Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1917-03-10
Incident Which Caused SenSa.
ton in the Then Small Com
munity Now Remembered

In 1902 the forecast was made here
In Honolulu that the next war for the
United States would lac with Ger.
many
Called 10 mind by the recent sever.
ing OF diplomatic relations between
the United States and Germany and
the imminence OF actual war Is fore
cast made by Gen. Arthur Macarthur
more than 70 years ato that the next
war in which the United States would
become involved would be with Ger
many. The yerification Of his fore
east now appears very close though
II viii be brought ahout. If come II
does, through circumstances different
in part from those which Gen Nae
arthur foresaw.
Many I.onolulans remember the IN
cident now with some amusement.
though al the time il was local sen
sation and created some comment on
the mainland In those days Homo
luiu was nluch smaller community
than now and much less used TO mill
tary preparation and discussion.
Gen MacArthur's remarks were
theoretical and had no immediate
bearing nor application on any mill
tary situation They were, in fact,
much along the line of military text
books and military men understood
them at once. However, the incident
made a town sensation for day or
so. nut when IL was discovered that
the general was talking in an AGA
demic sense the sensation blew over.
il was also soon noted that while
Germany was referred TO, Gen. Mac
Arthur spoke merely OF the economic
situation which, as students of history
and affairs agreed. was making ii
necessary for Germany 10 expand as
a world-power.
IL was on December 10. 1909, that
Honolulu was startled by published
story OF a conversation between Gen.
Arthur Macarthur, Col. ]. w. Jones,
commanding, and Col J. II. Soper, adj
jutant general. n. @. H., in which it
was purported that Gen. Macarthur
was quoted verbatim from steno-
graphic notes. Quite as much as
founded at the statements attributed
70 him relative to a breaking with
Germany we're the people of the
United States. II is true that the
giving of the conversation to the press
was an error but the sensation was
not the less but rather the greater in
consequence.
On the morning of December 10,
1903, there was published an article to
the effect that correspondence OF fed
eral and territorial military authorities
had been submitted 10 Governor Car
ter and. that this included a summary
OF the views Of Cen Macarthur taken
geographically by Col. Jones at a
conference held in the Young hotel
on November ". Macarthur at that
time giving his views of the need of
strong national guard for Hawaii
and that Daniel Logan had been af-
forded by the governor every oppor-
tunity TO use the correspondence and
to make a copy in the executive Of
flee. The balance Of the article was
the purported statement of Gen. Mac
Arthur, duly quoted. and in part as
follows:
1.-The general in the course of his
remarks, to show the Importance Of
having strong and efficient National
Guard in this territory. stated in part
as follows:
THAT the Pacific will be the theater
Of future commercial and military
struggles between nations. and these
islands will be the center of all such
contests for supremacy
THAT history shows us that time
has shifted the theater OF such opera
lions from the Mediterranean to the
Atlantic, where we have seen with the
last few months the Monroe doctrine