The herald., 1898-12-13
FIRST ANNEXATION ACT
READY FOR CONSIDERATION BY
CONGRESS
A Question Easier of Solution Than
the Future of Other New
Territory

WASHINGTON, Dec 6.-(Special Cor
respondence to The Herald). The Hawaiian
bill has been completed and sent to the
president, who will consider it and then for
ward it to congress. In view OF the fact
that it is the first measure of the kind for
thirty years and is also the first of the new
annexation acts, considerable interest at
taches to its provisions. 1t has not yet
been made public, but certain things IN re-
gard to it are nevertheless known.
1t may be positively stated that 1t pro-
poses no open door policy and no tariff be-
tween the United States and Hawaii. The
islands will become an actual part OF the
United States and absolute free trade will
be inaugurated with them. For teh rest,
the laws of Hawaii will be changed as little
as possible. The commissioners report will
disappoint those who hoped TOR new dis
pensation and a new gospel. With the eX-
ception of cooie restrictions and changes IN
tariff, the alterations will practically not eX-
ist. Hawaii" said a member OF the COM
mission today, "has body of law that has
been devised by Anglo-Saxons like ourselves,
and that has been trimmed and pared and
adjusted to the conditions existing there.
1t would be presumptuous to think that we
could improve on it at such short notice.
Our aim has been to see with how little
change we could get along, and not with
how much"
Some very distinguished Republicans are
still not determined in their minds as to
the right of the United States to maintain
tariffs against its colonies after annexation
These gentlemen, however, will not air their
doubts for publication at the present time,
4o vrait for the fut1rn tO pIIIdp
them. They all agree, however that the
colonies may be held by the military until
the president gets ready to turn them over
to congress. In this connection precedents
are being looked up by the international
lawyers in the state department.
One of the first of these is that of Flor
ida. OF the cession Of that territory, Whar
ton saws that it "was held by the secretary
of the treasury, whose opinion was sane
toned by the attorney general, that under
our revenue laws its ports must be consid-
cred as foreign ports until they were estab-
lished as domestic by act of congress.
Texas was speedily malgamated, just as
Hawaii will be, because it had been or
ganized by Americans, and its laws already
approximated to our own. But in Louisi-
ana California and the rest of the Mexican
conquests, the movements were much more
gradual and the military occupation lasted
much longer, during which they were
treated as foreign countries. 1t follows that
Porto Rico and the Philippines will not
become domestic territory until congress
acts. How long it will be expedient for
that body to defer action is another qrIes-
ton.
THE VOLUNTEER ARMY.
IT is just beginning to dawn on congress
that the presidents message contains
yelled threat not to muster out the volun-
teers until force of regulars has been au-
thorized to take their place. Doubtless the
idea is that the friends OF the volunteers
will bring pressure to bear on congress and
hasten their return to their homes and
work.
The threat is contained in the recon-
mendations for the increase of the regular
army. The president says: at is my prr-
pose to muster out the entire volunteer
army as soon as the congress shall provide