Ka Nupepa Elele, Volume XI, Number 46, 28 June 1890 — THAT MINORITY REPORT. [ARTICLE]
THAT MINORITY REPORT.
We have before referred to the Minority lleport bf tlie Comjuittoo 011 Foreigu RelHtions. This report was| uiaUe by Nobie of Maui. Itj was j>roiix antl took tl|e forrtj of a re-| p!y to the Majoiitv Repo;t. It t!id not coutaia a stiteui<>u£ uf «11 tho faetaj ,or of auy eouaeokHl portiou tliereof bearing directly upm» tliose poiulii,; upou whieh the Legisl;itnre h ul asked| for iuforiuation. Mi% B!ildwiu's Mi i nority lveport Whs so evident' v u spee-"} īal m l>eha!f of thu hsw.ty pqlicy of (I'.e fa{e TNvsipu Min ! istry thi>t mosi poople wi rc agree4 to paaB it by as a pioi-e o| partis;m snooial | p!t«diag pnt fcrth hi t!iis oa« f i bv a; leading membor of thc> fauiily c uupaei:| tt brother iu luw iu faet, of the kte[ Mimster of FiuMuee, nud a lmsinessj J*artner of the lalo Minister of thel Interior. Wetx> it uot for the fact <b;it iliīJ Miuority liopon h:i* lateK bee; p : * r»d6tl as* a "uol-ahle" doct»nen! aml :n» coustitnting « vindieation of tho 1 t Miuistry's treaty ivooi\l, the m tt raight tvdropp, d. As it iV. the pi l ' miiul shonld be ivfios! ed, \f iuv-dslw ,'j as to the c<»ntents «nd objeot of Nob'ejJ Baldwins defet»se of his bmther iu n law and his j>artuor. lt is qsute tr,ioU th* troaty jv>Uey of iho 1 a-> Cabiuet h was "l»itterly Attaektd," uid tlas at j« tack was hv\d b,uv m uak» .b h ness by one of tho l'alnuoi, who w ; fortuuakdy fot lUe poople of Hawa.' t n«»ithor a bi\ithev in law of Ta\ Ap k \ <. I>*oton nor a busiue&s paiinei v f,t
Mala(laainistrHtion Tiiurstoo. ' The question demanding solutiou is uot whetber Ba]dvrin liad the literary abiHty to sueces§fttlly whiiewiiHh his polTtical friends and famiīy relations, but whether tho fācts upon whieh the Comuattoe based their report wore hufiieitjnt to justify the view taken by the inajority of such Com;mittee. _ . Iu discussing the Majority*- Keport| fi*om au ex parte staudpoint Noble Baldwin skillfully suppresses the bur- j den of real and objoctiouable facts fonnd by the raajority of the Commit-. tee, snbstituting therefor a fewgtneral statennents of Cabinet policy under whieh the late Cabinet have all along vainly attejnpted to hide their reai designs, and the dutails goue«into for Ccirrying them out. The persistent attom])t of the late Ministr3 f to eoneeal doenments and hinder the investigations <>f the tnajority. kia quite on a par with Noble Baldwin's attempt in his Minority Eeport, to leave the iinproB' siōn that the majority of the Ccinmittee refascd to go to the Foreign 6ffice for fui*tber info.rniatjdn on a certain point whieh Mr, Bfijdwin alleges the Coiuini'ttee had agreed tocall for. The f fa«ts' aī'e otherwise. Mr> Baldwin j had absented hiiuseīf by going -to Maui. The majority qf the Conunitfcee eontmned ' Woi'k andr7luHng his a"B> sence were refnsed by the Minrster of Foreign Affairs, 'the information "When Mr. Baldwin r.etumed he wished the Committee to go again to the Foreigu Office. This they very pro]>ei-ly ryfused to dp; l>ut a iuember or inembers of the Committee in formed Mr. Baldwin he eouhl eall at the Foreign OlKee, if he so desired. In his report Noble Baldwin alleges he received the infqrmatipn rēfused the majority; bufit remains a fact that he did not. and he ha,s not as yet produced either such alleged informatiori <>r proof thereof, beyond the bald assertion roude in his."notable"Minority Report. Outside of the bare insertion of a cOj>y of Hie original draft of the ob< noxio\is treaty aud a verboae clisgertai tion on the relative-tariff\la'ties of the' United States and Hkwaii (tho latter wholly irrelevant to the }>oints raised in the Legislature) the Minority Keport makes 110 attem[>t to defend upon the record the late Cabinet's treaty policv, except in one instance. The single attampt m deby theHonorable Noble for Mani is a signal nnd, to the intelligent elector, a pitiable failure. Mr. Baldwin conclndes that because snch ' terms as "perpetual," "permanent,"' 'constant,"'' biu&' in g/' "perpet-oa]]y ōbligatory7' and "rnutaai eoneent" have been used in trmtie,s of peaee and frie,vhhip heretofore made by Hawaii with various nations, therefore the same terms nsed m a commercial treaty, binding us with the force and validity of a coiv tract, are as s USed in the formej; eage. |lad noi. the Honoiuible Noble for Maui beeu ottempting a special defense for his relative ana his partner he would likely have seen and admitted the salient legal fact that while the term "moiual consent" becomes, in a formal treaty of peaee and friendship, the consideyation as [ well as the condition of the treaty, and is so far a meaningless term, yet it becomes a binding obligation nnder the terms of a treaty where commer> eial benefits are made the good and yalnable ccnsideration in a coutfact between natio^s. Or is it just possible that the Honorable .Noble for Maui haa exteutled his knowle<lge of sugar oane so as to include the histor3 r treaties and intorn»tional diplomacy; £n this case he has overlooked a very important j historical fact direotly beaiing upon jthe qnestion, in various inātsances where nytions, and especi;dly j weak nations, have viplatod the Lnna
of commereial treatios liaviag good J and valuable considerations |liey liave } been eūforce4 tho lētter, formerly j by thr-eats o* eaiiuoi}, and īately Uy throHts ov arbitratiou. I» «a &iugle oase, let tUe Houc?rable Noble foj MiUii «n«Serstand, were vvords or terms ever fcikeuas meaningloss. exceptthey |were coutuined iu formal treiitio3 of j peuoe aud frieudshii), whieh are ai i foruial eourtesies bet\veen nations. j This is not t|i? ouH w>u)> poini in rtit» mmar}ty defeu*o'of iLo Thurston fMimstry: it js, hoWevor, Uie ouly (»t»nd taken upon tlie iwoi\l «ud | is a. distanl fail|i>yo, Xho faets i forth iu ihe JUqgx>Yt' le- ■ mjtm tm!mj»eactioa, fnr Uiov £o. IL,it thov do noi go furtho.r aud are n>t more exnetly set forth iu detsil i s th« faalt of the late ]Ministn\ Xhai eould be msdo eleawi-, if Uie trath eould be eouie at, was fu!l\ pmretl bv the eonfliotiag sUtemeuts ot tho jUii»\sters jfhg of <ha MeMkiHlA iu*v iv i a h* f€e\ theW wlll httlo to ftu fi\,uu their aUempi st iheineko^ fi H'uds nud relAtior.s, In spite of sll (t! * āpologi?ds eaa «oeour r lish iho UH>ple will |n\xbablv Hti.l nvf v , r lo AttompU to the oouut rx s mlepemlonoe/'* as of them h.-,> |a'A !\ v.\id And the :\vj le :n>» likeh lo |i»e ais<'v«".s uūy just; u,5 i«\ ~,xn aj>en f..M.fe»iou. if it Uuns aui {)«;'.i tho Uw ; USU \ io v >\ |novo "taniou.s v (\ibijH t ihiuiU-v d<cuud the s^s| v \»iiY of tlu" t v u..v,tti\' oi. tt KoUtu-i\N, oa; i't w;th thvu;.sol\os .m or alkhu Iho 1 **th dsy of Juno, (ISVK>. i