The Independent. [volume] (Honolulu, H.I.) 1895-1905, 1897-07-26
Continued from Ist page.)

lcan constitution. they were
immediately adjacent to her exist
ing territories, they could be easily
held and developed, and no con-
siderable foreign power had any in.
terest in them With Hawaii the
conditions are very different. The
islands lie in the middle OF the Pa
cifie couple of thousand miles from
the American shores. They are in
habited by mixed population of
natives, Asiatics, and men OF Eu-
ropean blood. OF the latter the
Americans are the most numerous,
but all the white men together,
other than the Portuguese laborers,
are largely outnumbered by the
Japanese, the Hawaiians and pro-
badly the Chinese. In 1893 there
were said to be only 1900 registered
American and European voters, as
against $500 natives and half-castes.
The difficulties of admitting such
country to the position either of State
or Of Territory in the american
Union are Obvious, and 1t aUiH be of
much interest to see by What devices 1t 10
sought to overcome them. Possibly the
islands may be constituted an sun
organized territory and administered
bu Federal officials after the fashion of
Alaska and Indian Territory, but the
conditions in Hawaii differ ,oidely from
those which e1i8t IN either of these re-
gions, and IL MAY be added that most of
the administrative Uork hitherto done
by Federal officials amongst dependent
populations has not been above re-
proach.
But the difficulties likely to be
created for America by the annexa-
ton OF Hawaii are by no means con.
fined to the domestic and coastitu-
tional order. Disguise ii under what-
ever constitutional formulas americans
may, Hawai for practical purposes
aciH be the first foreign dependency of
the United States. With the acquisi-
ton of foreign dependencies comes the
necessity Of a nsaV and serious foreign
policy-a foreign policy which cannot
in all cases be determined By an un-
limited application Of the Monroe doc
trine. The very circumstances which
appear to have led up to the deci-
sion of President Mckinley show
that the rights of empire beyond
the seas cannot be assumed without
assuming the duties of empire as
we'll. Hitherto America has made
it cardinal feature OF her foreign
policy to refrain from entangling
engagements beyond the borders of
the American continent. She has
withstood the temptations to COL
onial expansion to which other
Powers have succumbed, or she has
managed to crafty them in terri
tories adjacent to her own. By the
annexation Of Hawaii she becomes a
colonization Po,uer aOith the duty Of adj
ministering and Of defending an isolat-
ed group Of islands in the heart of the
Pacific. Will she pursue the course
on which she has now entered'
Will the annexation OF Hawaii be
followed by other annexations as
some Americans perhaps desire and
as others apprehend7 Notifications
deep and Jar-reaching IN the external
relations Of the Republic mast inevit-
ably succeed her adoption on any con-
siderable scale Of colonial policy.
Measures mast be taken TO protect the
mew possessions in case Of need diplom-
atically and By force Of arms, and these
measures must react directly and strong
ly upon the internal affairs of the
United States and upon the attitude
which her people habitually assume to-
aUards the larger problems of interna-
tional politics. President Mckinley
tries very hard in his Message to
the Senate to make out that the
case OF Hawaii is wholly exceptional
aud that, in fact, in this instance
annexation is not annexation at all,