ment was in full possession and control of the palace, the barracks, and the police station;" and the presence of the American troops, who were landed without permission of the existing government, was used for the purpose of inducing the surrender of the Queen, who abdicated under protest with the understanding that her case would be submitted to the President of the United States. In conclusion. Mr. Gresham said:

"Should not the great wrong done to a feeble but independent state by an abuse of the authority of the United States be undone by restoring the legitimate government? Anything short of that will not, I respectfully submit, satisfy the demands of justice. Our Government was the first to recognize the independence of the islands, and it should be the last to acquire sovereignty over them by force and fraud."a

Proposal to restore the Queen.

On the day on which this report was made Mr. Gresham instructed Mr. Willis, who had been appointed to succeed Mr. Blount as minister to the islands, that the President would not send back the treaty to the Senate for its action. Mr. Willis was directed to acquaint the Queen with this determination, and to make known to her the President's regret that "the reprehensible conduct of the American minister and the unauthorized presence on land of a military force of the United States obliged her to surrender her sovereignty, for the time being, and rely on the justice of this Government to undo the flagrant wrong." Mr. Willis was, however, also to inform the Queen that the President would expect her, when reinstated, to pursue a magnanimous course by granting full amnesty to all who participated in the movement against her and to assume all obligations created by the provisional government. Having secured the Queen's assent to this course, Mr. Willis was then to advise the provisional government of the President's decision, which their action and that of the Queen were understood to have devolved upon him, and of his expectation that they would promptly relinquish to her her constitutional authority. Should the Queen decline to pursue the course suggested, or should the provisional government refuse to abide by the President's decision, Mr. Willis was to report the facts and await further instructions. He was subsequently directed to inform the Queen that the President could not use force to restore her without authority of Congress."

When Mr. Willis, on November 13, 1893, made to the Queen the communication with which he was intrusted, she refused to grant an amnesty to those who had been instrumental in the overthrow of

a For. Rel. 1894, App. II. 459, 463. For the full correspondence respecting affairs in Hawaii, see S. Ex. Docs. 13, 46, 57, 65, 77; H. Ex. Docs. 47, 48, 70, 76, 79, 95, 112, 140; S. Report 227, and H. Report 243, parts 1 and 2-all 53 Cong. 2 sess.

b For. Rel. 1894, App. II. 463, 465.

her government. "I have no legal right to do that," she said, “and I would not do it. These people were the cause of the revolution and constitution of 1887. There will never be any peace while they are here. They must be sent out of the country, or punished, and their property confiscated." The legal objection mentioned by the Queen was supposed to relate to the provision of the penal code by which death and confiscation of property were made the penalty of treason. In view of the nature of the Queen's response Mr. Willis awaited further instructions. A month later the Queen gave her unqualified assent in writing to the conditions suggested by President Cleveland," but the provisional government refused to acquiesce in his conclusion, on the ground (1) that it involved an inadmissible interference in the domestic affairs of Hawaii, and with the provisional government, which had been formally recognized and treated with by the United States; (2) that there was no understanding on either side to submit the question of the restoration of the Queen to the President of the United States; (3) that Mr. Blount's report, on which the President's conclusion was based, had not been communicated to the provisional government, and that there had not been such an investigation and hearing of the case as would be essential to the formation of a correct opinion; (4) that the revolution of January, 1893, was the result of an attempted coup d'état of the Queen, who sought to overthrow the constitution of 1887, and that it would have taken place if the United States forces had been absent."

Dec. 18, 1893.

Meanwhile, President Cleveland had submitted the matter to Congress in a message, dated December 18, 1893. ReferPresident Cleve- ring to his course in withdrawing the treaty of land's message, annexation from the Senate, he stated that he had been influenced (1) by the "contemplated departure from unbroken American tradition in providing for the addition to our territory of islands of the sea more than 2,000 miles removed from our nearest coast," and (2), while that consideration might not of itself call for interference with the completion of a treaty entered upon by a previous administration," by the fact that it appeared from the documents accompanying the treaty, when submitted to the

a For. Rel. 1894, App. II. 1242, 1262, 1269, 1270.

b For. Rel. 1894, App. II. 1276-1282.

In his annual message, Dec. 4, 1893, President Cleveland referred to the overthrow of the native government in Hawaii, the negotiation of the treaty of annexation and his withdrawal of it from the Senate, the appointment of Mr. Blount and the result of his investigations, and the giving of "appropriate instructions" to the new minister to Hawaii with a view "to undo the wrong that had been done by those representing us and to restore as far as practicable the status existing at the time of our forcible intervention." He stated that additional advices were soon expected, and that when received they would be communicated to Congress with a special message.

Senate, "that the ownership of Hawaii was tendered to us by a provisional government set up to succeed the constitutional ruler of the islands, who had been dethroned, and it did not appear that such provisional government had the sanction of either popular revolution or suffrage." Two other features of the transaction, he said, naturally attracted attention; one was "the extraordinary haste-not to say precipitancy characterizing all the transactions connected with the treaty." Between the "initiation of the scheme for a provisional government in Hawaii on the 14th day of January and the submission to the Senate of the treaty of annexation concluded with such Government, the entire interval was thirty-two days, fifteen of which were spent by the Hawaiian commissioners in their journey to Washington." Upon the evidence before him, President Cleveland expressed the conclusion that Hawaii was taken possession of by the United States forces "without the consent or wish of the Government of the islands, or of anybody else so far as shown, except the United States minister;" that the provisional government was recognized by the United States minister pursuant to prior agreement, at a time when it was "neither a government de facto nor de jure;" that the Queen was then in full possession of all the powers of government, and that she was induced to abdicate, with the concurrence of the representatives of the provisional government, with the understanding that her cause would thereafter be reviewed at Washington.

When this message was sent in, information had been received of the refusal of the Queen to accede to the conditions prescribed by the President for her restoration, but not of her later acquiescence, which had just then been expressed. The President referred to the check thus given to his plans, and concluded with the assurance that he should be "much gratified to cooperate in any legislative plan which may be devised for the solution of the problem before us which is consistent with American honor, integrity, and morality.'

March 15, 1894, an act was passed by the provisional government to provide for the election and assembling of delegates Formation of con- to a constitutional convention. Such a convention stitutional repub- met at Honolulu May 30, 1894. It adjourned on the 5th of the following July, having been in session twenty-four days, and adopted a constitution which was proclaimed on the 4th of July."

lic.

"Since communicating the voluminous correspondence in regard to Hawaii and the action taken by the Senate and House of Representatatives on certain questions submitted to the judgment and wider discretion of Congress, the organization of a government in place of the provisional arrangement which followed the deposition of the Queen

a For. Rel. 1892, App. II. 445-458, 1262.
For. Rel. 1894, App. II. 1317, 1350.

has been announced with evidence of its effective operation. The recognition usual in such cases has been accorded the new Government. January 9, 1895, President Cleveland submitted to Congress a message in relation to the desire of the Hawaiian Government to lease Necker Island, one of the uninhabited islands belonging to the group, as a station for a submarine cable to be laid from Canada to Australia, with a connection between that island and Honolulu. It was admitted that by the reciprocity treaty the lease could not be effected without the consent of the United States; but, in view of "the advantages to be gained by isolated Hawaii through telegraphic communication with the rest of the world," it was recommended that the request of the Hawaiian Government be granted.' The necessary consent was not given.

Native revolt, Jan. 1895.

In January, 1895, a native revolt was attempted near Honolulu, led by the "half-white Hawaiian rebels, Nowlein, Bertlemann, Warren, and others." It was their intention. to march on Honolulu on Monday, the 7th of the month. A police raid, however, on Bertlemann's house at Waikiki, disconcerted their plans. The Government took prompt and vigorous measures, and instituted on January 17 a military commission of seven members, martial law having been declared. By the end of January, 38 persons had been tried, of whom five claimed to be citizens of the United States and one an Englishman, while the rest were-half-castes and Hawaiians. Various persons were also expelled. The ex-Queen was arrested and held a prisoner in the executive building, formerly the palace. On the 24th of January she sent the Government a letter, disclaiming any connection with the revolt, recognizing the Republic, and renouncing all claims and pretensions, political or otherwise, “excepting only such rights and privileges as belong to me in common with all private citizens or residents in the Republic of Hawaii;" and she also presented an oath of allegiance to the Republic. Martial law was maintained till March 18, 1895. Among those convicted by the military court of complicity in the attempted uprising was ex-Queen Liliuokalani. In October, 1896, she received a full pardon, relieving her of a $5,000 fine imposed by the court and restoring her to all the rights of Hawaiian citizenship. This appears to have constituted the final chapter in the history of the revolt."

@ President Cleveland, annual message, Dec. 3, 1894.

For. Rel. 1894, App. II. 1375.

e For. Rel. 1895, II. 818, et seq.

d For. Rel. 1895, II. 820-825.

For. Rel. 1895, II. 818-867. See also For. Rel. 1894, App. II. 1391, 1396. Feb. 16, 1895, Mr. Willis, United States minister at Honolulu, reported that about a hundred persons had been tried by the commission, and that there were about two hundred political prisoners besides. (For. Rel. 1895, II. 832.)

f For. Rel. 1896, 388.

9 Report of Mr. Olney, Sec. of State, to the President, Dec. 7, 1896, For. Rel. 1896, lxxv.

Signature of annexation treaty, June 16, 1897.

By article 32 of the constitution promulgated in 1894, the President of the Republic of Hawaii was expressly authorized and empowered, with the approval of the cabinet, "to make a treaty of political or commercial union," with the United States, subject to ratification in legal form. A new treaty of annexation was concluded at Washington, June 16, 1897. It was signed on the part of the United States by Mr. Sherman, Secretary of State, and by three commissioners on the part of Hawaii. It was submitted by President McKinley to the Senate on the same day, with a message in which he said:

"Not only is the union of the Hawaiian territory to the United States no new scheme, but it is the inevitable consequence of the relation steadfastly maintained with that mid-Pacific domain for three-quarters of a century. Its accomplishment, despite successive denials and postponements, has been merely a question of time. While its failure in 1893 may not be a cause of congratulation, it is certainly a proof of the disinterestedness of the United States, the delay of four years having abundantly sufficed to establish the right and the ability of the Republic of Hawaii to enter, as a sovereign contractant, upon a conventional union with the United States, thus realizing a purpose held by the Hawaiian people and proclaimed by successive Hawaiian governments through some seventy years of their virtual dependence upon the benevolent protection of the United States. Under such circumstances, annexation is not a change; it is a consummation.” a

"The Senate having removed the injunction of secrecy, although the treaty is still pending before that body, the subject may be properly referred to in this message because the necessary action of the Congress is required to determine by legislation many details of the eventual union, should the fact of annexation be accomplished, as I believe it should be. That treaty was unanimously ratified without amendment by the Senate and President of the Republic of Hawaii on the 10th of September last, and only awaits the favorable action of the American Senate to effect the complete absorption of the islands into the domain of the United States. What the conditions of such a union shall be, the political relation thereof to the United States, the character of the local administration, the quality and degree of the elective franchise of the inhabitants, the extension of the Federal laws to the territory or the enactment of special laws to fit the peculiar condition thereof, the regulation if need be of the labor system therein, are all matters which the treaty has wisely relegated to the Congress. "If the treaty is confirmed, as every consideration of dignity and honor requires, the wisdom of Congress will see to it that, avoiding @S. Ex. E, 55 Cong. 1 sess. Similar statements may be found in President McKinley's annual messages of Dec. 6, 1897, and Dec. 5, 1898.