The Hawllan Question

(One of the elearest and best artides upor, the subject of Hawaii whlch has fallen urader our eye, is the loltowlng, from the pen of John R. Muziek, published in the Fébruary Arena. It is eo able, sensible, and convincing that ive aslc the especia attention of our readers tihereto.- Ed. Courier.) No doubt one of the questions eariy to be cdii'Sidered by President McKinley Avill be the annexation of the Hawaüan IlaTvde. The republican plat form at St. Xiouis poimted in that diatTCCtütm, anti those who claim to be near the presideiit-elect say that he Is faviorable to the plan. S-o far as the islands themselves are concerned ■fihere can be no doubt of their deslre to become a part of thïs great natdon. Had President Harrison's term comtinued sixty days lonerei' the Pearl of the Pacific would have added awother star to our flag, but Mr. Cleveland, sttceeeding Mr. Hiarrison ïlarch -t, 1893, was nnfriendly to the politioal alliance, and dashed tlie hopes of the amnaexationist, boith in Hawaii and in America. The annexation of the Hawaiian Iilands is no nevr theon-y, for the subject lias been under discussion for nearly fifty years. The acticm oí Kamehnmeha UI. tn takimg steps at the clio-se of hls reigii for annexa-tlon of the ielands to the Unilted States was tlhe ïnirtial point In the discussion oí this questiön throughout the reign of Kamehameha V. There were advocates' of a reciprociity treaty between the two countrles, but there was also a stromg sentiment favorable to annexation. There was a mavked opposition both in Hawail amd in the United States senate to a reciprocity treaty on the score that it wcrald opérate agaiinst annexation, which was deemed more desirable. On Sept, 12, 1867, Secretar}' Seward WTote to the American. mLnlster at HonolTilu : Circumstances have transpired here whicl) induce the beHef that a strong interest, based on a dectre for annexatie of the Sandwich Islands, will. be active In opposlng a ratification of the reciprocity treaty. It will be argued that reciprocity will tend to binder and flefeat early annexation, to whiieu the people of the Samdwicli Islands are Bupposed to be strongly inclinad. It is proper that you should kmow that a lawful and peaceful annexation of the islands to the United Btates, wilth the consent of tibe people of the Sandwich Islands Is deemed desiraible by tliis povernment ; nntl lf the pollcy of annexation should really conflict wiith the pollcy of reciiprocity, annexation is In every case preferred. In 1873, it is evident that the subject had mot lost interest, for the Amerfoan minister, Mr. Pievce, on February 17, two months nfter the deatli of Kamehaméha V, wrote to the American Secretary of State as follows : Annexation of "hese Islands to the Uni'ted States and a reciiprocity treaty between the two couotries are two important topics of conskleration anti warm ddacnasion among government officials and lorelgn peeidents. The cause of this agiitation was a growing feeling that Hawaii must soioner or later abandon all thought of independent government. The line of nobles and chiiefs was almost extinct, and wi'th Kamehaméha V departed tne last of the royal ïcings. Even in official circles in Hawaii tihose havding the good of the islands fix iieart aopea tor annexauon. ju his deathbed, ïiameliamena V, realizlngr tlie Üangerg menacing the islanda f rom weak and vaoillating rulers, 8ald: Wbat is fro become of ïny poor country ? Queen Emma I do not trust ; Lumalllo is a drunkard ; and Kalakaua is a fooi. One of hls predecessors, Kamehameha III, kaown as Kamehameha the Just, perbaps the most patriotic of (Continued on 8th Paee1) THE HAWIIAH QUESTION. (Continued irom lst page.) he Ha"wa.iian kings, favo red annexadon as the only means of securing a stable eovernment. Consequent tbose who suppose that the 1dea of annexation was toorn wlth the overtihrow ol monarchy amd the cstabisliment of the Ha-waiian Eepublic ajre mistakea. It is believed by maiiy on the Isamds and in this country that HawaU oaimot long maintain its exlstence as a separate govemanent. The immense wealth accumulatinsr in the slanda 'will make them the prey of filibusters, which they in their ■weakness may nat be able to resist. The Ixmislana Ivottery Company has iong been a menace to the peace of the people, and it is believed was at the back of the insurrection of 1995. Ia oase of a general war, little Hawaii w.oull really be at the mercy of the world. Thu islands muet belang to England, Japan or America. There are ma.ny Bnglish people on the isiands who froiu personal interest and locat.ioin,,as well as a matter of justiee, arguo that they should belong to the latter ; while a few Britons living on the islands, from prejudice or love of country, favor annexatlon to Great Britaln. The most repulsive thiought to the Hawaiian people is a political alliance with Japan, and yet such a thinlg is n,ot among the impossibililies. Uiuler a treaty made by ome of the Hawaiian kings and the Japancse government, it was stdpulated that the Japanese on the IslandK should be treated as the moet favored of nations. Since the establl'Shment of the republic, the Japanese under that treaty have been claiming Ing thie rights of citlzenship, inchidtog the elective franchise, whieh the repiibldc wisely refuses to grant ; for óf the Japanese on the islands, the ignorant greatly predomínate. Bui few havo emerged from heathenism, and the majority are no more sulted to seli-government than the Sious Indians. Besides, they are only 60Joumers In Hawali, and never become permanent citizens. Though most oí the English In Hawadi scoif at th idea that Sreat BHtain wants the islands, many thlngs have transpired whlch conince a thinking person that this gem af the Pacific is really cjoveted by our cousins across the water. If Bngland is Jealous of anyone thing in the -svorld it is her commerce, and when sbe iouml America a successful rlrnl, outstrlppimg her in the islands, she began. to grow Jealous oí this country, as the history of the past shows. This powerful ni&tion, walcfc once bad 80 per cent. of the Hawait■an tra.de, now has but 8,10. per cent. of it, while Americfa bas almost reached the percentage tlrat England once bad. This of iitself is enough to arouse the Britifsh lion. An objectjan made to the annexatiom of the Ilawaiian Islands is the distance they lie from the United States. This has been answered in tthe failo"wing nwinner : taking San Francisco as a center, let a 'hread répresenting 2,100 miles be swung on the map as ia drawiog a circle, and the iin of circumference will touch Honolulú, the oapiïtal of Hawaii, on the sonthwest ; Alaska península on the northwest ; the Miesissippi river on the east ; the olty of Houston, Texas, on the ecratheast ; and the lsthmus of Tehuantepec, Mexico, on the eouth. These facts illustrate the proxlmity of the Hawaiian Islands, and prove that Chicago and the thirteen original states of the Union are farther from San Francisco than is Honolulú. "One can sail fifteen hundred miles west from Honolulú, three times the distance between Buffalo and Chicago, and by thence followlng a great circle, sail due north and arrive at United States territory in Ataska." In all that distance there is no land, only a vast ocean teeming wlth commerce. The Hawadian Islands can no longer be called inslgniíicant. Their wonderful productlve quallties make theia more desirable than the seallng fisheries or gold mines of Alaska. The Pacific Ocean is destined to some day float the commerce of the "svorld. In 1852 William H. Seward In the United States eenate said : The Pacific Ocean, its shores, its islands, and the vast región beyond ■111 beoome the chief theatre In the ■W'Orid's great hereafter. In the ïurtherance and protction of commprce, contiguous terrrtory is lesa advíiortageous than land that is reasonably proximate, 'while yet on the oceans' hJghways. That HawaiJ would comstitute a most Important American outport in the jrrowing commerce of the Pacific eannot be doubted on fjrosraphical considerations. It is impiossible to be Ion? in Hnwait without realizing that the Energy and propelüng pöwers In that wonderful land are American. Whwever there Is directing energy, or orffaTidzinii power, or entrpri=o, or action, tbere one wial find the American. Amerfoanism predominates among the intelUgent and mling classes of the ifilamds. ThVa is shown in a hundred waya. The republic was declared on the iourth day of .Tuly In order that the day miifht be dtoubly endeared to the hearts of the American people . Almost as much interest Js manifested there iu the affairs of the United States as in the gt'ates themselves. The resulta of elections and the policy of administnatlons are watched with tlie keenest interest. Oa.ndidates for the chdef exocutiw? are voted for In Honolulú on the same day that we hold our presidential electlons, and on the 3d oi No-vembef, Mr. McKtnley carried the city by a good round majorIty. The American Is o.htef in business and politics. Ho ia in the ehurch asnd school, the countlng-room, on the railroad and eteamer ; at the drydock and ïoundry ; at the lumberyard at tbe mili and at the tow-boat; He is ou the xvliarf when you land, on the street as you pasa, at the hotel ■"hen you register. Nothlng goes on successfully ■without him. The educational system of the inlands is wtvolly amerierai, A glance at the schoolbooks adopted by the Board of Educatlon shows none but American imprinte. The American Booli Company, Ginn & Co., 15. C. Ileath & Oo., and othev school-book publiíh-tag houss familiar In America, are Just as familiar there, so that the Ha-n-aiian youth is being brought up in the same Une of thought as the Amevioan youth. Ignoranee of the islands leads most people to belleve them to be insigniricant dots in the Pacific Ocean, niot -worth making any great "fuss" over. But ju a commercial pomt of view they exceed many much larger conntries. The inter-lsland commerce of Ha'waid supports two large steamsliáp companies ■witb. a fleet of flfteen or twenty steamships each, twtli doiing a profit.a'ble business of over a million per year. Th Wilder Steamshdp Oompany pays a dividend of twelve per cent. per annum. Thero are three railroads on the isIand3 In addition to the many plantatdon railroads, all doing a thriving business. But Hawali's greatest wealtli lies in her rieh plantationa of suiiar. coffee, rice, a n;l all the frui'ts of the troplcs. ]i the Dnirted States the oppomenta of axmexatton make the same argument tlwit was used in opposttion to i'mlsiana Pofcihase. ït was Uien ttoought that we shouid never Havo any use for the Territor.y of IIiMois and all that vast reglón west of Mie Misstesiippi. Suoh a parchase Wa8 s:iil In bo unconsiit utional. neeteee and expensive, ttiotigii the land c wi only two cents per acre. President .Trnrrsim .admitted that )ie atreteheö h,is authioirtty "antil lt oracked,'' tliouq-li ho uever donbted the wisdom of the net. President O-rant saw fit to purchase Alaska fo.r feeren million. two hundred thousnnd dollars. 011 account of Iits tfaniber and eod fiisheries. Texas was araiexed aftel" she had praiilIle(i liel' dependance : and yet there are those who declare that Hawaiii cavia nat con■sti'tutionally be allied to the nnion. To enumérate the relatlve values of Alaska and Hawaii woule be t-edious aiKl unnecessary. Beven million, two hundred thousand was paid for the tonner, while tlie lattef is offered as ti gift. In additton to beinff a coaling and supply station 5in time of peace or war, Ilawaii', with cable connections and more available eteamshiip lines, wliieh aJHiexation would insure, would beconie a delig-htful winter resort for Amerdcans. Accordinia: to Prof. Alexander, the edght inhabited islands comprise au a.Tea of about six thouaand, Keven liundred square mites. muoh of whfch is nuountamous and unflitted for agriculture. Not over twenty-frve per cent. of the agrrleul+ural lauda are in cuUivation. and not more than onctenth of the vast grazing territory is used It is saM that Hawai! can produce as ïine wool as Australia, and lts vast g-raziog lands would support millions of slieep. The inhabitanta of Hawaii number only about one hundred thousand, while in agrlcultural pursuits alone the islands would easily support half a million. Consequently annexation would affo-d homes for from four to five hundred thousand Americans. If manufactnrlng interests should become developed,"or the islands become famous as a Iwnlth resort, thy would easily suppo-t a milliom inhabitants. Except the wool industry an:l the pro clncts of some of the extreme sonthern stntes. Hawaii 'does nat come in corapetitioii with nny of the asrricultural tnterests of the United States. Its exprvts, in round numhers ten mi';iinns peí' a.nnum, can be Increased to 'i ty. or perhaps one hundrert mt".l;on?, some of lts most profitnWe industries are jnst in their infancy. Acco-dinK to the custom house reports nnd the statement of Mr. Damon, kinteter oï FInance, the revenues last year were one mllllon, seven hundred tho;isa.nd dollars. A present of one miniem, seven humlred thousand dollars per annum is a KWfc I10't; to e sltehted even by this p;rerit nation, and ive must nat lose eright of the fnct that tliis amiual' revenue may be lmcrea.sed from ïour to ten fold. Some argüe that we ought to accept the present in order to keep our rlvals Kjigland and Japan {rom Ketting it. As a republie, wlth the most frtendly ïeeltogs poKible toward. us, 76.23 per cent., of all the imports imto Ha-waii, are from the ünited States, whlle only 8.16 per cent. carne from Great BrHain. But suppose Johnny Buil should get possesHton of Ha-ivali, ïvho knows what leRIslation and inducements wooild be broug-ht to bear to reverse matters. Our chfef exports to the Islawlas are ooal, iron, machinery, corn, hay, oat= wheat, flour, catton, woollen and lin en fabrics, lumber and wood. Every miner, miller, merchewit, farmer ani mechiainfc is intereeted in the subject of nnnexatlion. If a political tuiten -ivith the islands Will inci-eaee ttoeir inhabitants irom one hundred thousand to perhiaps a mMIion noncompetitive consumere of Americas product?, thcn this union is certa lrily desirable ; while, on the other band, if a poldtical union wifch some other country would rob us of the business we alroady lLave, such a union shoulid be thwarted if possible. The lianguage of the country is English, and as a natural sequence the islamds should belong to either Engliaiitl or America. Xow, tlie great questlon is, to which natioi shnll tbey be allied. Tliouigh at present we have only 76.2.3 per cent. of the trade. yet by a careful political alli'anco and -wholesome laws it could be increased to 90 per cent.; and the trade. -wi'th an increase o? population to five times what it is at present, would not be imconsiderable. If a poliitfcal alliance with Hawaii can fulfil balf the ï-osy promises of the aimexatiionists, Bhe woiild not only furnish homes ior half-a-mülion of our people, but wouíd annualy consume from twemty-five to fifty mllliona oí our products, would supply us with hundred of thousands of tons of eugar, rice, and coffee, in additlon to Mine wiool, eilks. and countloss nnmbers of tropical fruïts a.nd jellie while the uaïoii woulii add to the rovonues of tluis (jovermmeni froqj kU in t en mUlions pei' ïnnum. HawaU'S itaitiiona] deit is only aboiii tliree milMons, and her revenuea aro Bufitalent to liquidatie tluat ia two years. Au objection to annexatlon wouW be t'hat the nativos wrould make uflesirable wnnls of the aatiioo, and wnnld have to In1 kepd und&r as close PüiTeiUamoe as tihe North A.merican Indiams. This is a ihisteike, for tie liaw.-iüau is Wbolly unliko tlie North Aim-ikan India n. Ho kind, genfcle, penceablo, and jirrb at all revengeful. His chiMlike good nature taakee liini belored by all who know lvini. Wlion educated to the point- and theKanaka is casi'Jy tauirlit- He wcrald make am honorable and loyal Amoi ican ciltizen. Th most serimis objection to this pix)posed alliance is tihe Asiatics, wlxo hlave always beea repugnant to the American pople. But tille Orientáis are no more citizens there taan here fhey niake excellent plant ation xands, are well paid, are furnished louses to live la, luave medical attendance free ïor tihe term they are employed, ottd ttoiir expenses paid to return to thetr country. The people ol Hawaii are dispeiisini; witih 3he oontract-tebor eystem as epeedily as possible Ts-ithout iinjury to the piaiitatioms. Mr. W. J. Ixiwrie, manager of tho Ewa plant atiion, opposes the Bystem, aud says : We eau weLl affoi-d to give it up cmtirely in order to get annexation, and the benfi't3 that would accure from It. Dr. C. T. Kodgers, secret-ary of the Hawíuiian Labor Bureau, says in his last report : As a great deal' has been sought to be made out of our contraet-labor ystem in the United States, it should be -understood tliat even on the eugar p'.antatloiis fo ■ wl;iJi th3 system wa oiinally devlsed, and for Wnicto it Is bettei adapted than to any other of our industries, less tham one-hali oí the liaborers are under contract, and the jmmber and proportton of thO'se not imder contract is on the increase. Tlue iLatural tendency q thiimgs ie away from the contract system. Tlie labor statistics presenteJ at the meettor of the Planters' Labor a.nd Snpply lnst mouth sliowed ttort the .Tapanese were the only claai of p-Bamtattom laborera among w nom the contract hamds -were In the majoïlty. In evei-y otlier cl&ss and nattCHiali'ty of plamtatlon laborara the free predomlnated over the contract 1abor, In eome oases larely. When the qupfirtdon of annexatlon oomes bofore the presMnnt and senate of the United States, all the advanhages and disadvantapes oí a polirtta&l ulliance wíll ao doubt be taken toto conslderation, and a decisión reaehed that will be profvtatrte to both oonntiies. To the patriotism, wisdom, and humanlty of Mr. McKinley the subject will stronijly appoa.l. On a careful investlgattoa of the subject, he will learn that no people hae been more maligned than the officials of the Hawaiian Eepubllc. Being üescendants of God-iearing missionaries, they "look a firm stand against opium smuggling, lotteries, Monte Carlos, and indecency of every coaracter, and became the champlona of -irtue and honesty. Trom toeir Httle island homes, ia their distress and dread, they turn flheir appealing cyes to America for protection. Shall their appeal be In valn ?