The San Francisco call., 1898-01-30
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CHICAGO, Jan. 29.-At the annual banquet of the Commercial Club, which was held tonight at the Auditorium, Professor von Hoist of Chicago Uni versity delivered the principal address of the evening, his subject being the Annexation of Hawaii" His remarks,
 which were greeted with every mani festation of approval, were as follows:
 What is the criterion for deciding
 the question Ought Hawaii be an nexed by the United States?' Not the wishes or interest of the islands. It is
 not only the right but also the inn perative duty of the American people to be guided solely by their own inter est
 '"rhe great fertility of tho islands mo- body gainsays. But this is the less reason to annex them. because all the economical advantages to be derived from them are secured already.
 "As to the military side of the ques- ton. Captain Mahan, our leading naval authority, has exploded the naive mo- ton that the islands confer by them selves control over body of water. To be of military value we must have an adequate navy and to be adequate our navy would have to be much larger when Hawaii Is ours; for 1t would have to protect not only our coasts and our shipping but also Hawaii, which would surely be a principal object of attack in war with first class naval power. Now we are practically invulnerable. Is 1t rational to acquire without any need spot at which an enemy can hit us infinitely harder than anywhere else? We would annex not a source of strength, but of weakness. And it would be a step that could not be re- traced. To make the best of a bad job would be all that is left to us.
 That we act under compulsion. be- cause some other power-probably either England or Japan-would take the islands if we refused the gift. is an assertion which is not and cannot be substantiated, as 1t has never before been substantiated. though the cry has been raised every time we were after some territory. We can at least afford to think enough Of our power. as we'll as of our dignity. not to let the cry, 'England,' have the effect upon us that the red cloth has upon the bull Ever since 1925 the declaration of the United States that they will not allow or permit certain territories to be taken by any other power has proved a sufficient curb upon the covetousness of the leading states of Europe. Does 1t then permit of any doubt that their peremptory Hands off!' would now be respected?
 An even graver consideration than those mentioned thus far is that the annexation of Hawaii would not mean the annexing merely of Hawaii. We would annex temptation. and it Is be- cause of this that annexation is so enthusiastically urged upon us-the temptation to annex other outlying territories and the temptation to pass behind us the warning counsels of Washington in his farewell address. and enter upon a new era as to our International policy.
 "Weighty as all these objections are they dwindle into insignificance com pared with the two that have thus far not even been alluded to. In the Dec laration of Independence the nation has officially based it's existence upon the principle that governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed If annexation is ef- fected in the manner proposed this fundamental principle will be tram pied under foot. the unanimous ratifi- cation of the treaty by the Hawaiian Senate notwithstanding. For the over whelming majority of the population has virtually had no voice in institut- ing this government. though now the lawful government. it actually repre- sents only less than 4O00 out of about 110,000 Even if the remaining 10s. 900 were to pray as ardently as the 40O0 for annexation we ought to shut our door against them. because according to the unanimous emphatic testimony of the small minority, posing as the Hawaiians, the 106. 900 are utterly and permanently unfit for self government. which Is more than the life breath which is the very structural principle of this republic"
 The resolutions by. which. the club de-