The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1904-09-02
the HAWAIIAN SITUATION.

I
| vinclnE. and viii have great weigh
/ with all patriotic and intelligent citi'
| zens. who know the standing Of the
writer and the conditions TO which ht
/ refers. II strongly grasps the Hawaiian
situation. and powerfully supports the
rising public sentiment. which the Ad-
vertlser has sought to awaken.
There are many who will differ from
Mr. Jones on his general views of the
Exclusion laws and on the proposition
that Hawaii does not need special Con-
gress ional legislation on the labor ques-
ton and special aid from the Elk
ecutive Department of the Federal Gov
eminent. But these points are only in
cidental to the main argument, which
apparently is irrefragable.
The proposition, sustained by figures,
that the Islands have gained s57,0OO,O00
and the rise of their Az per cent. bonds
TO par, by annexation, as against the
loss of nine millions or less withdrawn
by the Federal Government, is trans
parently true and, once for all, refutes
the reiterated statement that annexa-
ton has not been commercial success.
The argument against annexation upon
the mainland, when that question was
imminent, was not and could not have
been placed upon the assumption that
Incorporation into the national terri
tory would not be commercially profita-
BILE to the islands themselves. Such an
absurdity did not occur to statesmen
and citizens representing the substan-
tial business of the nation. 1t was APP
parent that the transition from an over
thrown monarchy sEl temporary re-
public. in the midst of the Pacific. iso-
lated from the progressive world and
with a large Asatic population, to full
identification with the American Union,
in "A financial sense at least, could
not fail to be locally advantageous.
II was from the national and not from
the insular standpoint that the legal
ity and the eXpediency of annexation
We're doubted. 1t was claimed, first:
that under the Federal Constitution as
Interpreted and applied, the function of
the United States was the establish
ment of commemorative and the de-
velopment of citizenship on the con-
tinent; second: that the extension of
sovereignty to the mid-Pacific
would weaken and perhaps abrogate the
hOlITOt DoClIlHt, anu, tlIlli tHdl
Dor conditions in Hawaii would de-
velop problems essentially different
from those existing on the mainland
and which would require distinct treat
ment.
These We're the converging features
of the opposition to annexation. No
one, however, disputed the fact that the
Islands would be benefited by acquiring
a local habitation and a name in the
great American family. The sugar in
upon which Hawaii depended,
We're in a precarious state. They had
been enormously advanced by the
Treaty, to which intense
within the ranks of the
Party, had been excited.
AS Mr.. Jones has appositely stated, a
resolution for rescission had been
adopted by caucus of Republican
senators, and would inevitably have re-
suited in the annulment of the treaty. |
therefore, was vital to the
element in the property |
interests of the Hawaiian Republic. ~
protectorate could not have accom-
plished the same results.
Mr.. Jones puts his finger on a pro-
when he attributes it to reckless spe-
culation," There We're and are other |
factors, which are not within the scope |
If his communication or of this arti- |
lie. In his discernment of the practical |
benefits already derived from annexa-
ion he is definite and exact, and in
lis representations for the future he
displays acute sagacity. But his
strongest proposition in relation to To-
al necessities is expressed in the fol-
owing extract, in which he unites with
thousands of his countrymen in endors-
ng the settled policy which the Adver-
User has Advocated
The future of these Islands will be
lust what we ourselves make it. We
want to do more than encourage tour
SITS to visit us: we want, as your paper
mas been advocating, men with fami
lies to come in and take up our UNI
lands and settle permanently
n the Islands"
This paragraph is a nucleus, to which
he prompt, earnest ana decided atten-
ion of the Territorial and Federal Gov
ernments, and of the people at large.
should be directed. The true interests
rs distinguished from any special class,
demand not only that the right kind !
If immigration should not be openly |
n covertly discouraged, br.t :hat it
should be positively and directly in
;ited and aided. The distribution of
he unoccupied public lands among
small farmers, of whom there are tens
If thousands on the mainland looking /
or such opportunities, is a policy upon ,
which the public, and especially the !
portion of the community,
should Immediately and effectively in
sist. If there is treachery in any quar-
ter to this resounding demand of the
times 1t should be investigated and oN-
posed, Under our institutions, equality
Of right the greatest good to the great
est number" can he aud repeatedly has
been enforced, not only at the ballot
box but by that practiCali2ed sentiment /
which is evidenced by acts rather than ,
by mere words,-hy the Irresistible force
of union ana determination, Soph.s- /
tries "men of straw" excuses, cvusiuus
and the political habit nf looking one
way and rowing another" are easily
handled hy genuine public opinion, !
based ON sound and unbiased Iudg- !
lei.