Hawaii Holomua, Volume III, Number 171, 24 July 1894 — A SUPPRESSED LETTER. [ARTICLE]

A SUPPRESSED LETTER.

Gresham To Willis. It is sarprising thnt the oAieial organ of Mr. Hatch never ha» publiahcd the following letter from Secretary Gresham to Min- | ister Wi)lis. It 5s qnite intcresting asau answer to Dole’s “statedocuraent.’’ It evidently didu t snit tho government pnrty. The foIlowing is nn cxtract: “The Presideut sincerely regrets that the Provisional Government refuses to ac(jaiesce in the eoneluKion whieh his senso of right and duty and a due regard for our nalional bonor constrained hiin to reach and sabmit ns a meusure of justice to the people , of the Hawaiian Islands and their ■ deposed Sovereign. While it is '■ true thut tbe Provisioual Governmoiii was created to exist only unlil the Islands were annexed to the l nited >tutes, that the Queen iiuaily, hut reluctantly, surrendered to an urmed force of this governmeut illegally quarterod iu Honolulu, und ropresentatives of the Provisional Government (whieh realized its impot. ency aud was anxious to get eontrol of tho Queen’s meana of defense) ussured her that, if she would surreuder, hor case would be subsequently considered by the United States, tbe President has never cluimcd thatsuch action constituted him an arbitrator in the leehnieal senso, or autborized him to act in that capacity betweeu the Constitutional meni aud the Provisional Govenuueni. You made no sucb elaim when you acquaint©d that Governmeni with the President’s docision. The aolomu ae\surance given to the Queen ha« been referred to, not as autbority for tbe Presidont to act ns arbitrator, but as a fact material to a just deternjination of tho President’s dnty in the premises. . In tho noto whieh the Miuister of Foreign Aftairs addressed to you on the 23rd ult., it is stated in effoct “that even if the Constilulional Governraont was subvert ed by tho action of the Amenean Minister and an invasion by a military force of the United Stntes, the President's authority is limited to dealing with our own uufaithful officials, and that ho ean iake no steps looking to the correction of the wrong dono.” The President entertaius a different view of his responsibility and duty. The subversion of the Hawaiian Goverument by an ahuse of tho nuthoritv of the United St«tes was in plain vioUtion of internationul law and reqnired the Presideut to disavow and condcmn the act of our otfeudiug officials, and within the limits of his constitutional power, to restore the lawful antbority. Referring to the interview of Minister Willis wiih tbe Qneen last November «nd pr!or to the receipt of Willis’s despatch annouucing the result of his second iuterriew. Secretary Greshnm says: “The Presidenl thereupoo submitted the subject to the more extended powers and wider discretion of Congresr, addiug tbe a$surance that he wouid be gratified to co(jperate in any )egiiimata pian whieh might be devised for a solatiou of the problem eonsistent witb Americau honor, iutegri(y, and moral»ty.‘*