The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1902-01-10

duties to operate as a check upon the
employment Of American capital The
reciprocity treaty Of 1875 admitted unre-
fined sugar from Hawaii free Of duty,
This treaty was renewed in 1884, when
a further concession was made to the
United States Of a coaling station at
Pearl harbor, in the Island of Oahu.
Kalakaua died in 1891 and his sister and
successor, Queen Liliuokalani, strove to
establish the royal power upon basis OF
of native dominion. A new constitution
was proposed, according to which all
white men, unless married to native wo-
men, were to be excluded from the suf-
frage. Thus for the first time in
Hawaiian history race antagonism was
made the motive of political struggle.
The attitude of the queen, together with
the irresponsible character of her adj
visers, was fatal to the native dynasty.
The revolutionists Of 1898 hastily organic
ed a committee Of public safety" and
appealed to Mr.. Stevens, the American
minister for aid. A large force landed
from the ship Boston practically rendered
useless any attempts at resistance on the
part Of the monarchy, and a bloodless
revolution was effected. The queen was
deposed, and provisional government
established, ito exist until terms of union
with the United States could be agreed
upon" The queen yielded under protest
and appealed to the United Stats govern
ment to restore her to her former rights.
The request of the provisional govern
ment obtained a favorable hearing in
Washington. President Harrison pre-
scented to the senate a treaty providing
for annexation, but owing to rush Of
other business it failed to pass in the
closing days Of his administration. His
successor, President Cleveland, with
drew the treaty and set on foot an in
vestigation Of the part taken by Minis
ter Stevens and other United States off,
Gals in the overthrow Of the queens
government. The result Of this investi-
cation led the president to the belief that,
apart from the general question of the
the desirability of acquiring territory at
such q distance from our shores, the in
f1uence of our government had been en-
ployed in an unjustifable manner in the
Hawaiian uprising, and that the United
States could not rightfully acquire prop
erty in such q manner. Accordingly the
administration made a formal demand
upon the provisional government to re-
store to the queen her former authority.
To this demand the provisional govern
mept refused to accede, and the matter
was referred by the president to con-
gress.
The Ugh moral attitude Of Mr. Cleve-
land did not meet the sympathy of the
nation. It is one thing to deplore the
lack Of uprightness in our relations with
Mexico half a century ago and quite an
other thing to oppose the material i'm
pulses of the time. The Hawaiian ques-
ton became a part Of the presidential
contest of 1896. In accordance with the
pledges of his party, the newly elected
president, Mr.. Mckinley, promptly sub
mitted to the senate an annexation
treaty, and when the measure failed to
secure the consent of two-thirds Of that
body it was proposed to accomplish the
desired purpose by means of a joint reso-
luton.
The events Of one May day, however,
changed the aspect Of the question. The
battle Of Manila, which for good or for
ILL., imposed upon us an Eastern empire,
made Hawaii a point of vast strategic
Importance, a necessary part of our i'm
perial system, and she was willingly re-
ceived into our national fold as the least
of the problems which are coming to US
for solution.
Copyright, 1907