The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1906-09-17
ANNEXATION A MISTAKE.

ANNEXATION A MISTAKE.
From observations made here and
from talks [ have had with business
men of Hawaii, / am more convinced
than ever that Hawaii made a serious
economic biunder in annexing itself to
the United States In the term be-
tween the overthrow of the native
monarchy and annexation to our
country Hawaii was ruled by an oil
garchy made up of small number of
its strongest and ablest white citizens.
These would have had little difficulty,
by holding out a threat of a possible
attachment to England or Germany,
in having the equivalent of perma-
nent treaty made with the government
at Washington granting free adnis-
sion of Hawaiian products to the
United States, guaranteeing Hawaiian
independence and possibly the continu-
ing form of insular control.
The affairs of the little independent
oligarchic republic, which had its in
dependence and autonomy thus as
sured, could then have been regulated
in the manner that best suited it's
local needs. 1t could have obtained
whatever labor its planters required,
while its tariff, the receipts from
which would all have gone into the
insular treasury, could have been so
adjusted as to have insured the cheap
est possible food supply for the work
ing people, with a manifest encourage
ment in commerce with the entire
world
MISJUDGED AMERICAN CONDI-
TIONS.
The Hawaiian promoters of annexa-
ton entirely misjudged the situation,
and they and their neighbors are now
paying the cost of their error They
were afraid that the beet sugar interest
in the United States would bring about
a repeal of the reciprocity treaty, over
looking the fact that their own ability
to bring English and German land hun
ger into the debate was a diplomatic as
set much more than sufficient to neu-|
tralize the influence at Washington of
Mr.. Oxnard and his associates. An
nexation was forced by Hawaiian i'm
portunity when resistance to it should
have been strongest with the sugar
planter interest. Those identified with
this business were led to believe, with
a Credulity for which no excuse can be
made, that special dispensations In
their favor would be made in the ma
tionaI immigration laws and in the laws
regulating local elections. 1t did not
take them long after annexation to dis
cover their mistake. 1t would have
been fatal to any American political
party to have made an exemption of
this kind in favor of one section Of our
national area, while it should have been
evident to the Hawaiia4 annexation
lists that the Republican party, upon
whose cooperation they counted, could
not consistently deny suffrage to the
natives of Hawaii in their local cleo
tons and at the same time take credit
to itself for having given the ballot to
the negroes of the southern states.
TRYING TO BECOME RECONCILED.
Experience has been a hard teacher,
and yet it has not UP to the present
taught it's full lesson to our Hawaiian
They are seeking to be-
come reconciled to national labor laws
which have no applicability to their
industrial conditions-that is, in indus
tries where manual labor can never
be performed by white men; they are
making the best of national election
regulations, which make it necessary
that their territory should be repre-
sented at Washington by colored
man, but they still believe 1t possible
to have the general revenue laws of
our government so changed in their
favor that all but a small percentage
Of the customs collected at Honolulu
shall be spent for local purposes, such
as police and fire defense, highways,
schools, etc. and shall not be sent to
to defray national ex-
penses. That the American Congress
should ever permit itself to establish
such a dangerous precedent as this L
can not bring myself to believe. but 1t
seems to be one of the Illusions cher /
shed by the citizens of Hawaii
The situation is in a number of re
spects a grievous one. because an i'm ,
mediate remedy does not suggest
Itself. The people have oversupplied
themselves with facilities for the use
IF which there is no present or imme- /
1iate future demand. In default of a /
great industrial growth they would
ike to make their islands an interna-
.ional sanatoriurn.
SUMMER PERPETUAL.
The islands are exceedingly attract
We to the eye. though not as much
so as they would be if their bare
peaks were densely wood
I'd; but the nearly uniform tempera-I
-ure from years end to years end, the
almost exhilarating trade winds which
! 70 ta wonderful 3