX'
queen an annual allowance on the one
condition that she abandon her claims
to the throne and agree to keep the
peace"
Mr.. Thurston then cites history TO
show that no government was ever so
lenient to a deposed sovereign. He
also says that Hawaii has not in time
of revolution exercised more or less con.
troll Of the press and the right Of public
meeting, while the United States and
other governments have. In this era Of
peace in the United States, the police of
Chicago and New York do not hesitate
to interfere with and break up anarch.
ist meetings The police of Brooklyn
last week prevented, by force, the hold
ing of a massmeeting Of workingmen
in public square. The Hawaiian roy.
alists have held public meetings to pro-
test against the government, etc. The
royalist press has been allowed, un.
checked to advocate the restoration Of
the monarchy and to pour out flood Of
abuse upon the republic and its sup
porters,
One of the serious features of the
situation in Hawaii, he says, is that a
number of the insurrectionists are what
may be called professional revolution.
lists" The rank and file are ignorant
dupes. He then describes the wild
plottings Of Robert Wilcox against the
different governments Of Hawaii. He
then asks:
What is the government Of Hawaii
to dof There have already, during its
short existence, been two domestic con-
spiracies to overthrow it by force Is
the government TO condone every offense
that can be committed against gov
ernment, and upon capturing insurreo'
tionists in the act of shooting down its
= citizens, allow them to again go free to
repeat the operation at the first con
{ venient opportunity
> "If | recollect correctly, the authori
ties Of Chicago condemned and executed
sentences upon not only the men who
threw the bombs at the police, but those
who, by writing in the press and by
public speeches, had incited the vic
! lence. They did so in pursuance of the
solemn duty imposed upon every gov
: ernment Of so Furnishing violence as to
prevent its recurrence. The originator
were rightfully held equally as response
BILE as the executors of the plan. M
one thought of charging the government
of Chicago Of insugurating a Soutl
American system of reprisal and re
venge. On the contrary, the whole civ
ilized world applauded their action"