The evening times., 1898-05-03
HAWAII NOW GREATLY NEEDED
Dewey's Position a strong Argu-
ment i'm Favor of Annexation.

| Commodore Dewey's victory off Manila
is the subject of serious consideration "a
the White House and Navy Department.
| articularly in reference to the supply
of coal Commodore Dewey's fleet has Oh
| hand.
When the fleet left Hong Kong for Ma
Mia the coal bunkers Of every vessei
were filled to their utmost capacity with
fuel. In addition a collier with carso
| Of 500 tons of coal accompanied tine
feet. The question under consideration.
now is how much Of that coal suppl!
has been exhausted. and how long tn.
remaining quantity will last the admira
in the event of progracted blockade al
Manila.
Ii was during the consideration of thu
subject that the question of anneXi.
Hawaii forced itself to the front. Sena
! tor Lodge of Massachusetts, Senate.
| Frye of Maine and Senator Gray of De-
aware. three of the ablest and best-in-
| formed members of the Commit zee OF.
Foreign Relations. have discussed the
proposition with Secretary Long. Sena
tor Lodge said he regretted very much
the failure of the United States TO an
mex Hawaii several years ago.
We never needed ii as much as W,
need it today" the senator declared. at
would be an invaluable piece of proper
~ at this moment, and in my opinion
the United States should not hesitate "a
moment longer about accepting gen
erous and thoroughly business-like prop
osition of the Hawaiian government
Some of the wise men of this gem
Grafton. continued Senator Lodge,
were shrewd enough to appreciate the
necessity OF the acquisition of Hawaii by
the United States. If our people who
are opposed TO annexation would throw
aside political and personal considerations
and look at the situation from an inter-
national standpoint, and as a plain, prac-
tical. business proposition, they would
insist on the immediate ratification Of
the treaty now pending before the Senate
Take the existing conditions into con-
sideration and any reasonable man will
be struck at once with the importance Of
the United States having "A base OF sup
plies in the Pacific Ocean. Here is our
gallant Asiatic squadron fighting success
fully TO uphold the national standard in
that far-away Eastern country. We have
no means of knowing at the present mo-
ment what injuries our ships and crew
may have sustained in yesterdays con-
1ict. We are also in the dark as to the
supply OF coal the fleet has at its dispO-
sition. With all the foreign ports closed
against US our only recourse is to ship a
co3l supply from San Francisco.
How different would be the condition
If Hawaii had been annexed to the United
States before this war with Spain came
on. With cable communication be-
tween Hawaii and San Francisco we
could relieve Commodore Deweys fleet
from any embarrassment it may be sub
jectcd to for the want of coal Consider
the difference in the number OF days il
takes to go from San Francisco To Ma
Mia. and that Hawaii is more than half
way between those two points, and il will
be at once apparent that Hawaii would
be of inestimaNie value as a piece of the
United States territory"
The question Of anneNing Hawaii is
likely to be revived in the Senate. and
the reasons set forth by Senator Lodge
viii be one of the strongest arguments in
its favor.