The Legitimate Government in Hawaii Series: Timeline of the Events of 1893 - Planned Invasion and Usurping Queen Liliuokalani
Reviewed by Amelia Gora (2024)
The following information was obtained from the U.S. President Clevelands, and U.S. President McKinley's records from the Gutenberg website:
The focus is on Hawaii 1893 to - 1900:\
1893 - U.S. President Grover Cleveland's Papers:
SPECIAL MESSAGES.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, Washington, December 18, 1893.
To the Senate and House of Representatives:
In my recent annual message to the Congress I briefly referred to our relations with Hawaii and expressed the intention of transmitting further information on the subject when additional advices permitted.
Though I am not able now to report a definite change in the actual situation, I am convinced that the difficulties lately created both here and in Hawaii, and now standing in the way of a solution through Executive action of the problem presented, render it proper and expedient that the matter should be referred to the broader authority and discretion of Congress, with a full explanation of the endeavor thus far made to deal with the emergency and a statement of the considerations which have governed my action.
I suppose that right and justice should determine the path to be followed in treating this subject. If national honesty is to be disregarded and a desire for territorial extension or dissatisfaction with a form of government not our own ought to regulate our conduct, I have entirely misapprehended the mission and character of our Government and the behavior which the conscience of our people demands of their public servants.
When the present Administration entered upon its duties, the Senate had under consideration a treaty providing for the annexation of the Hawaiian Islands to the territory of the United States. Surely under our Constitution and laws the enlargement of our limits is a manifestation of the highest attribute of sovereignty, and if entered upon as an Executive act all things relating to the transaction should be clear and free from suspicion. Additional importance attached to this particular treaty of annexation because it contemplated a 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.
These considerations might not of themselves call for interference with the completion of a treaty entered upon by a previous Administration, but it appeared from the documents accompanying the treaty when submitted to the 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 remarkable features of the transaction naturally attracted attention. One was the extraordinary haste, not to say precipitancy, characterizing all the transactions connected with the treaty. It appeared that a so-called committee of safety, ostensibly the source of the revolt against the constitutional Government of Hawaii, was organized on Saturday, the 14th day of January; that on Monday, the 16th, the United States forces were landed at Honolulu from a naval vessel lying in its harbor; that on the 17th the scheme of a Provisional Government was perfected, and a proclamation naming its officers was on the same day prepared and read at the Government building; that immediately thereupon the United States minister recognized the Provisional Government thus created; that two days afterwards, on the 19th day of January, commissioners representing such Government sailed for this country in a steamer especially chartered for the occasion, arriving in San Francisco on the 28th day of January and in Washington on the 3d day of February; that on the next day they had their first interview with the Secretary of State, and another on the 11th, when the treaty of annexation was practically agreed upon, and that on the 14th it was formally concluded and on the 15th transmitted to the Senate. Thus 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.
In the next place, upon the face of the papers submitted with the treaty it clearly appeared that there was open and undetermined an issue of fact of the most vital importance. The message of the President accompanying the treaty4 declared that "the overthrow of the monarchy was not in any way promoted by this Government," and in a letter to the President from the Secretary of State, also submitted to the Senate with the treaty, the following passage occurs:
At the time the Provisional Government took possession of the Government buildings no troops or officers of the United States were present or took any part whatever in the proceedings. No public recognition was accorded to the Provisional Government by the United States minister until after the Queen's abdication and when they were in effective possession of the Government buildings, the archives, the treasury, the barracks, the police station, and all the potential machinery of the Government.
But a protest also accompanied said treaty, signed by the Queen and her ministers at the time she made way for the Provisional Government, which explicitly stated that she yielded to the superior force of the United States, whose minister had caused United States troops to be landed at Honolulu and declared that he would support such Provisional Government.
The truth or falsity of this protest was surely of the first importance. If true, nothing but the concealment of its truth could induce our Government to negotiate with the semblance of a government thus created, nor could a treaty resulting from the acts stated in the protest have been knowingly deemed worthy of consideration by the Senate. Yet the truth or falsity of the protest had not been investigated.
I conceived it to be my duty, therefore, to withdraw the treaty from the Senate for examination, and meanwhile to cause an accurate, full, and impartial investigation to be made of the facts attending the subversion of the constitutional Government of Hawaii and the installment in its place of the Provisional Government. I selected for the work of investigation the Hon. James H. Blount, of Georgia, whose service of eighteen years as a member of the House of Representatives and whose experience as chairman of the Committee of Foreign Affairs in that body, and his consequent familiarity with international topics, joined with his high character and honorable reputation, seemed to render him peculiarly fitted for the duties intrusted to him. His report detailing his action under the instructions given to him and the conclusions derived from his investigation accompany this message.
These conclusions do not rest for their acceptance entirely upon Mr. Blount's honesty and ability as a man, nor upon his acumen and impartiality as an investigator. They are accompanied by the evidence upon which they are based, which evidence is also herewith transmitted, and from which it seems to me no other deductions could possibly be reached than those arrived at by the commissioner.
The report, with its accompanying proofs and such other evidence as is now before the Congress or is herewith submitted, justifies, in my opinion, the statement that when the President was led to submit the treaty to the Senate with the declaration that "the overthrow of the monarchy was not in any way promoted by this Government," and when the Senate was induced to receive and discuss it on that basis, both President and Senate were misled.
The attempt will not be made in this communication to touch upon all the facts which throw light upon the progress and consummation of this scheme of annexation. A very brief and imperfect reference to the facts and evidence at hand will exhibit its character and the incidents in which it had its birth.
It is unnecessary to set forth the reasons which in January, 1893, led a considerable proportion of American and other foreign merchants and traders residing at Honolulu to favor the annexation of Hawaii to the United States. It is sufficient to note the fact and to observe that the project was one which was zealously promoted by the minister representing the United States in that country. He evidently had an ardent desire that it should become a fact accomplished by his agency and during his ministry, and was not inconveniently scrupulous as to the means employed to that end. On the 19th day of November, 1892, nearly two months before the first overt act tending toward the subversion of the Hawaiian Government and the attempted transfer of Hawaiian territory to the United States, he addressed a long letter to the Secretary of State, in which the case for annexation was elaborately argued on moral, political, and economical grounds. He refers to the loss to the Hawaiian sugar interests from the operation of the McKinley bill and the tendency to still further depreciation of sugar property unless some positive measure of relief is granted. He strongly inveighs against the existing Hawaiian Government and emphatically declares for annexation. He says:
In truth, the monarchy here is an absurd anachronism. It has nothing on which it logically or legitimately stands. The feudal basis on which it once stood no longer existing, the monarchy now is only an impediment to good government—an obstruction to the prosperity and progress of the islands.
He further says:
As a Crown colony of Great Britain or a Territory of the United States the government modifications could be made readily and good administration of the law secured. Destiny and the vast future interests of the United States in the Pacific clearly indicate who at no distant day must be responsible for the government of these islands. Under a Territorial government they could be as easily governed as any of the existing Territories of the United States. * * * Hawaii has reached the parting of the ways. She must now take the road which leads to Asia, or the other, which outlets her in America, gives her an American civilization, and binds her to the care of American destiny.
He also declares:
One of two courses seems to me absolutely necessary to be followed—either bold and vigorous measures for annexation or a "customs union," an ocean cable from the Californian coast to Honolulu, Pearl Harbor perpetually ceded to the United States, with an implied but not expressly stipulated American protectorate over the islands. I believe the former to be the better, that which will prove much the more advantageous to the islands and the cheapest and least embarrassing in the end to the United States. If it was wise for the United States, through Secretary Marcy, thirty-eight years ago, to offer to expend $100,000 to secure a treaty of annexation, it certainly can not be chimerical or unwise to expend $100,000 to secure annexation in the near future. To-day the United States has five times the wealth she possessed in 1854, and the reasons now existing for annexation are much stronger than they were then. I can not refrain from expressing the opinion with emphasis that the golden hour is near at hand.
These declarations certainly show a disposition and condition of mind which may be usefully recalled when interpreting the significance of the minister's conceded acts or when considering the probabilities of such conduct on his part as may not be admitted.
In this view it seems proper to also quote from a letter written by the minister to the Secretary of State on the 8th day of March, 1892, nearly a year prior to the first step taken toward annexation. After stating the possibility that the existing Government of Hawaii might be overturned by an orderly and peaceful revolution, Minister Stevens writes as follows:
Ordinarily, in like circumstances, the rule seems to be to limit the landing and movement of United States forces in foreign waters and dominion exclusively to the protection of the United States legation and of the lives and property of American citizens; but as the relations of the United States to Hawaii are exceptional, and in former years the United States officials here took somewhat exceptional action in circumstances of disorder, I desire to know how far the present minister and naval commander may deviate from established international rules and precedents in the contingencies indicated in the first part of this dispatch.
To a minister of this temper, full of zeal for annexation, there seemed to arise in January, 1893, the precise opportunity for which he was watchfully waiting—an opportunity which by timely "deviation from established international rules and precedents" might be improved to successfully accomplish the great object in view; and we are quite prepared for the exultant enthusiasm with which, in a letter to the State Department dated February 1, 1893, he declares:
The Hawaiian pear is now fully ripe, and this is the golden hour for the United States to pluck it.
As a further illustration of the activity of this diplomatic representative, attention is called to the fact that on the day the above letter was written, apparently unable longer to restrain his ardor, he issued a proclamation whereby, "in the name of the United States," he assumed the protection of the Hawaiian Islands and declared that said action was "taken pending and subject to negotiations at Washington." Of course this assumption of a protectorate was promptly disavowed by our Government, but the American flag remained over the Government building at Honolulu and the forces remained on guard until April, and after Mr. Blount's arrival on the scene, when both were removed.
A brief statement of the occurrences that led to the subversion of the constitutional Government of Hawaii in the interests of annexation to the United States will exhibit the true complexion of that transaction.
On Saturday, January 14, 1893, the Queen of Hawaii, who had been contemplating the proclamation of a new constitution, had, in deference to the wishes and remonstrances of her cabinet, renounced the project for the present at least. Taking this relinquished purpose as a basis of action, citizens of Honolulu numbering from fifty to one hundred, mostly resident aliens, met in a private office and selected a so-called committee of safety, composed of thirteen persons, seven of whom were foreign subjects, and consisted of five Americans, one Englishman, and one German. This committee, though its designs were not revealed, had in view nothing less than annexation to the United States, and between Saturday, the 14th, and the following Monday, the 16th of January—though exactly what action was taken may not be clearly disclosed—they were certainly in communication with the United States minister. On Monday morning the Queen and her cabinet made public proclamation, with a notice which was specially served upon the representatives of all foreign governments, that any changes in the constitution would be sought only in the methods provided by that instrument. Nevertheless, at the call and under the auspices of the committee of safety, a mass meeting of citizens was held on that day to protest against the Queen's alleged illegal and unlawful proceedings and purposes. Even at this meeting the committee of safety continued to disguise their real purpose and contented themselves with procuring the passage of a resolution denouncing the Queen and empowering the committee to devise ways and means "to secure the permanent maintenance of law and order and the protection of life, liberty, and property in Hawaii." This meeting adjourned between 3 and 4 o'clock in the afternoon. On the same day, and immediately after such adjournment, the committee, unwilling to take further steps without the cooperation of the United States minister, addressed him a note representing that the public safety was menaced and that lives and property were in danger, and concluded as follows:
We are unable to protect ourselves without aid, and therefore pray for the protection of the United States forces.
Whatever may be thought of the other contents of this note, the absolute truth of this latter statement is incontestable. When the note was written and delivered the committee, so far as it appears, had neither a man nor a gun at their command, and after its delivery they became so panic-stricken at their position that they sent some of their number to interview the minister and request him not to land the United States forces till the next morning. But he replied that the troops had been ordered and whether the committee were ready or not the landing should take place. And so it happened that on the 16th day of January, 1893, between 4 and 5 o'clock in the afternoon, a detachment of marines from the United States steamer Boston, with two pieces of artillery, landed at Honolulu. The men, upward of 160 in all, were supplied with double cartridge belts filled with ammunition and with haversacks and canteens, and were accompanied by a hospital corps with stretchers and medical supplies.
This military demonstration upon the soil of Honolulu was of itself an act of war, unless made either with the consent of the Government of Hawaii or for the bona fide purpose of protecting the imperiled lives and property of citizens of the United States. But there is no pretense of any such consent on the part of the Government of the Queen, which at that time was undisputed and was both the de facto and the de jure Government. In point of fact the existing Government, instead of requesting the presence of an armed force, protested against it. There is as little basis for the pretense that such forces were landed for the security of American life and property. If so, they would have been stationed in the vicinity of such property and so as to protect it, instead of at a distance and so as to command the Hawaiian Government building and palace. Admiral Skerrett, the officer in command of our naval force on the Pacific station, has frankly stated that in his opinion the location of the troops was inadvisable if they were landed for the protection of American citizens, whose residences and places of business, as well as the legation and consulate, were in a distant part of the city; but the location selected was a wise one if the forces were landed for the purpose of supporting the Provisional Government. If any peril to life and property calling for any such martial array had existed, Great Britain and other foreign powers interested would not have been behind the United States in activity to protect their citizens. But they made no sign in that direction. When these armed men were landed the city of Honolulu was in its customary orderly and peaceful condition. There was no symptom of riot or disturbance in any quarter. Men, women, and children were about the streets as usual, and nothing varied the ordinary routine or disturbed the ordinary tranquillity except the landing of the Boston's marines and their march through the town to the quarters assigned them. Indeed, the fact that after having called for the landing of the United States forces on the plea of danger to life and property the committee of safety themselves requested the minister to postpone action exposed the untruthfulness of their representations of present peril to life and property. The peril they saw was an anticipation growing out of guilty intentions on their part and something which, though not then existing, they knew would certainly follow their attempt to overthrow the Government of the Queen without the aid of the United States forces.
Thus it appears 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. Therefore the military occupation of Honolulu by the United States on the day mentioned was wholly without justification, either as an occupation by consent or as an occupation necessitated by dangers threatening American life and property. It must be accounted for in some other way and on some other ground, and its real motive and purpose are neither obscure nor far to seek.
The United States forces being now on the scene and favorably stationed, the committee proceeded to carry out their original scheme. They met the next morning, Tuesday, the 17th, perfected the plan of temporary government, and fixed upon its principal officers, ten of whom were drawn from the thirteen members of the committee of safety. Between 1 and 2 o'clock, by squads and by different routes to avoid notice, and having first taken the precaution of ascertaining whether there was anyone there to oppose them, they proceeded to the Government building to proclaim the new Government. No sign of opposition was manifest, and thereupon an American citizen began to read the proclamation from the steps of the Government building, almost entirely without auditors. It is said that before the reading was finished quite a concourse of persons, variously estimated at from 50 to 100, some armed and some unarmed, gathered about the committee to give them aid and confidence. This statement is not important, since the one controlling factor in the whole affair was unquestionably the United States marines, who, drawn up under arms and with artillery in readiness only 76 yards distant, dominated the situation.
The Provisional Government thus proclaimed was by the terms of the proclamation "to exist until terms of union with the United States had been negotiated and agreed upon." The United States minister, pursuant to prior agreement, recognized this Government within an hour after the reading of the proclamation, and before 5 o'clock, in answer to an inquiry on behalf of the Queen and her cabinet, announced that he had done so.
When our minister recognized the Provisional Government, the only basis upon which it rested was the fact that the committee of safety had in the manner above stated declared it to exist. It was neither a government de facto nor de jure. That it was not in such possession of the Government property and agencies as entitled it to recognition is conclusively proved by a note found in the files of the legation at Honolulu, addressed by the declared head of the Provisional Government to Minister Stevens, dated January 17, 1893, in which he acknowledges with expressions of appreciation the minister's recognition of the Provisional Government, and states that it is not yet in the possession of the station house (the place where a large number of the Queen's troops were quartered), though the same had been demanded of the Queen's officers in charge. Nevertheless, this wrongful recognition by our minister placed the Government of the Queen in a position of most perilous perplexity. On the one hand she had possession of the palace, of the barracks, and of the police station, and had at her command at least 500 fully armed men and several pieces of artillery. Indeed, the whole military force of her Kingdom was on her side and at her disposal, while the committee of safety, by actual search, had discovered that there were but very few arms in Honolulu that were not in the service of the Government.
In this state of things, if the Queen could have dealt with the insurgents alone, her course would have been plain and the result unmistakable. But the United States had allied itself with her enemies, had recognized them as the true Government of Hawaii, and had put her and her adherents in the position of opposition against lawful authority. She knew that she could not withstand the power of the United States, but she believed that she might safely trust to its justice. Accordingly, some hours after the recognition of the Provisional Government by the United States minister, the palace, the barracks, and the police station, with all the military resources of the country, were delivered up by the Queen upon the representation made to her that her cause would thereafter be reviewed at Washington, and while protesting that she surrendered to the superior force of the United States, whose minister had caused United States troops to be landed at Honolulu and declared that he would support the Provisional Government, and that she yielded her authority to prevent collision of armed forces and loss of life, and only until such time as the United States, upon the facts being presented to it, should undo the action of its representative and reinstate her in the authority she claimed as the constitutional sovereign of the Hawaiian Islands.
This protest was delivered to the chief of the Provisional Government, who indorsed thereon his acknowledgment of its receipt. The terms of the protest were read without dissent by those assuming to constitute the Provisional Government, who were certainly charged with the knowledge that the Queen, instead of finally abandoning her power, had appealed to the justice of the United States for reinstatement in her authority; and yet the Provisional Government, with this unanswered protest in its hand, hastened to negotiate with the United States for the permanent banishment of the Queen from power and for a sale of her Kingdom.
Our country was in danger of occupying the position of having actually set up a temporary government on foreign soil for the purpose of acquiring through that agency territory which we had wrongfully put in its possession. The control of both sides of a bargain acquired in such a manner is called by a familiar and unpleasant name when found in private transactions. We are not without a precedent showing how scrupulously we avoided such accusations in former days. After the people of Texas had declared their independence of Mexico they resolved that on the acknowledgment of their independence by the United States they would seek admission into the Union. Several months after the battle of San Jacinto, by which Texan independence was practically assured and established, President Jackson declined to recognize it, alleging as one of his reasons that in the circumstances it became us "to beware of a too early movement, as it might subject us, however unjustly, to the imputation of seeking to establish the claim of our neighbors to a territory with a view to its subsequent acquisition by ourselves." This is in marked contrast with the hasty recognition of a government openly and concededly set up for the purpose of tendering to us territorial annexation.
I believe that a candid and thorough examination of the facts will force the conviction that the Provisional Government owes its existence to an armed invasion by the United States. Fair-minded people, with the evidence before them, will hardly claim that the Hawaiian Government was overthrown by the people of the islands or that the Provisional Government had ever existed with their consent. I do not understand that any member of this Government claims that the people would uphold it by their suffrages if they were allowed to vote on the question.
While naturally sympathizing with every effort to establish a republican form of government, it has been the settled policy of the United States to concede to people of foreign countries the same freedom and independence in the management of their domestic affairs that we have always claimed for ourselves, and it has been our practice to recognize revolutionary governments as soon as it became apparent that they were supported by the people. For illustration of this rule I need only to refer to the revolution in Brazil in 1889, when our minister was instructed to recognize the Republic "so soon as a majority of the people of Brazil should have signified their assent to its establishment and maintenance;" to the revolution in Chile in 1891, when our minister was directed to recognize the new Government "if it was accepted by the people," and to the revolution in Venezuela in 1892, when our recognition was accorded on condition that the new Government was "fully established, in possession of the power of the nation, and accepted by the people."
As I apprehend the situation, we are brought face to face with the following conditions:
The lawful Government of Hawaii was overthrown without the drawing of a sword or the firing of a shot by a process every step of which, it may safely be asserted, is directly traceable to and dependent for its success upon the agency of the United States acting through its diplomatic and naval representatives.
But for the notorious predilections of the United States minister for annexation the committee of safety, which should be called the committee of annexation, would never have existed.
But for the landing of the United States forces upon false pretexts respecting the danger to life and property the committee would never have exposed themselves to the pains and penalties of treason by undertaking the subversion of the Queen's Government.
But for the presence of the United States forces in the immediate vicinity and in position to afford all needed protection and support the committee would not have proclaimed the Provisional Government from the steps of the Government building.
And finally, but for the lawless occupation of Honolulu under false pretexts by the United States forces, and but for Minister Stevens's recognition of the Provisional Government when the United States forces were its sole support and constituted its only military strength, the Queen and her Government would never have yielded to the Provisional Government, even for a time and for the sole purpose of submitting her case to the enlightened justice of the United States.
Believing, therefore, that the United States could not, under the circumstances disclosed, annex the islands without justly incurring the imputation of acquiring them by unjustifiable methods, I shall not again submit the treaty of annexation to the Senate for its consideration, and in the instructions to Minister Willis, a copy of which accompanies this message, I have directed him to so inform the Provisional Government.
But in the present instance our duty does not, in my opinion, end with refusing to consummate this questionable transaction. It has been the boast of our Government that it seeks to do justice in all things without regard to the strength or weakness of those with whom it deals. I mistake the American people if they favor the odious doctrine that there is no such thing as international morality; that there is one law for a strong nation and another for a weak one, and that even by indirection a strong power may with impunity despoil a weak one of its territory.
By an act of war, committed with the participation of a diplomatic representative of the United States and without authority of Congress, the Government of a feeble but friendly and confiding people has been overthrown. A substantial wrong has thus been done which a due regard for our national character as well as the rights of the injured people requires we should endeavor to repair. The Provisional Government has not assumed a republican or other constitutional form, but has remained a mere executive council or oligarchy, set up without the assent of the people. It has not sought to find a permanent basis of popular support and has given no evidence of an intention to do so. Indeed, the representatives of that Government assert that the people of Hawaii are unfit for popular government and frankly avow that they can be best ruled by arbitrary or despotic power.
The law of nations is founded upon reason and justice, and the rules of conduct governing individual relations between citizens or subjects of a civilized state are equally applicable as between enlightened nations.
The considerations that international law is without a court for its enforcement and that obedience to its commands practically depends upon good faith instead of upon the mandate of a superior tribunal only give additional sanction to the law itself and brand any deliberate infraction of it not merely as a wrong, but as a disgrace. A man of true honor protects the unwritten word which binds his conscience more scrupulously, if possible, than he does the bond a breach of which subjects him to legal liabilities, and the United States, in aiming to maintain itself as one of the most enlightened nations, would do its citizens gross injustice if it applied to its international relations any other than a high standard of honor and morality. On that ground the United States can not properly be put in the position of countenancing a wrong after its commission any more than in that of consenting to it in advance. On that ground it can not allow itself to refuse to redress an injury inflicted through an abuse of power by officers clothed with its authority and wearing its uniform; and on the same ground, if a feeble but friendly state is in danger of being robbed of its independence and its sovereignty by a misuse of the name and power of the United States, the United States can not fail to vindicate its honor and its sense of justice by an earnest effort to make all possible reparation.
These principles apply to the present case with irresistible force when the special conditions of the Queen's surrender of her sovereignty are recalled. She surrendered, not to the Provisional Government, but to the United States. She surrendered, not absolutely and permanently, but temporarily and conditionally until such time as the facts could be considered by the United States. Furthermore, the Provisional Government acquiesced in her surrender in that manner and on those terms, not only by tacit consent, but through the positive acts of some members of that Government, who urged her peaceable submission, not merely to avoid bloodshed, but because she could place implicit reliance upon the justice of the United States and that the whole subject would be finally considered at Washington.
I have not, however, overlooked an incident of this unfortunate affair which remains to be mentioned. The members of the Provisional Government and their supporters, though not entitled to extreme sympathy, have been led to their present predicament of revolt against the Government of the Queen by the indefensible encouragement and assistance of our diplomatic representative. This fact may entitle them to claim that in our effort to rectify the wrong committed some regard should be had for their safety. This sentiment is strongly seconded by my anxiety to do nothing which would invite either harsh retaliation on the part of the Queen or violence and bloodshed in any quarter. In the belief that the Queen, as well as her enemies, would be willing to adopt such a course as would meet these conditions, and in view of the fact that both the Queen and the Provisional Government had at one time apparently acquiesced in a reference of the entire case to the United States Government, and considering the further fact that in any event the Provisional Government by its own declared limitation was only "to exist until terms of union with the United States of America have been negotiated and agreed upon," I hoped that after the assurance to the members of that Government that such union could not be consummated I might compass a peaceful adjustment of the difficulty.
Actuated by these desires and purposes, and not unmindful of the inherent perplexities of the situation nor of the limitations upon my power, I instructed Minister Willis to advise the Queen and her supporters of my desire to aid in the restoration of the status existing before the lawless landing of the United States forces at Honolulu on the 16th of January last if such restoration could be effected upon terms providing for clemency as well as justice to all parties concerned. The conditions suggested, as the instructions show, contemplate a general amnesty to those concerned in setting up the Provisional Government and a recognition of all its bona fide acts and obligations. In short, they require that the past should be buried and that the restored Government should reassume its authority as if its continuity had not been interrupted. These conditions have not proved acceptable to the Queen, and though she has been informed that they will be insisted upon and that unless acceded to the efforts of the President to aid in the restoration of her Government will cease, I have not thus far learned that she is willing to yield them her acquiescence. The check which my plans have thus encountered has prevented their presentation to the members of the Provisional Government, while unfortunate public misrepresentations of the situation and exaggerated statements of the sentiments of our people have obviously injured the prospects of successful Executive mediation.
I therefore submit this communication, with its accompanying exhibits, embracing Mr. Blount's report, the evidence and statements taken by him at Honolulu, the instructions given to both Mr. Blount and Minister Willis, and correspondence connected with the affair in hand.
In commending this subject to the extended powers and wide discretion of the Congress I desire to add the assurance that I shall 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.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, Washington, December 18, 1893.
To the Senate of the United States:
In compliance with a resolution passed by the Senate on the 6th instant, I hereby transmit reports of the Secretaries of State and of the Navy, with copies of all instructions given to the respective diplomatic and naval representatives of the United States in the Hawaiian Islands since the 4th day of March, 1881, touching the matters specified in the resolution.
It has seemed convenient to include in the present communication to the Senate copies of the diplomatic correspondence concerning the political condition of Hawaii, prepared for transmission to the House of Representatives in response to a later resolution passed by that body on the 13th instant.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, Washington, December 18, 1893.
To the House of Representatives:
In compliance with a resolution passed by your honorable body on the 13th instant, I hereby transmit a report of the Secretary of State, with copies of the instructions given to Mr. Albert S. Willis, the representative of the United States now in the Hawaiian Islands, and also the correspondence since the 4th day of March, 1889, concerning the relations of this Government to those islands.
In making this communication I have withheld only a dispatch from the former minister to Hawaii, numbered 70, under date of October 8, 1892, and a dispatch from the present minister, numbered 3, under date of November 16, 1893, because in my opinion the publication of these two papers would be incompatible with the public interest.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, January 4, 1894.
To the Senate of the United States:
I transmit herewith a report of the Secretary of State, submitted in compliance with the resolution of October 17 last, in the matter of the claim of certain persons against the Government of Spain for illegal arrest off the coast of Yucatan in the year 1850, and subsequent imprisonment.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, January 13, 1894.
To the Congress:
I transmit herewith copies of all dispatches from our minister at Hawaii relating in any way to political affairs in that country, except such as have been heretofore laid before the Congress.
I also transmit a copy of the last instructions sent to our minister, dated January 12, 1894, being the only instructions to him not already sent to the Congress.
In transmitting certain correspondence with my message dated December 18, 1893, I withheld a dispatch from our present minister, numbered 3 and dated November 16, 1893, and also a dispatch from our former minister, numbered 70 and dated October 8, 1892. Inasmuch as the contents of the dispatch of November 16, 1893, are referred to in the dispatches of a more recent date, now sent to Congress, and inasmuch as there seems no longer to be sufficient reason for withholding said dispatch, a copy of the same is herewith submitted. The dispatch numbered 70 and dated October 8, 1892, above referred to, is still withheld for the reason that such a course still appears to be justifiable and proper.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, January 20, 1894.
To the Congress:
I transmit herewith dispatches received yesterday from our minister at Hawaii, with certain correspondence which accompanied the same, including a most extraordinary letter, dated December 27, 1893, signed by Sanford B. Dole, minister of foreign affairs of the Provisional Government, addressed to our minister, Mr. Willis, and delivered to him a number of hours after the arrival at Honolulu of a copy of my message to Congress on the Hawaiian question, with copies of instructions given to our minister.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, January 22, 1894.
To the Congress:
I transmit herewith copies of dispatches received from our minister to Hawaii after the arrival of those copies which accompanied my message of the 20th instant. I also inclose, for the information of Congress, copies of reports and a copy of an order just received by the Secretary of the Navy from Rear-Admiral Irwin, commanding our naval forces at Honolulu.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, February 2, 1894.
To the Congress:
I transmit a communication from the Secretary of State, accompanying a dispatch received a few days ago from our minister at Hawaii.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, Washington, February 12, 1894.
To the Congress:
I transmit herewith two dispatches received a few days ago from our minister at Hawaii, and a reply to one of them from the Secretary of State, in which a correct version is given of an interview which occurred November 14, 1893, between the Secretary of State and Mr. Thurston, representing the Provisional Government at Washington.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, February 16, 1894.
To the Senate and House of Representatives:
I transmit herewith, for the information of Congress, a communication from the Secretary of State, covering the report of the Director of the Bureau of the American Republics for the year 1893.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, February 19, 1894.
To the House of Representatives:
I herewith transmit copies of certain dispatches recently received from our minister at Honolulu.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, February 19, 1894.
To the Senate:
On the evening of the 16th instant I received a copy of a resolution passed by the Senate, requesting the transmission to that body of all reports and dispatches from our minister at Hawaii, and especially a certain letter written to him by Mr. Dole, President of the Provisional Government.
On the same day I received from the State Department a copy of a dispatch from Minister Willis, accompanied by various exhibits. I was not able to send them to the Senate on that day. The Senate adjourned that afternoon until to-day, and thus prevented the submission until now of these papers.
The next day after the receipt of the Senate resolution, and on the 17th instant, other dispatches were received from Mr. Willis at the State Department. They were copied with all possible haste, and are now submitted at the first meeting of the Senate since their receipt. They include the letter mentioned in the Senate resolution and the answer of Minister Willis to the same.
Since the 18th day of December last, when I submitted to the "broader authority and discretion of the Congress" all matters connected with our relations with Hawaii, I have with the utmost promptness transmitted to the Congress all dispatches and reports relative to the subject, and I am not aware of any dispatches or documents in the remotest way connected with these relations which have come to the possession of the State Department or the Executive and been withheld from the Senate.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
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EXECUTIVE MANSION, March 7, 1894.
To the Congress:
I transmit herewith copies of certain dispatches lately received from our minister at Hawaii, together with copies of the inclosures which accompanied such dispatches.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
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https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/14446/pg14446-images.html
1898 -
U.S. President McKinley:
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.
A PROCLAMATION.
Whereas by joint resolution "to provide for annexing the Hawaiian Islands to the United States," approved July 7, 1898, the cession by the Government of the Republic of Hawaii to the United States of America, of all rights of sovereignty of whatsoever kind in and over the Hawaiian Islands and their dependencies, and the transfer to the United States of the absolute fee and ownership of all public, Government, or crown lands, public buildings, or edifices, ports, harbors, military equipment, and all other public property of every kind and description belonging to the Government of the Hawaiian Islands, was duly accepted, ratified, and confirmed, and the said Hawaiian Islands and their dependencies annexed as a part of the territory of the United States and made subject to the sovereign dominion thereof, and all and singular the property and rights hereinbefore mentioned vested in the United States of America; and
Whereas it was further provided in said resolution that the existing laws of the United States relative to public lands shall not apply to such lands in the Hawaiian Islands, but the Congress of the United States shall enact special laws for their management and disposition; and
Whereas it is deemed necessary in the public interests that certain lots and plats of land in the city of Honolulu be immediately reserved for naval purposes;
Now, therefore, I, William McKinley, President of the United States, by virtue of the authority in me vested, do hereby declare, proclaim, and make known that the following described lots or plats of land be and the same are hereby reserved for naval purposes until such time as the Congress of the United States shall otherwise direct, to wit:
1st. The water front lying between the Bishop Estate and the line of Richards Street including the site of prospective wharves, slips, and their approaches.
2d. The blocks of land embracing lots No. 86 to 91, 100 to 131, including Mililani Street to the intersection of Halekauwali Street; and the Government water lots lying between the Bishop Estate and Punchbowl and Allen Streets.
In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.
[SEAL.]
Done at the city of Washington, this 2d day of November, in the year one thousand eight hundred and ninety-eight, and of the Independence of the United States the one hundred and twenty-third.
WILLIAM McKINLEY.
By the President:
JOHN HAY,
Secretary of State.
HAWAIIAN CABLE CONCESSION.
To all to whom these presents shall come; greeting:
Know ye, that: Whereas, by an Indenture made the 2d day of July, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and ninety-eight between Sanford B. Dole, President of the Republic of Hawaii for and in behalf of the Hawaiian Government of the one part and the Pacific Cable Company, a corporation organized and existing under the laws of the State of New York of the United States of America, of the other part, there was granted, conceded, and confirmed unto the party of the second part and its successors and assigns the right and privilege to lay, construct, land, maintain and operate telegraphic and magnetic lines or cables from a point or points on the Pacific Coast of the United States to a suitable landing place or places to be selected by the party of the second part in the Hawaiian Islands with terminus at Honolulu, Island of Oahu, and from and beyond the Hawaiian Islands to Japan and any islands or places necessary for stations for such cables between the Hawaiian Islands and Japan that lie north of the tenth degree or parallel of north latitude in the North Pacific Ocean, as an exclusive right and privilege together with an exemption from duties, charges, and taxes for and during the term of twenty years from the date expressed in said Indenture, to wit, the 21st day of June, A.D. 1898,—said right, privilege, and exemption being subject to the terms and conditions set forth in said Indenture;
And whereas among said terms and conditions it is declared and agreed by said Indenture that the party of the second part within two years from the approval (within eighteen months from the date of said contract) of an act by the Congress of the United States authorizing the party of the second part to construct and operate a submarine cable line between the United States and the Hawaiian Islands shall construct, lay in proper working order, and establish a submarine telegraph cable from a point or points on the Pacific coast of the United States to a landing place or places in the Hawaiian Islands with terminus at Honolulu, Island of Oahu, according to the specifications of said Indenture, and further, within three years from the approval of such act by the Congress of the United States, shall in like manner construct, lay in proper working order, and establish a submarine telegraph cable from a point or points at or near said Honolulu to Japan;
And whereas it is provided by said Indenture that the contract therein made and set forth shall not take effect, if at any time within six months from the date thereof, to wit, the 2d day of July, A.D., 1898, "the United States State Department" shall express its disapproval thereof;
And whereas, pursuant to a Joint Resolution of the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, approved July 7, 1898, to provide for annexing the Hawaiian Islands to the United States, the sovereignty of the said Hawaiian Islands was yielded up to the United States on the 12th day of August, A.D., 1898, becoming thenceforth vested in the United States of America.
And whereas, in view of the provisions of said Joint Resolution for the determination by the Congress of the United States of all matters of municipal legislation concerning the Hawaiian Islands, and because the subject matter and provisions of said Indenture are deemed to be proper subjects for the consideration and determination of the Congress of the United States, it is deemed expedient and necessary that the Congress of the United States consider and adopt such legislation, especially in regard to grants and contractual obligations to be controlled by and rest upon the United States of America as vested with sovereignty over said Hawaiian Islands, without let or hindrance by reason of any action of the Government of the Republic of Hawaii in respect to such grants and contractual obligations initiated by the said Government of the Republic of Hawaii prior to and incomplete at the time of the yielding up of the sovereignty of the Hawaiian Islands to the United States;
Now, therefore, I, John Hay, Secretary of State of the United States, do hereby express on the part of "the United States State Department" its disapproval of the contract stipulated in the said Indenture to the end that the same shall not take effect.
[SEAL.]
Given under my hand and the seal of the Department of State of the United States, in the city of Washington, D.C., this thirty-first day of December in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and ninety-eight.
JOHN HAY.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, Washington, D.C., September 2, 1899.
To the Secretary of the Treasury:
SIR:—You are directed to transfer an additional sum of five thousand dollars ($5,000.00) from the appropriation made by the Joint Resolution approved July 7, 1898, entitled, "Joint Resolution to provide for the annexation of the Hawaiian Islands to the United States," to be expended at the discretion of the Executive and for the purpose of carrying that Joint Resolution into effect for the expenditure and enforcement of the Chinese Exclusion Laws in the Hawaiian Islands under the clause in said Resolution restricting the emigration of the Chinese to the Islands.
WILLIAM McKINLEY.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, Washington, D.C., September 11, 1899.
Hon. JOHN HAY,
Secretary of State
You will notify the President of Hawaii that the Government of Hawaii has no power to make any sale or dispose of the public lands in the Islands. That all proceedings taken or pending for such sale or disposition should be discontinued and that if any sales or agreements for sale have been made since the adoption of the Resolution of Annexation the purchasers should be notified that the same are null and void and any consideration paid to the legal authorities on account thereof should be refunded.
WILLIAM McKINLEY
EXECUTIVE MANSION, Washington, D.C., September 18, 1899.
In the exercise of the power conferred upon me by the Joint Resolution of Congress, approved by the President on July 7th, 1898, entitled "Joint Resolution to provide for annexing the Hawaiian Islands to the United States," the President of the United States hereby directs that the issue of Registers to vessels by the Authorities of Hawaii entitling such vessels to all the rights and privileges of Hawaiian vessels in the ports of Nations or upon the High Seas, shall hereafter cease.
[SEAL.]
In witness whereof I have caused the seal of the United States to be hereunto affixed.
WILLIAM McKINLEY.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, Washington, D.C., November 4, 1899.
In furtherance of interchange between those absent in the service of their country and their families at home, it is hereby ordered that packages and parcels of mailable matter and containing only articles desired as gifts and souvenirs, and so marked, and with no commercial purpose, and not for sale, from Officers, Soldiers and Sailors serving in the Army and Navy and other persons employed in the Civil Service of the United States, in Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Guam, Philippine Islands and Cuba addressed to members of their families in the United States, or packages of the same personal character addressed from the United States to Officers, Soldiers, Sailors and others in the Public Service in said Islands may be sent through the mails, subject only to the domestic postal regulations of the United States.
The details of the execution of this order with all necessary safeguards will devolve on the Secretary of War and Postmaster-General.
WILLIAM McKINLEY.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, Washington, D.C., January 5, 1900.
By virtue of the authority vested in me by joint resolution of the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States accepting and confirming the cession of the Hawaiian Islands to the United States, it is hereby ordered and directed that out of the Government Reservation lying to the eastward of the Puowaina or Ruralhouse Hill in the Island of Ouhu, Hawaiian Islands, seven acres, more or less as hereinafter described and located, shall be set apart for the use of the United States Treasury Department as a site for a United States Marine Hospital for the port of Honolulu. This site shall consist of the seven acres situated north of the Makiki cemetery and bounded on the north and east by the sinuosities of the Punch Bowl road; on the south by a line projecting eastward from the powder magazine to intersect Punch Bowl road, this line being the southern boundary of the Government Reservation at that point; and on the west by an arbitrary north and south line drawn so as to leave seven (7) acres within this designated tract.
WILLIAM McKINLEY.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, June 22, 1900.
Whereas by the seventy-third section of an act entitled "An act to provide a government for the Territory of Hawaii," approved April 30, 1900, it was, among other things provided as follows: "That, subject to the approval of the President, all sales, grants, leases, and other dispositions of the public domain and agreements concerning the same, and all franchises granted by the Hawaiian government in conformity with the laws of Hawaii between the 7th day of July, 1898, and the 28th day of September, 1899, are hereby ratified and confirmed;" and
Whereas it appears by the certificate of Sanford B. Dole, President of the Republic of Hawaii, which bears date the 23d day of May, A.D., 1900, that the Hilo Railroad Company organized for the purpose of building and operating a Railroad or Railroads between and through the districts of Hilo Puna Hamakua, Kohala, Kona, and Kau, on the Island of Hawaii, Hawaiian Islands, was incorporated on the 28th day of March, A.D., 1899, under a charter of incorporation, a copy whereof is attached to said certificate; and that said incorporating and granting of said charter of incorporation were made in conformity with the general incorporating acts of the Republic of Hawaii, and that the granting of the franchise conferred thereby and all acts and proceedings contained in the premises were done and taken in conformity with the laws of the Republic of Hawaii;
Now, therefore, in conformity with the provision of the act aforesaid, the said franchise granted by the Hawaiian government to the Hilo Railroad Company is hereby approved.
WILLIAM McKINLEY.
REVIEW AND DISCUSSION OF SOME OF THE PROBLEMATIC ISSUES:
Many issues appear in the above which leads to exposure of lies, deceptions, which affect Hawaii and the World today.
PROBLEMATIC ISSUES
*Treaties breaches/violations against the Kingdom of Hawaii was not documented in the Presidential writings.
Note:
U.S. Constitution violations not addressed.
Treaty of 1849 ratified in 1850 by the Kingdom of Hawaii was not addressed.
Protectorate of 1854 for the Kingdom of Hawaii by United States, Great Britain, and France not addressed.
Neutrality Law of 1854 by Kamehameha III not addressed.
The Junta/United States Junta and Queen Liliuokalani in 1893 was not addressed.
A Treaty between U.S. President Grover Cleveland and Queen Liliuokalani was documented by the Territory of Hawaii Archivist named Lydecker was not addressed.
* the President of Hawaii that the Government of Hawaii has no power to make any sale or dispose of the public lands in the Islands. That all proceedings taken or pending for such sale or disposition should be discontinued and that if any sales or agreements for sale have been made since the adoption of the Resolution of Annexation the purchasers should be notified that the same are null and void and any consideration paid to the legal authorities on account thereof should be refunded.
Note: S.B. Dole and Company sold lands belonging to the Kingdom of Hawaii which was not supported by the United States.
There was No Annexation which means that the U.S. had no jurisdiction in the Kingdom of Hawaii.
*The Bishop Estates did convey properties to the U.S. and they had no title to those properties.
"1st. The water front lying between the Bishop Estate and the line of Richards Street including the site of prospective wharves, slips, and their approaches.
2d. The blocks of land embracing lots No. 86 to 91, 100 to 131, including Mililani Street to the intersection of Halekauwali Street; and the Government water lots lying between the Bishop Estate and Punchbowl and Allen Streets."
Note:
These lands are on the land inventory of our Royal Family, which means the U.S. did accept lands that did not belong to the Bishop Estates and wrongfully engaged in land transactions from pirates, and the U.S. owes rents for the land use, etc
*The Pacific Cable Company beginnings is erroneous. The U.S. claims were:
"the Pacific Cable Company, a corporation organized and existing under the laws of the State of New York of the United States of America, of the other part, there was granted, conceded, and confirmed unto the party of the second part and its successors and assigns the right and privilege to lay, construct, land, maintain and operate telegraphic and magnetic lines or cables from a point or points on the Pacific Coast of the United States to a suitable landing place or places to be selected by the party of the second part in the Hawaiian Islands with terminus at Honolulu, Island of Oahu, and from and beyond the Hawaiian Islands to Japan and any islands or places necessary for stations for such cables between the Hawaiian Islands and Japan that lie north of the tenth degree or parallel of north latitude in the North Pacific Ocean, as an exclusive right and privilege together with an exemption from duties, charges, and taxes for and during the term of twenty years from the date expressed in said Indenture, to wit, the 21st day of June, A.D. 1898,—said right, privilege, and exemption being subject to the terms and conditions set forth in said Indenture;
And whereas among said terms and conditions it is declared and agreed by said Indenture that the party of the second part within two years from the approval (within eighteen months from the date of said contract) of an act by the Congress of the United States authorizing the party of the second part to construct and operate a submarine cable line between the United States and the Hawaiian Islands shall construct, lay in proper working order, and establish a submarine telegraph cable from a point or points on the Pacific coast of the United States to a landing place or places in the Hawaiian Islands with terminus at Honolulu, Island of Oahu, according to the specifications of said Indenture, and further, within three years from the approval of such act by the Congress of the United States, shall in like manner construct, lay in proper working order, and establish a submarine telegraph cable from a point or points at or near said Honolulu to Japan..."
Note:
The Pacific Cable Company was formed in the Kingdom of Hawaii, based on borrowed monies.
The Pacific Cable Company was set up because the U.S. feared that Japan would enter the United States and it would take more than 10 years to get them out.
The Cable was seen as a help to the United States because they could be informed when the Japanese passed the Hawaiian Islands.
The person who came to Hawaii and became a good friend of King David Kalakaua
was Celso Moreno who worked for the Atlantic Cable Company.
*Both Great Britain and France began to invest in the Pacific Cable Company shortly before the United States invaded the Kingdom of Hawaii.
SUMMARY
Evidence shows the the invasion and piracy occurred, the Plundering and pillaging of lands, monies by the U.S. who supported agents of the U.S. to unlawfully take over a weak, neutral, friendly, non-violent nation.
The U.S., Great Britain, and France invested in the Pacific Cable Company.
The U.S., Great Britain, and France breached the Treaties with the Kingdom of Hawaii and failed to follow rule of law.
Because of the breach of the Neutrality Law of 1854, all three (3) nations - the U.S., Great Britain, and France are documented Pirates as documented by Kamehameha III who documented that nations who breached this law are to be punished as pirates.
There was no Annexation meaning the U.S. has no jurisdiction in the Hawaiian Islands.
Note:
The Treaties pertain to only Kamehameha's heirs of his body and many of his 22 children and 22 grandchildren's heirs of their body exists today who are the parties to the treaties today.
Research incomplete.
aloha.
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