The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1897-02-01
.SCRYMSER CABLE
Possibility Of an Attempt to Land
Without Permission.
RECIPROCITY AND PEARL HARBOR
Prof. w. D. Alexander
Furnishes Hints.
Certain Privileges Which Should
End With Abrogation
of Treaty.

MR.. EDITOR:-The recently pub
lished letter by Hon. Godfrey Rhodes
has called public attention to the cir
cumstances of the concession to the
Government of the United States of
certain privileges in the harbor of
Pearl River.
At the same time there are some
writer's in the United States, of whom
ex-senator Edmunds is one, who take
the ground that the abrogation of the
Treaty of Reciprocity would not affect
the article which grants TO the United
States certain exclusive rights in Pearl
River. The leading editorial in Har-
per's Weekly of the eth inst assumes
as much.
A candid examination, however, of
the Supplementary Convention rati-
ned in November, 1887, will effectual-
ly dispose of any such preposterous
claim.
In December, 1884, a supplementary
convention to extend the duration of
the Reciprocity Treaty for seven years
from the date of the exchange of rati-
fications, was negotiated and duly
signed by the representatives of the
Two governments concerned. But it
seems to have been found to be diff
cult to secure it's ratification by vote
of two-thirds of the u. S. Senate, and
finally in the year 1887 the famous
Pearl River article was inserted in it
as an amendment, during a secret ses-
sion of the Senate, at the instance of
Senator Edmunds. This action might
have been criticised as an invasion by
the Senate of the province of the Exc
cutive. No opportunity had been
afforded to the two governments con-
cerned for mutual consultation or con-
sideration of its wording.
Nevertheless, President Cleveland
accepted the convention as it had pass
ed the Senate, and it had to be rati-
fed in that form or not at all. Before
transmitting it to his government,
Hon. HAP. Carter, the Hawaiian Min
lister, very properly addressed a letter
to Secretary Bayard, in which he made
known to the Government of the Unit
ed States the understanding under
which the Hawaiian Government
would consent to ratify the convention
as amended by the Senate, and asked
for an expression of the views of the
United States as to the construction
to be put upon the interpOlated arti-
Gle.
In the first place, he held that the
jurisdiction of the Hawaiian Govern
ment over Pearl River was left I'M
touched by the article referred to
above. This point may come up again
in connection with the proposal of the
cable company to lay cable
to Pearl Harbor without asking per-
Of hn
In the second place, he held that the
privileges conveyed by the additional
article would be conterminous with the
Treaty of which it formed part. AS
Minister Carter well said: THE only
excuse for the insertion of such an
article into a treaty Of this nature
would be it's relevancy to the privi-
Ieges stipulated for in the original
Convention of 1875, to which this is
supplementary and the duration OF
which this Convention is intended to
limit and define.
NO separate single article or part
of treaty can be held to have con-
tinuing power apart from the rest of
the treaty unless provided for in spe-
cific terms. The supplementary pro-
visions and the original provisions
which they affect, are necessarily
merged into one instrument to be dealt
with thenceforth as a whole.
TT could not have been expected in
the Senate that Hawaii would consent
to a perpetual grant of the privilege
sought in return for a seven years, ex-
tension of the treaty of 1875, especial
" in view of the danger of a material
lessening Of its advantages to Hawaii
by changes in the tariff laws of the
United States. and it must be apparent
that if any different term of duration
was intended it would have been sti-
pulated for. as il cannot be thought
that the Senate had any other intent
than that plainly set forth.
Therefore the conclusion which l
have reached, and which l think is the
obvious conclusion TO be drawn from
the words of the interpolated article.
is that It does not and is not intended
to invade or diminish in any way the
autonomous jurisdiction of Hawaii,