The Independent. [volume] (Honolulu, H.I.) 1895-1905, 1897-07-12


anxiety ab mt the Hawaiian treaty
is to know what aud whose JOB it
represents. hat it stands on its
own merits nobody pretends. That
any such scheme was even thought
of month age, nobody alleges.
Just consider the situation when
our WASHINGTON correspondent & rst
publish, q the fact hat a treaty was
soon TO be signed. Hawai- expect.
ed nothing OF the kind. The latest
Honolulu annexaiionist papers ware
il b. dimp., despair & of being
able. even To rel ain herr reciprocity
treaty Mt particle Of organized
sentiment in favor OF annexation
was in sight in this country Nc
Kinley and Sherman were both com
mitted against it, as far as words
can ever commit minds like theirs,
which, we admit, ia not far. TIE
whole thing was quiescent and FIR
gotten when, suddenly, in weeks
time, treaty WAS concocted, signed
aud sent tn the Senate.
Such ,lf.cts defective come by
cause, and what was h. caus,7 "An
urgent political necessity" tele-
gtaphs the w Ash,ngton cnrrespon.
dent of the Tihunc who had before
secuted the idea Of auy treaty being
iii immediate contemplating Eli-
torially The Tribune is dumb but its
corrsspon Dent pretty plainly hints
at the disgraceful facts 1t was wi, h
great "reluctauce" that the Presi.
dent sent the treaty to the Senate.
la fact the treaty was first sent
to him by the Srnste, in the same
way that nomiDations are now sent.
The President has become the clerk
Of the Senators. They had told him
that the whole sugar schedule, and
so the whole tariff, was imperilled
by the Hawaiian reciprocity treaty
aud the complications growing out
Of it, aud that an annexation treaty
would ease matters mig htily. Ac-
cordingly, on hi1 principle Of always
striving to please all, the President
ordered the treaty drawn. That
this is the explanation Of the haste
is openly asserted 10y Senators Lind
say, White, aud others.
Tue situt'ion appears to have
been this. The beet sugar growers
had the Hawaiian reciprocity treaty
at heir mercy in the Senate. They
off, red to compromise on a bounty
in addition TO he high protection
they get in the bill, but the Senate
caucus decided thai bounty would
not be popular, and therefore would
be unfair. Very welI,' said the
eetsugar Senator; ''then there
must be no more free sugar from
Hawaii" Ga the other baud, the
House wanted to continue the
reciprocity treaty admitting sugar
free; there was a prospect OF fig ht
over he matter; besides, it was not
eemly to rep al a treaty wi hout
notice and in that rough aud ready
fashion. Then The annexation treai y
was Thought OF az way out. The
| Hawaliaus and their fiiends would
thankfully drop the reciprocil y
treaty for the thing they were get
ting so much beyond their widest
hopes. Aud the beet-sIgar men
Well, it may have been thought
that they would be taken in by the
dear OLD protectiouist paradox thar
imports which would be damn
abba from a foreign country are
bene6cent hen brought from the
same country under our fig SJme
OF the beet.sugar Senators may bt
guided i'll this way, but we think
most OF Them are too hard headed
for that. They will have to be
Squared" in some way, shown in
dollars and cents that there is some
thing in it for them equally as
good" or eke they will oppose the
treaty. Whether they have been