Daily Kennebec journal., 1897-05-04
The Hawaiian Sugar treaty.

l suring, for the men who are Worhlhs ~
bring that about have been throwing
i a good deal of dust of late. Senator
Frye points out very succinctis anu
J forcihly the reasons why we should not
allow such an abrcgation. Some VIII
recall the interview with EX-Mlnisier
lThurston Of Hawaii, published seVerai
ldays ago. He gave as the four reasons
why the treaty should not be abrogated
1.-The following:
"First-It would be deliberate vio-
Ilation of solemn treaty. There IS no
overwhelming necessity shown for I'M
mediate action OF SO grave character
as to require reputation of an interna-
tional treaty.
| "Second-The imposition of a duty on
Hawaiian products especially without
the notice required by the treaty. would
| disarrangc and throw into confusion
all of the mercantile and financial in
terests existing between the Islands
and the United States. ard suspend,
curtail and ruin, not only many Ha-
waiian citizens, but great numbers of
| americans. DOln III Jldh atii anu III
United States who have made invest
ments to an amount approXimatlnS
| $40 GOO, 900 upon the faith of the treaty.
.'Third-The tariff bill is a revenue
measure. and should not be complicated
my importing into it far-reachinS ques-
| tions of foreign policy-queStions upon
which there is great diversity of opin-
| ion and involving far more than the
mere dollars and cents to be derived
from a duty on Hawaiian products
.Fourth-What the future policy of
| the United States concerning Hawaii
| is to be is a question of the first i'm
portance and Of bread national policy.
! 1t should be considered by itself in such
a manner and under such conditions as
| to present all phases of the question.
and not the single, narrow financial
phase which is primarily raised by the
tariff BILL
| Mr. Thurston then elaborated upon
these He didn't mention the question
as to our right to Pearl harbor, prob
ably thinking it would not be pleasing
for him as a citizen of Hawaii to as
sumo to threaten the old foster nurse
of that little republic. He did, however,
patent when we stop to think of it,
that philanthropy didn't dictate that
treaty.
1T has been the conviction that the
possession or friendly neutrality OF
Hawaii is a political and military
necessity to United States interests in
the Pacific. With Hawaii in the hands
of any hostile Power, the only coal
ing station from Nicaragua to Hong
Kong, from San Francisco to Samoa,
would be closed to American cruisers,
ana made a centre from which hostile
dcscents could be made upon the Paci-
fic Ccast and its commerce destroyed.
With Hawaii in the control of the Uni
ted States, the base Of supplies of hos
tile naval force is thrown back to the
entire. width Of the Pacific-a praC-
tically prohibitive distance, as coal
enough would have to be carried to
steam across the Pacific and return, a
distance of from 1000 to 5000 miles, to
say nothing of coal consumption in
operating on the Pacific coast, a
quantity far beyond the capacity of
any warship in existence"
He laid emphasis upon the fact that
the objective point of the United
States policy toward Hawaii has been
political rather than financial advan
tage. Senator Frye also dwells upon
this point He does believe that Pearl
Harbor is legally ceded to this country
forever but does not see how we could
justify ourselves in holding it after we
had broken the treaty by which thai
cession was obtained He moreover
thinks the sugar trust about the only
strong interest advocating the abroga
| ton. Certainly the Pacific coast in
terests are strongly opposed. They can
see how the trade would be diverted to
other markets and duties would be
placed upon our products.
Some of those who are opposed to
any form of annexation think they see
| in this abrogation the defeat of that.
Certainly the benefits of sixty years Of
craftsmanship, ODllttlHS tHc ibuf yedi :
of the Cleveland regime, would be
abandoned and Hawaii would be com
PEELED to look elsewhere fer support.
To oppose such an effort at self pres
ervation on her part would be cowardly
on our part, but anyone that supposes
this country is ready to throw away
the advantages it has so long had in
the Pacific by reason of our practical
protectorate over Hawaii reckons with
out the people. Even supposing as
Spreckles, who is now connected with
the sugar trust, says, that we admit
products to the value of 5000, 900 in
return for the admission of $4.000000 OF
cur products into Hawaii. that does
not take into consideration the advan
tages we get from having a coalins
station on the Pacific, advantages that
have been for years appreciated by our
wisest statesmen and are now extolled
by the leading naval authorities of the
world But Mr. Thurston showed that
we had financially gained under the
treaty over sixty millions of dollars. al
| though he evidently included some