The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1899-12-07
THE LAND ORDER.
Continued from Page g.

ter continues. for all commercial pur-
poses; but full sovereignty, for the ex-
ercise Of it. does not pass to the nation
to which il is transferred until actual
delivery. But it is also true that the
exercise of sovereignty by the ceding
country ceases, except for strictly mu-
nicipal purposes. especially for grant
ing lands. And for the same reason in
both cases: because. after the treaty is
made. there is not in either the union
OF possession and the right TO the ter
ritory which nus concur to give Pile
mum dominium ct utile. To give that.
there must be the jus in rem and the
jus in re, or what is called in the COM
mon law OF England the juris ct seisi-
nae conjunctio. This general law of
property applies 20 the right of terri
tory no less than TO other rights, and
all writer's upon the law of nations
have been conf0rmable 10 this princi-
pie. ~Puffendorf par BaTbeyraf, lib. 4,
c. 9, sec. s, note . Davis VS.. The Po-
lice Jury of COncordia, 9 Howard. 2S9.)
The reasons for this doctrine, as Civ
en- by the courts, are that if the ceding
power were to be permitted to make
9NNASS StAAN SCAA~CC-4C1S VI dnd DIlAi-
leges, and franchises, between the late
OF the signature of the treaty and the
day of ratification. the concessionarv
might be deprived of a very valuable
portion of the estate which it had con-
tracted TO receive. So far does the
doctrine go that il is declared that be-
fore the signature OF the treaty but aft
er negotiation has begun for cession of
| territory oran~- ~ 1.nJ rar-N+ -
made in it without being subject to
confirmation by the sovereign to whom
transfer is 10 be made. 1t is too mani
fest to require anything more than
statement that if a sovereign could ex-
erciSe the power of alienation of the
public domain after l. treaty had been
signed and before its ratification, he
might change materially the relations
which the people Of the ceded territory
had to each other. and establish a diff
ferent condition than that which had
been contemplated when the agree
ment was definitely concluded. THE
law of nations does not recognize in a
nation ceding a territory the continu-
ance of supreme power W it after the
treaty has been signed, or any other
exercise of sovereignty than that which
l. LCCVSSdAN y SO[ldl OAutI anu u
commercial purposes and to keep the
cession in an unaltered value until a
delivery of it has been made" Davis
VS.. Police Jury OF Conc0rdia, supra.)
| do o think that the difference in
the method of cessiOn e~mployedsin this
case requires a different rule of inter-
probation from that which would have
been employed if the cessiOn had been
hr .Da+r- TIL 4-@ 49, 49, .zJ 81
cable in the one case are equally APP
pl:cable in the other. The language of
the resolution is in the present tense.
1t declares that the said cession is ac-
cepted. ratified. and confirmed. and
that the said Hawaiian Islands and
their dependencies be, and they are
hereby, annexed as a part of the terri
tory of the United States INC are
subject to the sovereign dominion
thereof, and that all and singular the
property and rights hereinbefore men
toned are vested in the United States
of America"
This resolution follows a preamble
in which it is solemnly stated that the
Government of the Republic of Ha-
wall had, in due form, signifed its
consent, III the ann provided by its
Constitution, to cede absolutely and
without reserve 10 the United States
of America all rights Of sovereignty,
etc. If the ceremonies that We're per-
formed on the 18th Of August, 1898,
were necessary as e~videncing the>rati-
fication OF the agreement between the
two Governments, and if the Govern
ment of Hawaii can be considered TO
have participated in those ceremonies,
then. unquestionably. their action made
the effect of the resolution relate back
to the daIe of its adoption and required
hat it should be given effect in ac-
cordance with its language, which re-
lated to the date of its adoption rather
than to the date Of the subsequent GER
emonie. Nothisng is said in the r%esolu-
ton as TO any formal delivery or any |
further solemnity for the purpose Of
transferring absolutely n title to the
United States. The resolution assumes
that the annexation was complete with
the adoption of the resolution by which
the assent of the United States to the
offer of the Republic of Hawaii was
given.
therefore advise you that in my
opinion with respect to the public
the resolution took effect as of
the date Of its approval, to wit, July
Z, 1898.
Third. The Special Agent of the Ha-
waiian Government refers to certain
correspondence between Mr.. Sewall, the
Special Agent of the United States at
Honolulu. and the Department of State
at Washington. as establishing a just1-
for the exercise of the power
sale by the Government of Hawaii
subsequently TO the annexation. At
the request Of the Hawaiian Govern
ment. the following question was sub
mitted TO the Department of State on
August 6. 1898:
Should not President Dole continue
to execute land patents and deeds in
the ordinary dealing with Government
lands under the Hawaiian land laws?'
To which it was answered by Mr.. Sew
all, in conformity with his i%nstruc-
tons, as follows:
Resolution provides that land laws
of the United States shall not apply to