THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS.

Since 1850 the question of the annexation of the Hawaiian Islands to the United States has been under discussion from time to time.

Mainly through the exertions of American missionaries, who arrived in the islands in 1820, the people had been civilized and Christianized, their language reduced to a written form, and their political institutions reformed and regulated. In 1842 an embassy composed of William Richards and Tinioteo Haalilio was despatched from the islands to the United States and European countries for the purpose of securing the recognition of the independence of the Hawaiian Kingdom, and of negotiating treaties of amity and commerce. In answer to their request in these respects Mr. Webster, Secretary of State, replied on the 19th of December, 1842, that :

*** The United States have regarded the existing authorities in the Sandwich Islands as a Government suited to the condition of the people, and resting on their own choice; and the President is of opinion that the interests of all the commercial nations require that that Government should not be interfered with by foreign powers. Of the vessels which visit the islands, it is known that a great majority belong to the United States. The United States, therefore, are more interested in the fate of the islands, and of their Government, than any other nation can be; and this consideration induces the President to be quite willing to declare, as the sense of the Government of the United States, that the Government of the Sandwich Islands ought to be respected; that no power ought either to take possession of the islands as a conquest, or for the purpose of colonization, and that no power ought to seek for any undue control over the existing Government, or any exclusive privileges or preferences in matters of commerce.

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Entertaining these sentiments, the President does not see any present necessity for the negotiation of a formal treaty, or the appointment or reception of diplomatic characters. A consul or agent will continue to reside in the islands. ***"

Similar language with reference to Hawaii was used by President Tyler, in a special message to Congress of December 30, 1842. Congress subsequently appropriated money for the support of a consul at Honolulu, who would seem to have possessed diplomatic functions. The Hawaiian agents, proceeding to England and France, procured also from the governments of those States the recognition of the independence of Hawaii.

In the mean time Captain Paulet, of the British ship Carysfort, had seized the islands in the Queen's name, in February, 1843. In July of the same year, Rear-Admiral Thomas, R.N., arrived at Honolulu, and restored the dominion of the islands to their King, Kamehameha III., and the English government disavowed also the act of Captain Paulet.

After the acquisition of California, in 1848, the government of the United States began to take a more lively interest in affairs in the Pacific Ocean; and on the 20th of December, 1849, a treaty of friendship, commerce, and navigation, and for the extradition of criminals was concluded with the Hawaiian Islands. This treaty is still in force, except in so far as it has been modified by subsequent treaties.

With France the islands had had serious trouble, at first, in 1839, on account of the persecution of French Catholic missionaries, by the Hawaiian government, and later, in respect of the interpretation of treaties with France. In 1849 the public property of the Hawaiian government was seized by order of the French admiral in those waters, and, although soon restored, the controversy remained unsettled. The government of the United States tendered its good offices for the adjustment of the difficulty, but without effect; and in 1851 the government of Hawaii executed a deed of cession of the islands to the United State, providing that the kingdom should be held by them until a satisfactory settlement of the dispute with France, and failing that the cession should be made permanent. Mr. Webster, Secretary of State, ordered the deed of cession to be returned to the Hawaiian government, but wrote, on the 14th of July, 1851, that, "The Navy Department will receive instructions to place and to keep the naval armament of the United States in the Pacific Ocean in such a state of strength and preparation as shall be requisite for the preservation of the honor and

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dignity of the United States and the safety of the government of the Hawaiian Islands."

In the following administration, of President Pierce, an active effort was made for the annexation of the Hawaiian Islands. In a despatch to Mason, United States Minister in Paris, Marcy wrote on the 16th of December, 1853, that the representatives of England and France at Honolulu had "used all their influence to repress the rising sentiment of annexation to this country." These two States, he said, would be very unwilling, to see these islands become a territory of the United States, but he was in doubt how far they would go in preventing their transfer to this country; and Mason was to sound the government of France on this point. The next year, 1854, a treaty of annexation was negotiated with the Hawaiian government; but before it was ratified, the king, Kamehameha III. died (December 15, 1854), and his successor opposed the policy of annexation. The government of the United States also objected to certain clauses of the treaty. Mr. Marcy said, January 31st, 1855:

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"The draft of a treaty you (David L. Gregg, Minister to Hawaii) have forwarded to the Department has been considered by the President, and he directs me to say that he cannot approve of some of the articles. There are in his mind strong objections to the immediate incorporation of the islands in their present condition into the Union as an independent State. It was expected that the Hawaiian government would be willing to offer the islands to the United States as a territory, and to leave the question in relation to their becoming a State to the determination of this Government, unembarrassed by stipulations on that point. ***

"There are other objections to the draft which you have sent to the Department, though less formidable than that which the second article presents. The amount [$300,000] to be paid in annuities, etc., according to the draft is much larger than was contemplated." ***

Nothing further was done towards annexation at this time; but on the 20th of July, 1855, a treaty of reciprocity was conIcluded at Washington by Mr. Marcy and Judge Lee, the commissioner of the King of Hawaii. This treaty failed for want of ratification by the Senate.

Mr. Seward would seem to have considered the propriety of reviving Marcy's reciprocity treaty. In answer to a call of the Senate for the correspondence upon this subject, Seward replied, February 5, 1864.

That"application has been made for a revival of a similar treaty which was negotiated here during the administration of President Pierce, but which was not approved by the Senate. After due consideration, however, especially in connection with the probable effect of such a measure on the public revenue at this juncture, it has not been deemed advisable further to entertain the subject. It is not deemed expedient at present to communicate the correspondence called for by the resolution."

On October 9, 1863, James McBride, United States Minister at Honolulu, had written to Seward, that American influence, in the Hawaiian Islands was declining, and that of Great Britain was taking its place. American interests, he said, predominated over all others combined, not less than four-fifths of the islands being American, and he thought "it would be a flagrant injustice to American citizens, after they have labored for the good of these islands for the past forty years, after they have brought these people out of barbarism and taught them. civilization, science, and religion; in a word made them an intelligent and Christian nation, and have done all that has been done in the development of the resources of the country, and given it a world-wide popularity, to be either driven out or so treated and harassed as to make it necessary for their interests to sacrifice their property and leave."

Edward McCook, who succeeded McBride, appeared to take a different view of affairs in Hawaii. He wrote to Seward, September 3, 1866, in part as follows:

"Before my arrival here I was led to believe that this Government displayed a marked hostility towards the Government and citizens of the United States. *** I am perfectly satisfied that no such feeling does exist. Many of the American residents have rendered themselves obnoxious to the King and his cabinet by personal abuse of the ministers and unwarranted interference in the political affairs of the Kingdom. The natural result of this has been dislike, freely expressed, on both sides. *** Another

class of Americans, the missionaries, have controlled the political affairs of the country since 1820. They are dissatisfied because within the last few years they have lost their hold upon the Government and its offices. The first class of Americans are generally disappointed adventurers, the second class are religionists, who, having once exercised supreme power in church and state, feel all the bitterness of disappointment at seeing their political power pass into other hands and knowing that the native population is beginning to listen to a religion preached from other pulpits than their own. The American missionaries have undoubtedly labored faithfully; but it is their own fault, if, after forty years' experience as keepers of the conscience to the nations and their princes, they permit themselves to be driven from the field by an adroit English priest, whose church is a mere political machine, and who possesses neither the intelligence nor the virtue of his more experienced and Puritanical brother missionaries. ***

There is still another class-the planters of the country. They are nearly all Americans, both in nationality and in sympathy; they are the better class of the residents of the islands, possess its substantial wealth, control its resources, and annually ship 20,000,000 pounds of sugar to the Pacific coast of the United States. Their pecuniary interests, their political sympathies, their business relations, and their personal attachments are all with the United States and its citizens."

Mr. McCook goes on to describe the advantages to the United States of the possession of the Hawaiian Islands, and expresses the belief that the people would be unanimously in favor of annexation. Mr. Seward answers in a guarded manner, telling McCook, "you are at liberty to sound the proper authority on the larger subject mentioned in your note and ascertain probable conditions. You may confidentially receive overtures and communicate the same to me."

Besides this "lager subject" of Seward's (annexation), negotiations were going on with reference to a reciprocity treaty; but as the United States had sent a ship of war, the Lackawanna, to Honolulu, the government of Hawaii refused to further consider the question while this vessel remained in port. On the 30th of July the Lackawanna departed, and the reciprocity treaty was completed and ratified by the Hawaiian government, an