The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1900-04-17
A Talk With Gresham.

A Talk With Gresham.
When went back to Chicago, Secre-
tary Gresham. whom knew very we'll.
sent me word through his private secre-
tary that he wanted to see me- I went
to Washington to see him, and we had
long talk. At the end OF the time he
asked me what was TO be the end of Il.
and said Annexation He
said That Is utterly impossi-
BILE; II would furnish prece-
dent for Cuba The idea was that a
precedent OF this sort must at all haz-
ards be avoided. And now Gresham is
dead. and we've got Hawaii, and we've
got Cuba, and we've got Porto Rico, and
we've got the Philippines"
DO you think II is a good thing for
the United States that II has acquired
these new possessions7"
"Oh, I've never been an imperialist.
No. think II Is distinctly bad thing
| for us to have them. There are great
and difficult problems In connection
with them. and these are going 20 be
long and troublesome matters TO work
out. Besides. we have far more se-
| rfous problems at home than We can
| manage. There IL no enlightened
| country In the world in which the Gov
ernment OF cities Is go bad. so corrupt.
we have not begun to solve the prob
| lens OF municipal government"
Then you think the annexation OF
Hawaii was distinctly bad thing for
the United States and a disadvantage
to it?"
Yes"
it?" 'o' " . ~ "''u u tut
Because II was the only thing DOS
sible for the Islands. II was absolute
ly necessary In order to save them.
There had been twenty years of tur-
moil here, growing worse and worse
all the time. and the only thing to do
was to get them under the United
States. so that they could have a stable
government Things had grown 90
bad that 1t was the only way. Then
again, this ha4 always been, as you
might say, an American colony"
DO you notice many changes since
you we're hefe last?''
The city ID az beautiful az ever.
and like very much the way IL has
grown- The new residences 1 partfc-
ularly like; the architecture OF many
Of the nice houses Is admirable, and
splendidly adapted to the locality and
the climate. Honolulu has grown a
good deal out towards Punahou and
waikiki. All the building In the lat
ter direction is new since I was here.
/ look for Honolulu to become a great
city-that Is, in twenty-five years. Il
won't grow much for a few years now,
because there'll be too much conflict
and uncertainty to attract peop.e until
the political situation is Strengthened
out and people know what the govern
ment mere will be like and what race
or party will rule and how they will
rule. Then again, most OF the people
who will come here at first will be OF
most undesirable sort. There will be
bad times for three years or so. That
Congress should pass an unwise bill,
providing for these Islands, was inevi-
table; what else could have been ex-
pected, considering their ignorance
about Hawaii?
Honolulu's Coming Greatness.
Yes, Honolulu will one day be a
great city. The time will come when
ali these mountains back of the city
all the way along will be covered to
the tops with houses. But for a few
years the people here will have to
struggle with the new problems, the
separation of the municipal govern
ment OF Honolulu from the govern
hieHt Ol lhe iSldHuSs anu 81 OI. ne5e
halfway places at the crossroads al
ways grow. I've been very busy. and
have been around very little since I've
been here, so that / have not noticed
many changes"
What changes do you notice politi-
cally?"
There is far less harmony here
than there used to be. When I was
here before practically everyone was
of one mlnd-all the intelligent people,
l mean-about how things should be
done and what should be done. Now
there are peop.e Of first-ciass intelli-
gence who do not agree with the Gov
ernment. Now there's Mr.. Jones. The
way Mr.. Jones got up and talked at
the Council of State the other day
proves that there are people OF first-
class intelligence who go against the