Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1897-12-07
THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS.

p..n,arded That They Be Made an
Integral Part of the United sta'es-s
Ratification of the Treaty. -
BY a special message dateu Tic s'
s+eonth dav of June last, I laid before
the Senate treaty signed thaI Gas ~
the plenipotentiaries OF the onieea
states and Of the Republic OF naval
having for it's purpose the lncoipoio
tion of the Hawaiian lslands as an in.e
gral mart of the United States, anu un-
der lis sovereignty The Senate, nav
ing removed the injunction OF secrecy
although the treaty is still pehuins pe
fore that body, the subject may De pro-
nerlv referred to in this message, De-
cause the necessary action OF the Con-
Dress is required to determine by legls-
lation MANY details of the eventual I'M
ion should the fact of annexation pc ac-
comnlished. as | believe it should pc.
While consistently disavowlng from
a very early period any aggressive policy
of absorption in regard to the Hawaiian
proup. a long series of declarations
through three quarters OF a century,
has proclaimed the vital interest OF the
Tnited States in the Independent lie OF
the islands and their intimate CONNER
cial dependence upon this country Al
tbe same time it has been repeatedly
asserted that in no event could the en-
titv of Hawaiian statehood cease by
the passage of the islands under the DO
minion or influence of another power
than the United States. Under these
circumstances, the logic of events re-
uuired that annexation
uERFTOFORE OFFERED
but declined, should in the ripeness or
time come about as the natural result
of the strengthening ties that Dlnd us
to those islands, and be realized by the
free will of the Hawaiian state.
That treaty was UNANIMOUSLY ratlned
without amendment by the Senate and
President of the Republic of Hawaii on
the tenth of September last, and only
awaits the favorable action OF the
American Senate to effect the complete
absorption of the islands into the do
main Of the United States. What the
conditions of such union shall be, the
political relation thereof to the United
States. the character of the local admin
istration, the quality and degree of the
elective franchise of the inhabitants, the
extension of the federal laws to the ter
ritory or the enactment of special laws
to fit the peculiar condition thereof, the
regulation. if need be, of the labor sys-
ten therein, are all matters which the
4o,4,, - ---.--,---- $3.50, = 4t,n Com
= If the treaty is confirmed, as every
consideration of dignity and honor re-
quires, Congress will see to it that,
avoiding abrupt assimilation of ele-
ments perhaps hardly yet fitted to share
in the highest franchises Of citizenship,
and having due regard to the geograph-
ical conditions, the most jushprovisions
for self rule in local matters, with the
largest political liberties as an integral
part of our nation, will be accorded to
the Hawaiians No less is due to a peo-
pie who, after nearly five years of DEM
onstrated capacity to fulfill the obliga-
tons of self-geyerning statehood. come,
Of their free will, to merge their des-
TIMES in our body polite.
The questions which have arisen be-
tween Japan and Hawaii by reason of
the treatent of Japanese laborers emf
grating to the islands, under the
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS convention of 1888,
are in a satisfactory stage of settle
ment by negotiation. This government
has not been invited to mediate. and
on the other hand has sought no inter-
vention in the after, further than to
evince its
KINDLIEST DISPOSITION
toward such speedy and direct ad-
Justment by the two sovereign states
in interest as shall comport with equity
and honor. 1t is gratifying to learn
that the approximations at first display
ed on the part of Japan that the cessa-
ton of Hawaii'S national life. through
annexation, might impair privileges to
which Japan honorably laid claim, have
given place to confidence in the up
Brightness of this government, and the
sincerity OF its purpose to deal with all
possible Interior questions in the broad
est spirit of friendliness.