Democratic Sentinel, Volume 17, Number 47, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 8 December 1893 — The Rights of Hawaii. [ARTICLE]

The Rights of Hawaii.

The letter of Secretary Gresham dealing with the status of affairs between this country and Hawaii, is one that will be read with interest by all who have followed the course of events since the annexationists on the island asserted themselves and established a provisional government which secured the hasty recognition of the United States. The state document which the Secretary has made public is a full and candid review of the case from its inception, and, if correct in its details, is certainly correct in the conclusion that the independence of the Hawaiian Gov-i ernment should be restored, and that with this performance of a plain duty interference on the part of the United States should cease. The fact that Minister Stevens exceeded his authority and committed this Government to an act of gross and cowardly injustice is positively asserted, while the mar rines from the United States ship Boston gave aid, comfort and success to the revolutionists under the pretense of protecting the life and property of American citizens in Honolulu. This showing accounts for several facts that were at the time of their occurrence a matter of general discussion. It will now be understood why the commissioners of the provisional government and the representatives of Queen Liliuokalani raced across the continent, each seeking to first gain* the ear of Secretary Poster with the hope of securing favorable action on the part of the United States. It explains the hauling down of the American flag by Minister Blount when he reached Honolulu and there learned the true condition of affairs, but it does not make clear why Minister Stevens played the part of a usurper and made false representations to his government, afterwards admitting that they were false. Neither does it account for the undue haste with which the Harrison administration seized upon the opportunity for annexation and gave one of the most marked illustrar tions of jingoism in the whole history of the nation. —Detroit Free Press.