Mexico weekly ledger., 1898-07-21

cruel surgical operations and physical
! mutilations for a species of slavery ten
times worse than death itself.
Protest Of Organized Labor.
Perhaps it may quicken the con
sciences, open the eyes and dampen the
ardor of certain jingoes here to know
that organized labor is against this an
nexation scheme. This element, which
justly looks to its own interests, and
which is more and more every year find
ing ways to make its influence felt, op-
poses this Hawaiian job under the i'm
pulse of self preservation, which has
been wisely defined as ''the first law of
nature" The labor organizations of
California, being nearest the scene, be-
ing at the point of earliest contact and
being the first who would suffer from
competition with cody slave labor,
were very properly the first to sound
the alarm. They were soon REINFORCED
by an earnest protest from the Ameri-
can Federation of Labor, which demon
strates that workingmen throughout the
land sympathize with their imperiled
brethren on the Pacific slope.
The federation places its strong reso-
luton against annexation IN the ground
that it "would be tantamount to the ad-
mission of a slave state, the representa-
tlves Of which would necessarily work
and vote for the enslavement of labor
in general"
Members with jingo tendencies will
be serving their country and perhaps
themselves by giving heed to this note
of warning, thereby escaping the wrath
to come.
Against the Will Of Hawaii.
The cornerstone of this republic is
the proposition enunciated by Thomas
Jefferson, the chief priest, apostle and
prophet of constitutional liberty
Governments derive their just powers
from the consent of the governed"
II that proposition is not true, then
the American Revolution vas a o
strous crime; Washington, Warren,
Montgomery, Greene, Marion and all
that band of heroes were turbulent
traitors to King George III; John Han
cock, old John Adams, Patrick Henry,
Richard Henry Lee and their congress
sional oompeers pestilent disturbers of
the peace, and all the blood shed in u
two wars with Great Britain was wan
ton and wicked waste. If that PROPOSE
ton is not true, William Mckinley is
this day exercising functions usurped
from Victoria Guelph, and this body is
composed of mouthy brawlers doing un-
lawfully those things which the English
house of commons has the sole right to
do.
IF that proposition is not true, you,
Mr.. Speaker, are not speaker de jure,
but only speaker de facto, interfering
pro tanto with the prerogatives of the
speaker of the English house Of com
mons, Mr. Gully, who is the grandson
of a professional pugilist.
This annexation scheme is in fragrant
violation of that basic principle of u
republic, for many thousand Hawaiians
mo than the entire male adult popu-
lation-have solemnly protested against
the sale and delivery Of their country to
us by a little gang of adventures who,
claiming to be the whole thing, are Of
fering to us a property of which they
robbed the rightful owners And now
America, which has been solemnly de-
clared by the supreme court to be a
Christian land, is to be made the re-
ceiver of these stolen Hawaiian goods.
If any ordinary citizen receives stolen
goods, he commits a p~enitentiary Of
Tense. Wherein, I beg leave to inquire,
is the difference of principle in stealing
ordinary property and in stealing an is
land or a group of islands or in receiv-
ing them after they are stolen? The
only justification lies in the thievish
theory that if the theft is big enough
1t ceases to be a crime and takes on the
character and complexion of a virtue,
and the perpetrators thereof, instead of
being consigned to the striped uniforms,
cramped quarters, meager diet and hard
labor of felons, are to be hailed as
statesmen ana rewarded with the plau-
dts of a grateful people-a theory
which, I regret to say, is growing in
this country.
A Fair Proposition.
But the jingoes tell us that this pro-
test of the Hawaiians is all bogus, got
up by designing knaves, and that
the Hawaiians are falling over each
other in their eagerness for annexation.
If this is true, why not submit this an
nexation scheme to a popular vote in
Hawaii, as was done in the case of
Texas, and which was provided for in
the treaty once negotiated with Santo
Domingo, but which happily was never
ratified nr haun n DJahic,{a me- No
poleon III was in the habit of doing
whenever he felt like it or wished to
cure himself of ennui produced by wear
ing his uncle's heavy crown, which was
too large for him? That would be fair |
and would remove one difficulty. Ger
tainly Mr.. Sanford B. Dole could guar
antee that every vote in favor of annex
alton would be counted at least once.
Does he or do his sponsors here shrink
from the test of Hawaiian manhood
suffrage or that proposition?
If a fair election ON that proposition
cannot be had, what assurance have we |
that fair elections can be had hereafter
If we annex these islands? If the Ha- |
waiians are not fit to vote on a PROPOSE
ton of vital interest to themselves, who |
will have the %effrontery to say that they
are fit to vote for all coming time on
propositions of vital interest to US and
to our posterity?
If governments do derive their just !
powers from the consent of the govern
ed, how does it happen that the Hawai-
ans are to have no voice in a perform
which transforms their country
from an independent nation into a mere
outpost of this republic?
Let him answer who can.
This submission to a vote of the Ha-
waiian male adults of a proposition de-
cisive of their destiny ought to be in
sisted on by congress as a condition preo-
edent to even considering annexation.
This is the American method of pro-
method bottomed on the
principles of wisdom, justice
and liberty.
We should demand a free ballot and
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