The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1897-06-17
NO ANNEXATION FOR US NOW.

| Senator's will pass upon the proposf'ioi'
of annexation, they will be largely IN
auenced by public opinion which wlll
make itself felt in many ways.
There are no two opinions ms to the rec
essity of preserving coaling station nj
Hawaii and of preventing its occupancy
or domination by any other country
| Heretofore. in self protection, the unlted
STATES. while exercising no jurisdiction
over the island, has joined with other ma
tons in keeping its harbors free.
Under Harrisons administration Il
great fright was manufactured because
of the unfounded rumor that, unless tins
country annexed the island, Great Bri-
tain would do so. Under this sham fear,
treaty of annexation was prepared ana
was pending in the Senate when Mr.
Cleveland withdrew the treaty, sent out
Paramount Blount who tore down the
American flag That action of Mr.. Blount
and the course pursued by the Cleveland
administration met with no more favor
than Harrison's plan to annex the island.
The act of Mr. Blount was regarded as
violent and unseemly reversal of the for
mer radical and dangerous policy.
The proposition to annex Hawaii is the
legitimate precursor of the proposition to
annex Cuba and other islands in the
Nc
reaching and is radical divergence
from the fixed policy of our government.
Territorial acquisition may be wise.
Great men have advocated it, Jefferson
believing that Cuba ought to be a part
of America. There are two sides to 1T.
We believe the safety and peace of the
American government will be threatened
if not destroyed by territorial acqulsl-
ton: that it will bring a train of res
possibilities we are not prepared to
meet; that it will add an element wholly
foreign to our population; and that it will
embroil us in a thousand difficulties.
We have no sympathy with the top
lofty notions of Cleveland that we had
wronged the negro queen of Hawaii, and
that it was our duty to right the suppos-
ed wrong. We believe that we ought to
rejoice at the deposition of queens and
the destruction of the divine right
''humbug everywhere-in Hawaii as well
as in England. Hawaii is now we'll
governed. American influence predomin
ates. The worked-up scare that Japan
is going to annex it if the United States
does not, is more silly than the bug-a-
So long as we can maintain as satisfac-
tory a status there as we have at pre-
sent, annexation would be a blunder e.
quail to a crime. We have debt enough
to carry without adding the four million
dollar debt due by Hawaii to our indeb-
tedness, as is proposed in the treaty.
In order to give the treaty now pend
ing in the Senate in a succinct way, we
append the synopsis of the treaty pre-
pared by the Washington Post, as fol-
lows:
ABSTRACT OF THE TREATY.
1.-THE preamble of the new Hawaiian
treaty is much briefer than the introduc-
tory paragraph of the Harrison annexa-
ton treaty. 1t calls attention to the
geographical proximity of Hawaii to US
and the preponderant share of interests
possessed by citizens of the latter gov
eminent i'm the islands, and especially
the desire expressed by Hawaii to enter
the Union. To the end that the desire
of the Hawaiian government may be
consummated the high contracting powers
have conferred all power and authority
upon their respectively appointed pleni-
potentiaries, to wit:
The President of the United States Of
America, John Sherman, Secretary of
State Of the United States; and
The President and government of Ha-
waii, Francis NJ. Hatch, Envoy Extra
ordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary
to the United States, and Lorrin A.
Thurston and w. A. Kinney, Special
Commissioners Plenipotentiary.
Article / is, with slight exception,
the same as that Of the old Harrison
treaty. The article of the new convention
as amended reads:
'"The government Of the Hawaiian
Islands hereby cedes, from the date OF
the exchange Of the ratifications Of this
treaty, absolutely and without reserve
to the United States forever all rights of
sovereignty Of whatsoever kind in and
over the Hawaiian Islands and their de-
penoies, renouncing in favor of the Uni
ted States every sovereign right of which
as an independent nation it is now pos
sessed; and henceforth said Hawaiian
Islands shall become and be an integral
part of the territory Of the United
States"
Article 2 is practically the same as
the article in the convention negotiated
by the Harrison administration. This is
the text Of the article:
''The government Of the Hawaiian Is
lands also cedes and transfers to the
United States the absolute fee and own
ership of all public, government or crown
lands, public buildings or edifices, ports,
| 4 sc<xo+ tfo, mo