New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1895-11-13
BtNOTO'S GHOST ~ WASHINGTON.

We are having an impressive spectacle JUST
now in the excitement of the Navy Department
over an historical statement Of the condition or
the Hawaiian Islands and people prepared by
Lieutenant Iucen Young L. s. \. There is
service regulation. and very proper one. that
naval officers shall not publish criticisms OF the
Government under which they serve or issue
literary works Of any kind without the assent
and approval Of the Secretary. The warrant for
this rule Is obvious, and calls for no discussion.
There could, Of course. be no such thing "a
discipline il every subordinate In the military
service were permitted to criticise in the pubic
prints the official action Of his superiors. and
especially Of the heads and representatives OF
Government But the solemn fuss over Lieu
tenant Youngs book is none the less ridiculous
and discreditablc on this account. ana II mas
come to be a subject Of weary and disheartenlng
consideration by the well informed
It is notorious that Mr. Young has written
nothing bot history of Hawaii-a political and
social history-treatlng its material sociological
and political conditions from purely impartial
and dspassionate point of view. Hundreds of
naval officers before him have written and issued
books of similar character with reference to
remote and isolated countries. and their works
trbutons to the sum OF human knowledge. 1t
Is a fact indeed. that here as elsewhere the
labor and the observation of naval officers have
filled what would otherwise have been hiatus
in the history of the world, and have furnished
the only trustworthy information now at the
disposal of students in those particular depart
mcnts Of investigation. A large part OF the sur
face of the globe would have been involved in
"a; =, fnrt i,o vrlO n
the subsequent testimony of just such men as
Lieutenant Young He has taken advantage OF
an assignment and sojourn in Honolulu to pre-
pare Il concise and interesting statement or the
past history and present condition of Hawaii.
intending, doubt, to supply information IN
which the American people are profoundly in
tercsted and with which they have not hereto
fore been supplied. 1t is generally understood
both by Mr.. Young's friends and by the depart
mcnt officials that the author nowhere discusses
or cndeavors 10 suggest a discussion OF the
Cleveland policy Of restoration. 1t seems to be
unquestioned that he has kept scrupulousy with
in the limitations Of history pure and simple.
Yet such j. the lamentable predicament In
which the Cleveland Administration finds itself
with reference 10 the Hawaiian question, the
bare idea of publication Of abstract facts and
cold statistics touching the HAWAIIAN lslanuS
becomes at once a thing Of terror and alarm.
Secretary Herbert knows that the naked truth
without the smallest comment or suggestion as
TO special episodes will be fraught with damn
Ing inference If Mr.. Young has only described
the social and moral conditions Of the country
and given the plainest record Of the revolution
which led ND to the deposition Of the savage.
ignorant and lcentious regime OF Liliuokalnni,
he has said enough and more than enough to
consign TO everlasting contempt and condemna-
ton the infamous attempt Of Cleveland and MS
man Blount 10 stem the march Of civilization
and rc-establsh the dspcnsation of barbarlsm
For this reason Secretary Herbert broods with
furrowed brow and gnawing apprehension over
the manuscript OF Mr.. Young's effusion. lie
cannot condemn and suppress 1t on legitimate
grounds, because it does not offend in anything
of which ii Government with clear conscience
need complain. But he knows that the one
thing of which his chief is seriously afraid is
the simple unvarnished truth. He realizes that
the American people with the naked facts before
them will have intelligence and conscience
enough to pass swift and damning Judgment
upon the Cleveland Policy Of Infamy' in Ha-
oH