Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1897-06-24
sHERMAN,s REPORT.

WASHINGTON, June 1s.-Accompany-
ing the presidents message and the Ha-
waiian treaty, as sent to the senate, was
the following report from Secretary
Sherman:
To the President:
The undersigned, secretary OF state has the
honor to lay before the president for Submis-
sion to the senate, should it be deemed for the
public interest to do so, q treaty signed IN the
city of Washington on the 18th inst by the I'M
dersigned and by the duly empowered repre-
sentativeS of the Republic of Hawaii. whereby
the islands constituting the said Republic OF
Hawaii and all their dependencies are fully and
absolutely ceded to the United States or Amer
lea forever.
Itdoes not seem necessary to the present pur-
pose Of the undersigned to review the 1ncloent OF
1893 when treaty Of eesSion was signed on
February Il and submitted to the sen ate oelng
subsequently withdrawn by the president on
the 9Th of March following. The negotlatlon
which has eliminated in the treaty now SUP
mitted has not been mere resumption OF the
negotiation of 1898, but was Initiated ana mas
been conducted upon independent lines Then
an abrupt revolutionary movement mad Drougne
about the reinforcement of the late queen, ana
set up, instead OF the heretofore titulary mon
archy, a provisional government Tor the con-
troll and management of public Affairs ana the
protection of the public peace, such govern
ment to exist only until terms OF union WIZ
the United States should have been negotiated
and agreed upon.
Thus seh-constituted, it's promoters claimed
for it only de facto existence until the purpose
Of annexation in which it took rise should ne
ACCOMPLISHED As time passed and the plan of
union with the United States became an uncer-
tain contingency, the organization OF the
Hawaiian commonwealth underwent necessary
changes; the temporary character OF It's nrs1
government gave place to permanent scheme
under a constitution framed by the representa-
tives of the electors Of the islands, adm1nlstra-
ton by an executive council, not Dy SUFFRAGE
but Self-appointed, succeeded by an elecllVe
and parliamentary regime; and the AFFINITY OF
the new government to hold-as the Repuo-
lie of Hawaiian independent place in the
family of sovereign States preserving
order at home and fulfilling mternatlonaI
obligations abroad, has been put to the
proof Recognized by the powers OF the eartn,
sending any receiving ENJOYS enforcing respect
for the law and maintaining peace within Its
island borders, Hawaii sends to the Onlteo
States, not commission representing sue
cesSful revolution, but the accredited pIenlpo-
Tertiary of constituted and hrmly-estaohSheo
sovereign state. However sufficient may nave
been the authority of the commissioners with
whom this government treated IN 1873, ana
however satisfied the president may nave tnen
been of their power to offer the domain OF the
Hawaiian islands to the United States the fact
remains that what they then rendered was
territory rather than established government,
a country whose administration had been cast
down by a bloodIeSs but complete revolution,
and u community in a state OF political transit
tion.
Now however the Republic of Hawaii ap-
proaches the United States as an equal and
points for its authority to that provision OF
article 32 of the constitution promulgated July
a. 1891.
THE president, with the approval Of the
cabinet, is hereby expressly authorized and
empowered to make a treaty OF political or com
mercial union between the Republic of Hawaii
and the United States of America, subject to
the ratification OF the senate"
The present negotiation is, therefore, as mas
been said. not mere renewal of the tender OF
Hawaiian territory in 1898, but has responded
to the purpose declared in the Hawaiian con-
stitution and the conference of the plenipoten-
tiaries have been directed to weighing the I'D
vantages of the political and the commercial
union alternative proposed here relatively
considering the scope and extent Thereon. IL
| soon appeared to the negotiators that purely
! commercial union on the lines OF the Ger
| man Zollverein could not satisfy the prob
| lens of the administration in Hawaii and OF
| the political ASSOCIATION between the islands
| and the United States Such commercial
union would, on the one hand, deprive the
Hawaiian government of its chief source OF
revenue from customs duties by placing its ter
ritory in a relation of free exchange with the
| territory OF the United States, its main market
| of purchase and supply. while on the other hand
| of an internal revenue system on a par with
| that of the United States, or else involve the
| organization of corresponding branch OF our
| revenue service within foreign jurisdiction.
| We have had with Hawaii since 1875 a treaty OF
| commercial union which practically assim1-
| lates the two territories with regard to many OF
| their most important productions, and excludes
| other nations from enjoyment OF Its privileges
yet although that treaty has outlived other less
| favored reciprocity schemes. Its permanency
has at times been gravely imperiled Under
| such circumstances, to enter upon the radical
| experiment of q complete commercial union BE-
| tween Hawaii and the United States, as indie
| pendently sovereign, without assurance o.
permanency and with perpetual subsection Il
| the vlcissitudes OF public sentiment in the two
| countries, was not to be thought Of
Turning then to the various practical form:
| of political union, the several phases Of pro
tectorate an offensive and defensive alliance
| and q national guarantee were passed in view
| In all these the independence OF the subordi
mated state is the distinguished feature ant
with it the assumption by the paramount stat
| of responsibility, without domain The dis
| parity of the relative interests and the distanc
separating the two countries could not fail u
| render any form of protective association eltne
| unduly burdensome illusory in its benefits
so far as the protecting state is concerned
while any attempt to counterfeit this by tr1Ou
tary dependence measure Of suZera1n con
troll would be o retrograde movement toward
feudal or colonial establishment alike mex
pedient and incompatible with our nationa
policy.
There remained, therefore, the annexation O
the islands and their complete absorption int
the polical system Of the United States as In
only solution satisfying all the given condi
lions and promising permanency and mutua
benefits The present treaty has been frame
on this basis, thus substantially reverting Z
the original proposal of 1893, and necessarily
adopting many of the features of that arrange
ment As to most Of these, the negotlatlon
have been constrained and limited by the con
stitutional powers Of the government OF tn
United States
Asin previous instances when the Unite
States has acquired territory by treaty, IL IA
| been necessary to reserve all the organl
provisions for the action OF congress II ther
| was requisite in the case OF the transfer TO In
| Tinted States of part of the domain OF tltula
sovereign, as in the cession OF louisiana o
France or Florida by Spain. or OF Alaska
Russia, it is the more requisite When the act
not cession, but union, involving the compiet
| incorporation of an alien sovereignty into Tn
body polite of the United States. For this tn
only precedent of our political history is foun'
in the uncompleted treaty concluded durin
President Grants administration, NoVemDe
90 1869, for the annexation OF the dominica
| republic to the United States
| Following that example, the treaty no
signed by the plenipotentiarles of the Unite
States and the Republic of Hawaii reserves I
the congress of the United States the determi
nation of all questions affecting the form Q
| government OF the annexed territory, the Cit
| zenship and elective franchise of its inhabitant
and the manner in which laws of the Unite
States are extended to the islands
In order that this independence of the cor
eress shall be complete and unquestionablt
and pursuant to the recognized doctrine OF put
| lie law that treaties expire with the indie