The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1900-03-13
HAWAII IN THE SENATE
Continued from Page H.

that, and / am not asking the Senator
to discuss IL, Mr.. President / am SIN
ply trying 10 have him reconcile his
present attitude with his past attitude.
or to acknowledge that he was wrong
once and has got right.
Mr.. Platt of Connecticut. / do not
need to do either, Mr.. President.
Mr. Tillman. l think the Senator
does.
Mr.. PIatt of Connecticut 1t seemed
to be. and I believe was, a necessity at
the time Of reconstruction that we
should enfranchise the black popula-
ton and give them an opportunity to
vote. Having done that, having con-
ferred the right of suffrage upon them,
we insist that it should not be taken
away.
Now we come back to the question of
Hawaii
Mr.. Tillman. Right there, if the
Senator will permit me. Does he object
to the franchise being taken away from
the blacks under constitutional meth
DDS?
Mr.. Platt of Connecticut. l am
afraid you propose to take it away by
unconstitutional methods.
Mr.. Tillman. Do you object to the
white people of the South having the
same rights to govern their affairs and
maintain their civilization that you in
sist the white population in Hawaii
shall have?
MIR. PIatt of Connecticut. / insist
that the white people of the South shall
observe the privileges We have cOnferr-
ed upon the black people of the South,
and which one of the constitutional
amendments insists that they shall OBJ
serve. But l beg the Senator's pardon.
| will discuss this question with him
at some other time, and it will take
| good while to discuss the question the
| Senator is now raising.
| Mr.. 1lllman. My friend. if you had
not brought my name into the discus
| sion and said that / would object to
J the attitude you had taken, | certainly
would not have interrupted you. But
| | thought you were challenging me to
/ discuss this question, and | am ready
to meet you here or anywhere else on
the question as to whether the Southern
white people shall have the same rights
/ you are giving to the white people in
( Hawaii.
/ Mr.. Platt of Connecticut. We are
\ dealing with a new question; we are
| dealing with the question in the new
possessions which we have acquired
outside of what has hitherto been our
| boundaries. in the islands of the sea,
! as to what kind of government we
shall provide for those possessions. 1t
/ is a new departure in our history. We
/ all know that the decision of that ques-
! ton requires the closest and most care
| full thought and examination.
Mr. Tillman. Mr.. President
The Presiding officer. Does the
! Senator from Connecticut yield to the
| Senator from South Carolina?
| Mr.. Plat of Connecticut Yes.
Mr.. Tillman. hope the Senator from
Connecticut will not confuse the Ha-
waiia1 question with the Philippine
| question. because they are entirely diff
ferent The Hawaiian people we're
brought under our flag by joint reso-
luton which incorporated them as hav-
ing all the rights under our Constitu-
ton that any other people in the United
States have. They are not the subjects
of conquest; they are not the accidents
of war; and maintain the Senator can
not differentiate those. people from any
other people who now are under the
protection of the United States Con-
stitution and flag
Mr.. Platt of Connecticut. Well Mr..
President, they differ certainly from
any Territories to which we have
heretofore given a form of government,
in that they are outside of what have
hitherto been the boundaries of the
United States. and the question is right
upon us--I shall discuss 1t under an
other amendment-as to whether we
ever intend to erect those Territories.
or those new countries or possessions,
those islands, into States. / do not
believe 1t Is good policy to do so; and
1t was in that respect that l said they
differed from any of those countries or
any of our possessions in which we
have heretofore established Territorial
governments. They differ in the char
acter of their population. We have
never had any such population in the
United States, when we have set out
to erect a Territorial government with
in our former boundaries. as exists in
Hawaii, much less in the Philippines
and in Porto Rico. We must to some
extent consider these questions; and in
considering TO whom suffrage shall be
given we must consider the question
as to whether 1t shall be given to peo-
pie who have little or no capacity f01
, government
nat - nOl a u0W lllutlplbt MI res
c ident, although We are taking a new
t departure. That was the principl,
adopted and agreed to at the time o.
E the Declaration of Independence and
the enactment of our Constitution. Al
suffrage in the United States-unles.
it was in the State of New Jersey;
think IL was not so as TO the State o.
New Jersey-was at the time of thu
adoption Of the Declaration of Inde
pendence a limited suffrage. AMI 81
I continued at the time or the adoption
OF the Constitution and for many
: many years after that, and il has beer
only within few years that the prop
erty qualification has been removed II
all the States. SO it is not a new doc
trine. 1t is an old doctrine. Il is tn,
doctrine OF the Declaration OF Inde
pendence and II is the doctrine OF thu
Constitution that suffrage should b,
participated in only by the persons
3 who are qualified to exercise ii.
Mr.. President, in this bill-and. as
2 said. / do not object to tive civ,