The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1906-01-06
WHAT UNITED STATES
OWES THIS TERRITORY
Governor Garter Writes an Interesting Letter to
Gorham D. GiIman-PIght of a Once
Prosperous land.

Boston Transcript: The following
letter to Mr.. Gorham d Gilman OF
Boston from Governor Career of Ha-
wall is of such public interest and 50
clearly reveals Hawa;I's unfortunate
condition that it IS published n fun.
Ny Dear Sir-yoI ask he 10 state
| what the United States owes Hawaii.
If you mean by that to strike bal
ance between what the United states
| have given and what they have re-
ceived from Hawaii, then Uncle Sam
certainly owes nothing.
There is no one thing of greater adj
vantage to a community than the sta
| bIity of it's government and thu safety
of it's future. The ordinary American
| of today lives in an atmosphere of
such implicit confidence in the great
strength of his own Government that
he can not appreciate such a situation
as formerly existed in these islands.
If, however, you mean to ask, What
should the United States do to insure
the progress and development of these
islands, and thus prove to the world
that Americans have the sagacity and
ability to successfully direct and con-
troll the affairs of noncontiguous terri
tory and its people, then there is much
that can be said.
To my mind, the two most important
problems in relation to Hawaii are
connected with immigration and fl
nance.
So far as immigration is concerned, |
7 am not yet convinced but that there
may be a solution of it without the |
necessity of congressional action. |
There are a few here who are making |
every effort to work out our own So
luton. This would be far more sim
pie if only our immigration laws were
construed to permit the Territory itself
to assist in securing people from some
foreign country who could become cit
liens. How can we increase The popu-
lation of these islands and thus de-
velop them. isolated they are in the
middle of the Pacific Ocean, without
providing the means of transportation?
There are those who express the
opinion that it was a mistake to make
Hawaii a TerritOry-an integral part
of the Union. They claim she was an
nexed too soon; that the idea of a pos
session had not then been developed
by the Supreme Court decision.
Be that as it may, there is no method
of undoing what has been done. Ha-
waits situation today is, therefore,
unique. In the minds of many she is
classified as possession along
with Porto Rico and the Philippines.
At the last Republican National Con- ;
vention that great political party cut
down Hawaiis representation from six
to two delegat ties, classifying her with ,
the possessions of the United States,
in the face of a regulation which al
lowed all Territories six delegates, and
which was construed to admit that
number from the sO-called Indian Ter
ritory, which is an area of land simply
under the direction of the Secretary
If the Interior, and from Alaska, which
has not even legislative body.
Congress gave to Hawaii a form of
government with greater powers than /
any other Territory, probably recog-
lizing how entirely untitled the usual
orm of territorial government, created I
or sparsely settled frontiers, would be
,or a community with seventy-fve /
years of history, during which, as an I
Independent kingdom, they had strug- t
sled with not only the problems con- I
lected with their own internal affairs, f
tut complicated and intricate foreign
ella lions. g
However, as these islands are an in a
egral part of the Union, they are s
ubject to all laws passed by Congress, o
nd our Federal legislative machinery f
of such magnitude that it is al O
lost impossible to make Congress rea- V
re that tropical conditions in Ha-
ali require that she be excepted and l.
from the operation of many -
TVS which are passed, with sound :,
Jason, to meet conditions which exist -
4 the mainland. And if success is to =
-own American control of Hawaii,
lese facts must not be lost sight OF,
nd as she can not for some time be =
Omitted as a State, then she must u
ave. because of her unique position, ~
,eciaI legislation from time to time.
Hawaifs main industry and her tn
-incipal source of wealth is the pro- la
action of sugar, and from the wealth. IN