Hawaii Holomua, Volume II, Number 30, 5 Pepeluali 1894 Edition 02 — STEVENS VS. BLAINE [ARTICLE]

STEVENS VS. BLAINE

I A PAIR OF NOELE BROTHEHS. — How the Men from Maine Conspircd. i | Oue reason wLieh has been assignetl fnr tbe <leiay īn trans : mittiUg the Huwniian correspomli enee to Congress has attracteil mneh attention. It is assertetl that certa.n ufficial dispatcbes.! as.-nu;ed to have heen written bv [ Secretary Hlaine in response to a raost signiffeant dispatcb of Minister Stevens, dated March 8, 1892, are missing from tbe records.

Tbe Ieiter of Mr. Stevens, tbe answer to whieh apperentlv never eame, is quite important in tbe Hght o£ snbseqaent events. it w»s not inc]nded in ihe pablisbed volame of *‘Foreign Kelations‘’ for 1892 sent to Coogr»ss. A very noticeable fact, whieh will be made clear wheu the President8 raessage and otber docaments aie made puhlio, ia

t ■ {h;»t rerr manv iraportan* State • • • S j.ap- rs nlating to Hawaii arei n«-w f« r tbe first time disicterred fr‘-m the secret arcbiv«ss of the !.bv;>;«-n oi R<dls and lnd->xes in t!;e Mtite Department Librarr. 1 Tt;;> significani letter cf Mr. Stf vriis to Seeretarv Blsine reod> i as fotlovr*; Unit"<l St*tes Leg«tion. Hono 1 Inlu. March 8, 1892.—Sir; In ‘ view of j>ossible contingencies iu ♦ ! e>e is!an<is. I ask for the in>trnctions of the Dcpartrueut of l8t «te «>n thr f<»llowīng. viz. lf tbe govern nent bere shonkl be >urprise<l and overt>«med by j j.m onlerly aud peacefol revo | lotionsrv raovement. Iarge!y of| n.«tive Hawaiiane. and a provi-j ; sional or repnblioan government ,lorganized and prociaimed, w «ukl t!ie Uuited St,.te> Mmister aiul naval commander here l»e justi fie«l in re>p mling affirtnatirely i to tbe eall <>f tbe m* mbers of tbe, removed Goverumeut to restore ' them to power. or rej>lace tbera ; in |M>ssession of the Goverument buildings? or shoold tbe l a:ted 8tate Minister an<l naval eommander confi>ie themselves excln-i sively to tlie preser\ati< u of Arnericau property, tbe }>rotec-; tion <'f Americao citizens aud tht prevention of nnarchy? i Shoukl a revolutiouary attempt 'of tbe character indicated be made, tbere are strong reasous lo 1 presume tbat it wonl<I begin with| ’ tlie seizure of the poliee st «tiOJ. with its arms and ammuuition. and, tbis accomplisbed, tlie ioyal palaee and the G»vernmeiit bnilding, containing the C <binet olfices aud archives, woukl very 1 soon be ciptured, tbe latter 1 building being situated about oue tbird of a mile from tho ! poliee station. Iii sucb contingencies woukl it i be just:fiab!e to use tbe l’mted States forces bere to restore the Governmeut buildings to tlie peo ' ple of the displaced officials? ! Ordinarilv, iu like circurastauces, ; : the mle secms to limit tbe land- , ing and the move»nents of the« Uuite<l States forces in foreign waters and dominion exclnsively to tbe protection of the United States Legation and tbe lives and proj>orty of Americau citizens. Bnt as tbe relutionsof tbe United States t» Hawaii are exceptional, and in former years tbe United | States ofiicials hero took somewhat exceptional ;»otion in cir- | cumstances of disorder, I desire ito know how far the present |Minister and naval commnnder ma} - deviate from established ’ international rules aiul precedeuts ■ iu tbe contingencies iudicated in . the fir>t j>art of the dispatch. I have inforraat;on whieh I deem reliable tbat tbere is an organized revolntionury party on the isltuuls. coraposed largely of * 1 Huwaiiana .-unl a <nu.'«ider: . JaDT5 namnei-oi wTiifes ar<T nait \vhites, led cbiefly by iudividuals oi the latter two classes. Tbis party is hostile t<> tlie Q«ieen aml to ber chief confi«lauts, and espee ally opj>osed to tho coming toj tlie tbroue of the balf £nglisb beir-aj>parent, now being educat- j ed in Englaiid. and means toj gain its object either by forcingj the Queen to select ber C «bmet I from its own meiubers, or else to overthrow tlie munarcby and establisb a rej>ublic witb tbe uitimate view of annex«tiou to tlie Uuited St «t s of the whole islaud. A portion of this j>artv mean onlv tbe former, and the otber portion inteml tbe latter. • Failing to accompiisb tbe f<>rmer. i tbe most of Uie party woukl seek ; the latter alteruative. I bave little doubt tbe revolu j ’ tīonarv attemj>t woukl have been j raade ere tbis but f»r the i>re i s«-nce of tbe United States sbip <>f-w<r. I still ineliue to tbe opimou that tbe rev«>lntion.«rv i j atterapt will not be maile so loi g! jas tbere is a Uuiled States force i iii the Larbor of Honolulu, but it would be rasb to assert this I positively. Therefore. I deera it my <>ffictal duty to ask for instructions in iuy view of possib!e contmgencies. I inay add tbat tbe annexation sentimeut is in-l creasing, quite at mueh among! the white residents and n.«tivej Hawaiians and other working-i men who own no sugar stock, «sj witb tbe sugar plauters. I a'n,| sir, etc., j J0HX L. STEVENS. It ean readily be seen tbat a eategorical answer bv Secn tarv Biaiue to these iuqmries wbat to! «lo in case tbe revo!ution Lere foresbadowcd n>ne montbs iu j advance were actnally brongbi) abont woukl be of absurbing interest. It is said no answer eaa be foand on the files.