The Independent. [volume] (Honolulu, H.I.) 1895-1905, 1897-12-02
No Native Plebiscite.


upon the scheme to parade the Ha-
waiian aborigines against annexation
as means of convincing him Of
"the terror of his ways" by saying:
Il do not think that the United
States Government should seek to
ascertain the sentiment OF the
native population on the question
of annexation. We did not consult
the natives OF Alaska when we ac-
CURED that country and annexed it
to the United States. We can give
the Hawaiians good government.
1t is not empty talk or boast to
say that we have the best govern
ment in the world; it is an acknowl-
edged fact. 1t has never been our
policy to consult the wishes OF the
natives when we found it desirable
to annex territory"
There is great deal of senti
mentality wasted, which might bet
Ger be saved for elegiac verse, upon
consulting the natives of Hawaii
about the future of their islands"
In point OF fact they have no islands.
To-day, fewer in numbers than the
resident Japanese, they do not own
one per cent of the soil Of the coun-
try, their chiefs of long ago, who
did own all by the strict letter Of
tribal law, having sold and coded it
to the whites. Literally speaking,
the kanakas are people without a
country, and they owe to the kind
ness and tolerance of the whites
what comforts and immunities they
enjoy. To that, also, they are in
debted for the privilege they had
for half century of playing at
monarchy and government; and
they would yet be playing at it but
for the astonishing reckless ness of
the late Queen in announcing that
she would no longer observe the
constitution she had sworn to de-
fend and which was the only guaran-
tee of the suffrage, of property
rights and of domestic peace. By
supporting her in that act of usur-
patton, so destructive TO good gov
ernment, the kanskas forfeited their
sentimental claims upon the politi-
cal consideration of the white own
ers Of the soil, and as they had no
other claims to fall back upon they
became little more than wards to
be cared for by guardian. That is
their actual status now. They are
the wards of the Dole Republic and
the fact that, like minor children,
they do not know what is good for
them, and are most disposed to
complain OF tnat which is best they
should have, is the one that accounts
for their present political attitude.
The policy of ignoring the views
of a native population, which Sen
ator Morgan cites as the rule which
the United States has always OBJ
served in adding new territory to
the national domain, is and always
has been the general policy OF civil
ization. Not only would the whites
be out of Alaska il native plebiscite
had been the precedent condition
of their entrance there, but they
would be outside the limits of the
western hemisphere. North and
South America are what they have
become to the cause of human pro-
gress because the aboriginal natives
were made to stand aside while the
white annexationists took over land
and sovereignty. Australia, Poly
nesia and Micronesia would be the
homes OF the bushmen and cannibals
only if Great Britain had suited her
policies to native prejudice. Civil
ization demands the use of all the
soil and sayagery must make way
for it. There can be no reversion.
airy process.
II the poor kanakas had the capa
city of thought they would see that
their own interests are bound up il