Ka Leo o ka Lahui, Volume II, Number 337, 3 December 1891 — Uncle Sam and Hawaii. [ARTICLE]
Uncle Sam and Hawaii.
Recent telegrams that have be•ome cnrrent in American aewspapers indicate tbat our little kingdom af Hawaii continues to be a subject of anxiety in official circles in America and England 011 acof the false and exaggerated -i;itements that have been sent abroad from here by malicious poUticianß. The following despatch from Shaughai created a ripple in the foreign press and set wild runaors .'rfloat: " Shanghai, Nov. 13 —TheUnited States cruiser Charleston have left hese waters for Honolulu, capital the %ingdom of Hawaii, and it is asserted here that the commander of the Charlcßton, Greorge C. Remey, haa receiv/ed inBtructions from the United States Government to seize the Hawaiian Islands in certain contingencies. There is reason to believe that this report, whieh seems to be believed in offieial circles here, has been cabled to the British Foreign Ofl!ce, and that there has been, in consequence, an oxchange of depatchee between the British Admiralty, and the Admiral in command of the British fleets in Chinese waters. Ostensibly the mission of the Charleston is simply to protect American intereBts in Hawaii and to afford a refuge for Amehean citizens on those islands Bhould one be needed. The Ameriean colony liere and others also| 0 11 to be in hearty Bympathy with j the alleged intentiotis of the United|
"As it is understood bere, tbe i Charleston's mission is not a bold ond uncalled for seizure of t,he Kawaiian. Kingdom, but, as one person puts it, 'it ie to be simplv the taking of a, firm dip]omatic step in what are considered by the United States Government to be the best interests of the United States.' " But the following from Washington appears to have put a quietus i on the subject: t£ Washington. Nov. 14—Commodore Ramsay, who is acting to-day as Secretarv of the Navy, dcnies positively that any order have been sent to the United States steam6r Charleston to seize the Hawaiian Islands, as was reported in a dispatch from Shanghai, published this morning. The Charleston t when last hear,d from, was at Yokohama in ,lasan, and it had heen the intention to have her return to the United States as soon as the Lanc2.ster, wiih Admiral Ifarmony aboard, ieaches the China Station. The Lancaster went around Cape of Good Hope from Nevv York, and is prōbablv now somewhere in the Indian Oeean. When the Charlegr ton is relleve she will naturally touch at Honolulli on her way home. a,s she cannot carry sufficient eoal to make the trip direct from fr6m Asia to the United States." However, the Charleston will soon be here and we will probably learn more as to her actual misston. When the Charleston was here before to review the situation we penned an article entitled 4wdiscontent" whieh explained tersely tbe causes for the unsatiflfectory condition of our political affairs;we recommena Captain Remy to reperuse that article and also suggest that the Captain of the Penaaeola and the U. S. Minister might find in it cansc for reflection. Tbe Bituation here is certainly disturbed and unsettled v The errors of an incompetent administration and a misguided sovereign have created this condition. It was a grave error to ignore, trample upon and cast aside the leaders of a political party who were elected by enthusiastic majorities of the native Hawaiian people who sought certain admmistrative and constitutional reforms. The treachery of the Executive to the people has most naturally created a political hostility. This is further aggravated bv the altitude of a monied .plutocracv of c, sugar barons" who appear to desire absolute control of the administration of the government for the benefit of theif eommerpial ventures, rather than for the general good and of the nation: the native Hawaiian», whlte artizans and Portuguese peasantry. (To be Continued.)