The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1897-06-22
SECRETARY SHERMAN
URGES On THE PRESIDENT THE
ANNEXATION OF HAWAII.
Full Text of His Letter Accompanying the
Treaty of Annexation Signed by Himself
and the Hawaiian Represent4tfve-The
Reasons Given by Him in Advocacy OF
the Proposition for Annexation.

Washington, d. c. June 17.-FoIlow-
ing IS the letter OF Secretary Of State
Sherman - the president which ac-
oompanied the Hawaiian annexation
treaty, and which was sent TO the SEN
ate by the president, together with his
message and the treaty for nnexa
ton:
The President:-The undersigned,
secretary of state, has the honor TO lay
before the president for submission to
the senate, should it be deemed for the
public interest to do SO. a treaty sign
ed in the city Of Washington on the
10th instant by the undersigned and
by the duly empowered representative
Of the republic of Hawaii, whereby the
islands constituting the aid republic
and all their dependencies are fully
and absolutely coded to the United
States of America forever.
1T does not seem necessary to the
present purpose of the undersigned 10
review the incident of 1898, when a
similar treat of cession was signed
on February 14th and submitted to the
senate, being subsequently withdrawn
by the president on the 9Th of March
following. The negotiation which has
eliminated in the treaty now submit
ted has not been a mere resumption of
the negotiation of 1893, but was initia-
ted and has been conducted upon in
dependent lines. Then an abrupt rev.
~olutionary movement had brought
about the dethronement of the late
queen and set up instead of the here
tofore monarchy, a provisional govern
ment for the control and management
of public affairs and the protection of
the public peace, such government to
exist only until terms of union with
the United States should have been
negotiated and agreed upon. Thus
self-constituted, it's promoters claimed
for it only a de facto existence until
the purpose of annexation in which it
took rise should be accomplished.
LAS time passed and the plan of union
with the United States became an I'M
certain contingency, the organization
of the Hawaiian commonwealth under-
went necessary changes. The tempOr-
airy character of it's first government
gave place to a permanent scheme un-
der a constitution framed by the rep
resentatives Of the electors of the is
lands. The first, administered by an
executive council not chosen by Suf-
frage, but self appointed, was succeed
ed by an elective and parliamentary
regime, and the ability of the new gov
eminent to hold as the republic of Ha-
wall an independent place in the fam
lily of sovereign states, preserving order
at home and fulfilling international OBJ
legations abroad, has been put to the
proof.
Recognized by the powers of the
earth, sending and receiving envoys
enforcing respect for law and main
tanning peace within its island Dor
ders, Hawaii sends to the United
States. lot a commission representing
a successful revolution. but the accred-
tied plenipOtentiary of a constituted
and firmly established sovereign state.
However, sufficient nay have been the
authority of the commissioners with
whom the United States government
treated in 1898, and however satisfied
the president may then have been of
their power to offer the domain of the
Hawaiian islands to the United States,
the fact remains that what they then
rendered was a territory rather than
an established government, a country
whose administration a been cast
down by a bloodless. but complete rev.
L tlio O. III u q ~
political transition. Now, however,
the republic of Hawaii approaches the
United States as an equal. and points
for it's authority to that provision of
article 80 of the constitution, promul-
gated July "a, 1894, whereby, the presi-
dent, with the approval of the cabinet,
is expressly authorized and empower
ed to make a treaty of political or
commercial union between the repub-
lie of Hawaii and the United States of
America, subject to the ratification Of
the senate.
THE present negotiation is, there
fore, as has been said, not a mere re-
newal of the tender of Hawaiian terri
tory made in 1893, but has responded to
the r declared in the Hawaiian
constitution, and the conferences of
the plenipotentiaries have been directed
to weighing the advantages of the pO-
litical and the commercial union alter
natively proposed and relatively con-
sidering the scope and extent thereof.
1T 500 appeared to the negotiatOrs
that a purely commercial uniOn O the
lines of the German zollverein could
not satisfy the problems of the ad-
minfstration in Hawaii and of the po-
litcal association between the island
and the United States.
Such a commercial MO o on
the one hand deprive the Hawaiian
government of its chief source Of reve-
nue. from customs duties by placing
it's territory in a ~~olatinn Of free ex-
change with the territory of the United
States, its main market of purchase
and supply. while on the other hand
it would entail upOn Hawaii the main
| tenance of an internal revenue system
on a par with that of the United States
or else involve the organization of a
; corresponding branch of our revenue
service within a foreign Jurisdiction.
I'VE have had with Hawaii since
1875 a treaty of commercial union,
which practically assimilates the two
| territories with regard to many of their
most important productions and ex-
| cluded other nations from enjoyment
of its privileges, yet, although that
treaty has outlived other less favored
reciprocity schemes, its permanency
has at times been gravely imperiled.
Under sue circumstances, to enter
| upon the radical experiment of a COM
! plete commercial union between Ha-