Birmingham age-herald., 1895-01-10
PRESIDENTS. MESSAGE To Congress Transmitted With Hawaiian Correspondence RELATIVE TO AN ISLAND Wanted by Great Britain as a Cable Station, With Recom-
 mendationS.
RELATIVE TO AN ISLAND

WASHINGTON, Jan. 9.-The president sent to congress today some correspond ence on Hawaiian affairs, with the follow ing message of transmittal
 To the Senate and House of Representatives;
 I submit herewith certain dispatches from our minister at Hawaii and the docu- ments which accompanied the same.
 They disclose the fact that the Hawaiian government desires to lease to Great Brit ain one of the uninhabited islands belong ing to Hawaii as station for submarine telegraph cable to be laid from Canada to Australia, with a connection between the island leased and Honolulu. Both the Hawaiiau- government and the represen tative of Great Britain in the nego- tiation concede the proposed lease cannot be affected without the consent of the United States, for the reason that in our reciproc- ity treaty with the king of Hawaii he agreed that as long as said treaty remained in force he would not lease or otherwise dispose of, or create any lien upon any port, harbor or other territory in h1s dominion, or grant any lien upon any port, harbor or other territory in his do- minion, or grant any special privilege or right of use therein to any other power, state or govern rnment.
 At the request of the Hawaiian govern- ment this subject is laid before the con-
  tion of so modifying the treaty agreement above recited as to permit the proposed lease, as it will be seen that the correspond ence which has been submitted between the British and Hawaiian negotiations nega- tives the existence upon the part of the Hawaiian government for any suspicion of British unfriendliness or the fear of British aggression. The attention of the congress is directed to the following statement con- tained in a communication addressed to the Hawaiian government by the representa- tive of Great Britain:
 We propose to inform the British gov- ernment of your inquiry, whether they would accept the sovereignty of Neckar island or some other uninhabited 1sland on condition that no subsidy is required , from you. As we explained, we have not felt at liberty to entertain that question ourselves, as we were definitely instructed not to ask for the sovereignty of any island, but only for lease, simply for the from our minister, which were sub. mitted, not only refer to the project of 6 leasing of an unprotected island belong ing to Hawaii, but contain interesting in- formation concerning recent occurrences in that country and its present social condl- .tion. This information is valuable be- cause 1t is based upon the observation and Knowledge necessarily within the scope Of the diplomatic duties, which are entrusted solely to the charge of this intelligent dip- fomatic officer representing the United States government at Hawaii.
 hope that congress will see fit to grant the request of the Hawaiian government, and that-onr consent to the proposed lease will be promply accorded. It seems to me we ought not, by refusal of this request, to stand in the way of advantages to be gained by isolated Hawaii through telegraphic communication with the rest of the world, especially in view of the fact that our own communication with that country would thereby be greatly im- proved without apparent detriment to any legitimate American interest.
 GROVER CLEVELAND.
 The message was read in full, and was then, on motion of MT. Gray, referred to the com mittee on foreign relations,