Birmingham state herald., 1897-06-18


 the full message sent to the senate today s. by President Mckinley accompanying the tHawaiian treaty: N .To the Senate of the United States: " d, "I transmit herewith to the senate in ord:r thut, af.er due consideration, the constitutional function of advice and con- atssent may be exercised by that body, e,f treaty for the annexation of the republic of HawGii to the United States, signed ,ls in this by the plenipotentiaries of the ,5 party on the 18th of June instant. r For better understanding of the sub i iject, 1 transmit in addition a report of c1 the secretary of state briefly reviewing the negotia tions which have led to this sg special nesult. The incorporation of the Hawaiian islands into The body polite -sflof the United Sta es is the necessary and P fitting sequel to the change of events 3g which from very elarly period of our his : si tory has controlled ',he intercourse and | prescribed the association of the United Fi''States and the Hawaiian isalnds {.
 "The predominance of American inter s eJts in that neighboring terIdtory was first asserted in 1920 by sending to the z rlislands a representative agent of the. United States. It found further expres-. 1 sion by the sigma ure of a treaty of; st frisndship, commerce and navigation 17e with the king in 1926, the first interna- tional compact negotiated by Hawaii. It {. was signally announced in 1843, when the a intervention of the United States caused 0the British goveinms nt to disavow the seizure of the Sandwich islands by a Brit ish naval commander and to recognize q. them by the treaty an independent state, renouncing forsver any purpose tsof annexing the islands or asserting a protectorate over them. In 1851 the ces- sion of the Hawaiian kingdom to the United States was formally offered and although not then accepted, this govern i, ment procalimed 1t its duty to preserve <, alike the honor and dignity of the United faE ftOs of the Hawaiian islands From this time until the outbreak of the war in 1861 the policy of the United s. a.tes toward Hawaii and the Hawaiian sovereignty, towards the United States was exempii- fled by continued negotiations for annex al5ion or for reserved commercial union. The latter alternative was at length ac- compished by tlhe reciprocity Treaty of 1875, provisions of which were renewed and eXpounded by the convention of 1884, embracing the perpetual cession to the United SI.ates of the harbor of Pearl river in the island of Oahu
 In 1888 proposal for joint guaranty of the neutrality of the hawaiian islands by the United States, Germany and GreaI Britain, was declined on the announced ground that the relations of the United States towards the islands were suffi, clent ca to the end in view. In brief, froDl I820 to 1893, dhe course of the United e5tates towards the Hawaiian islands has consistently favored their autonomy to the exclusion of all foreign influences save oup own, to the extent of ipholding eventual annexation as the receesary outcome of that policy. v
 Not only Is the union of Hawaiian ter ritory by the United States no new state- ment, but 1t Is the inevitable conse- quence Of the relations steadfastly main tained with the islands for three-quar- ters of century. Its accomplishment. despite successive denials and postpone- ments, has been largely a question of time. While it's failure in 1893 may not be cause of legislation, it is certainly proof of the disinterestedness of the United States, the delay of four, years having abundantly sufhced to establish the right and the ability of the republic of Hawaii to enter as a sovereign con- tractant upon a conventional union with the United States, thus realizing a pur- pose held by the Hawaiian people and proclaimed by successive Hawaiian gov ernors through some twenty years of their virtual dependence upon the be- neyolent protection of the United States. Under such circumstances annexation is not change, it is a consummation.
 The reports of the secretary of state exhibits the course of the recent negotia- tion and the features of the treaty itself. The details of incorporation are neces- sariiy left to the wisdom of the congress, ard cannot doubt when the function of the constitutional treaty making power shall have been accomplished the duty of the national legislature in the case will be performed with the largest re- gard for the interests of this rich insu- lar domain and for the welfare of the in- habitants thereof.
 (Signed) WILLIAM M'KINLEY
 Executive Mansion, Washington, D. C.,
 June 16, 1897.
 Accompanying the presidents message was the following report from Secretary Sherman:
 To the President: The undersigned sec- retary of state has the honor to lay be- fore the president for submission to the senate, should 1t be deemed for the public inl crest to do so, treity signed in the city of Washington on the 18th inst, by the undersigned and by the duly empow- cred representatives of the republic of Hawaii, whereby the islands constituE- ing the said republic and all their de- pendencies are fnlly and absolutely ceded to the United States of America forever. It does not seem necessary no present pu.poses of the undersigned to review 'uhe incident of 1893, when a similar trealty of csssion was signed. on February II, and submitted to the senate, buI- subsequently wtihdra wn by i,Ihe president on the 9th of March, following. The negotiations which eliminated in the treaty now sub- mitted has not been mere resumption of the negotiations of 1893, but was in itafed and conducted upon independent lines. The abrupt revolutionary move ment had brought about the dsthrone- ment of the late queen and set up instead of a heretofore titular monarchy a pro- visionel government for the control and ma ma gem@nt of public affairs and the protection of the public peace, such gov ernment to exist only until the terms of union with the United sl5ates should have bean negotiated and agreed upon. Thus self-consti mted. Its promoters claimed for it only de facto existence unl-fl the pur- pose of annexa ton in which 1t took rise should be accomplished. As tins passed and the plan of union with the Uni ed States became am unoeiain contingency the Hawaiian commonwealth underwent necss ssany changes. The temporary char acter of its first government gave place to a permanent staIte under the. corlstitu- tion framed by the represen ntative electors of sihe island, administered by an execu- tive council chosen by suffrage, but self appointed was succeeded by an elective and parliamentary regime ard the ability of the new government to iaoid-the re- pubIfc- of Hawaii--an Independent place in the family of soyeneign s.ates, pre-