E 713 .B61 _ _ Copy 1 HE ANNEXATION OF HAWAII: A RIGHT AND A DUTY. AN ADDRESS HON. Harry Bingham, LL. D. DELIVERED BEFORE THE GRAFTON AND G008 BAR ASSOCIATION f OODSVILLE, N. H, JANUARY 28, 1898. CONCORD, N. H.: THE RUMFORb PRE55. 1898. THE ANNEXATION OF HAWAII: A RIGHT AND A DUTY. A.N ADDRESS BY / HON. HARRY BINGHAM, LL. D. DELIVERED BEFORE THE GRAFTON ftND G008 BAR ASSOCIATION fOODSVILLE, N. H., JANUARY 28, 1898. J, 11, XI. J CONCORD, N. H. : THE RUMFORb PRE55. 1898. i (?50f^ 1898 THE ANNEXATION OF HAWAII: A RIGHT AND A DUTY. INTKODUCTORY ADDRESS BY HON. HARRY BmGHAM, LL. D., PKESIDEJSrX OF THE ASSOCIATION. Gentlemen of the Association : Our fifteenth anniversary has arrived and we will now enter upon its exercises. I give you a cordial greeting and bid you welcome here, trusting that we are all devoutly thankful for the divine care and mercy that have sustained us during the year and brought us once more together. I shall venture to address you upon the subject of Ha- waiian Annexation, although I am aware that it is a sub- ject about which there may be different opinions. I am convinced, however, that far-reaching consequences will affect our country for good or for ill accordingly as this subject is rightly or wrongly disposed of. Therefore I claim that we should study the subject, hear discussion upon it, and be prepared to give our influence, whatever it may be, in the right direction. Especially do I claim that upon ques- tions of this character the bar should be prepared to advise and act understandingly, and that every American citizen with intelligence sufficient to comprehend his duty as such citizen should expand his ideas and extend his vision beyond the attainment of mere partisan advantages. Some time ago I wrote a paper which discussed this ques- tion and as it has not been published I propose to use it ou the present occasion. There are some things in it which I might qualify or explain in the light of recent occur- rences, but I am entirely content that the grounds there taken should remain as they are and be considered the record of my judgment both as to what the situation is and as to what ought to be done. The subject of the paper to which I have referred is entitled " The Annexation of Hawaii : a Right and a Duty," and is discussed as follows : The annexation of the Hawaiian Islands to the United States is a matter that demands the serious consideration of the American people. It raises questions that ought not to be discussed and settled in a partisan spirit, but there should be honest inquiry and a judgment based upon con- viction of what is just and for the good of all concerned. In view of the present situation and the past relations between those islands, this country, and other countries, it seems strange that any enlightened American citizen should be found opposed to their annexation. Such an opponent cannot stand on the ground that our national constitution does not authorize us to receive additional territory. The right of the Federal government to receive additions to its territories has been established by numerous precedents. Since the adoption of the Federal Constitution, vast terri- tories from time to time have been added to the United States. According to our laws and according to our na- tional policy and practice, there can be no doubt that our government has the power to make a lawful acceptance of the proffered annexation. The offer is made to us by the government of Hawaii of its own motion, a government fully established and recognized by the United States and the other nations of the world as in the actual and rightful control of its people. The parties are competent to con- tract. It simply remains for us to accept or reject the offer, and in so doing to be governed by the duties we owe to ourselves, to the Hawaiian people, and to the rest of the world. Those islands lie much nearer to us and our con- tinent than they do to any other nation or continent. They belong to the American continent, and may properly be regarded as an appendage thereto. Steam and electricity make them comparatively near to our shores, and if the Nicaragua canal is built tlie}^ will be still nearer. Their climate is salubrious and mild, with only a slight difference between the extremes of heat and cold. Their soil is rich, producing sugar-cane, coffee, rice, and tropical fruits in abundance. The sides of their mountains afford excellent pasturage. Their value for agricultural and grazing pur- poses simply would make their annexation a valuable addi- tion to our territory. It is the testimony of competent en- gineers that those islands can be fortified easily, so as to be as impregnable to the assault of hostile navies as any of the numerous and costly fortifications which Great Britain has erected and maintains on the shores and islands of America. As a naval station for the defence of our Pacific coast, they would be invaluable. For many years last past this coun- try has had a great and profitable trade with those islands. They are so far Americanized now that annexation will be but one step further, and the great emigration from tliis country thither which would immediately follow annexation soon would complete the work of their assimilation to our ways and institutions. Ever since Hawaii became known to the civilized world our statesmen have contended that our interests there were paramount to those of all other nations, that we could not permit colonization or the exercise of control there by other countries, and that we favored the independence of the islands, but if their independence could not be maintained, then their ultimate destiny must be in our hands. To these contentions of our statesmen the world has yielded. We have practically controlled Hawaii for the last fifty years. Our missionaries have gone there. Christianized the natives, and settled there. Our men of affairs have gone there, taken the lead in all important matters, and out of barbar- ism have created civilization. Hawaii has been justl}^ called the key of the Pacific ocean, and as such key its value is ajiparent when we consider what a vast commerce in the future is sure to seek for itself a highwaj^ over the waters of that ocean. In that commerce our country ought to lead, and will if she is true to herself. The time has arrived when Hawaii, unable longer to endure without protection her isolated condition, has petitioned our government to be permitted to become a territory of the United States. The question is, Shall we grant this petition ? It has already been shown that the annexation of Hawaii would be an ac- quisition of great value. It has been said that he who will not provide for his own household is worse than an infidel ; and it may be added that the nation which will not look out for its own interests and make the welfare of its people as secure as possible is an imbecile and contemptible nation. In this age all nations except the United States are intent upon adding to their territories. Great Britain, France, Germany, and Russia are searching the remotest corners of the earth, and grasping new territory wherever they can do so with impunity. Lesser nations, in a smaller way, are doing the same thing. The United States alone seems to hesitate about adding to herself new territories, however desirable tliey may be. If we do refuse to allow the rich, desirable, and important Hawaiian Islands permission to become a part of our territory, it will be an act of utter recklessness and indifference in respect to our interests as a nation and our welfare as a people. It is certain that our duty to ourselves requires us to accept this offer. The next inquiry is. What are the duties we owe in this matter to the people of Hawaii and to the rest of the world ? Let us first consider our duty to the people of Hawaii. Their islands are situated where all the great nations of the world desire a foothold. They have stood alone and inde- pendent until their position has grown so important that they realize they cannot stand alone any longer, and that they must ally themselves with some strong power. They have selected as that strong power the United States, the nearest to them of all nations, not only geographically but in every respect. They received from the United States Christianity and everything else that tends to distinguish them as they now are from the savages discovered by Cap- tain Cook in 1778. Hawaii turns to the United States for protection as a child turns to its father. It is hard to con- ceive of a moral obligation stronger than the one that rests on us to accept this offer. All, or at least some, of the enemies of annexation say that "they never will consent that Hawaii should become a part of this country," and with the same breath they announce that " they will never permit any other nation to colonize or control it or be allied with it, and that, though weak and helpless, Hawaii must stand alone and independent." No reasonable man can consider such treatment of Hawaii as this to be humane and just. If the people of the United States have become indifferent to their own interests, and if they are determined to ignore all the claims that the people of Hawaii have upon them, then their only honest course is to say in response to this application, " No, we will not take you ; go seek protection elsewhere." The importance of Hawaii as a coaling station for all the shipping of the Pacific ocean, whether commercial or naval, is obvious. In our hands the aid that it would afford us in protecting our extended Pacific coast, would be of immense value. In the hands of an enemy with a naval power, it would be a constant menace to us. Navies and armies could be safely congregated there for raiding the Pacific coast and for the invasion and occupation of our Pacific states. Mr. Blaine called Hawaii " the key of the Pacific ocean." These facts in the past have caused our secreta- ries of state, among whom were Daniel Webster, William 8 L. Marcy, and James G. Blaine, to declare in their official capacity that the United States has such an interest in Hawaii that she can never allow any other nation to colo- nize or control it ; and now it is on account of these facts that the enemies of annexation are compelled to qualify their declaration that they will not consent that Hawaii should be annexed to this country, by the further declara- tion that she must not be colonized or controlled by any other country ; that she must stand alone, independent, and guard the key of the Pacific unaided. In view of all the circumstances it is unnecessary to say that such a response actually made to the petition of Hawaii would be most unreasonable and brutal. It would undoubtedly result in compelling her to throw herself into the arms of some other power. Other powers know the value of Hawaii, and if they could get it would consider it a great acquisi- tion. England would have taken possession of it long ago if our statesmen had not objected on the ground of our para- mount interest. England has yielded to our claim and will make no objection if we at3cept the offer of annexation. But if we reject the offer and Hawaii then offers herself to Eng- land, England will surely accept. Our protests, grounded on paramount interests, will then be disregarded. England could then reply to us, when we made such protests, and say justly, "Your conduct shows that you have no such interest. These islands need protection and they asked you for it and you refused to give it. If you had any interest in the islands you abandoned it when you refused to give them protection. You cannot succeed in this dog-in-the- manger policy, refusing to do a thing necessary and proper to be done and prohibiting everybody else from doing it. Hawaii asked you for protection. You refused to give it. She now asks us for protection. We shall give it." We may be assured that when we renounce Hawaii England will take it and hold us to our renunciation. Japan, emerging from semi-barbarism and in the morning twilight of her civilization, peering across the vast waters of the Pacific, sees and appreciates the importance of Ha- waii. She construed the treatment that President Harri- son's treaty of annexation received and the chivalrous course that President Cleveland took in behalf of the de- posed queen to be evidence that the United States didn't care for Hawaii and would have nothing to do with it. In that view, Japan has caused her people to emigrate in great numbers to Hawaii with the evident purpose of obtaining ultimately the control of the islands. This purpose was so repugnant and became so patent to the Hawaiian govern- ment that it prohibited recently any further landing on its soil of emigrants from Japan. The inhabitants of Hawaii of American or European origin, and its inhabitants of aboriginal origin, who are all Christians, will not submit voluntarily to be governed and controlled by Japan whose people are still pagans and idolaters. There is little doubt that if we refuse to take Hawaii she will not go to Japan but she will tender herself to England and be accepted. Our country, then, in the eyes of all other countries will be estopped from making any objections and in our own eyes we shall be so estopped by every consideration of right and justice. The time has arrived when we must either accept the offer of Hawaii and annex it or repudiate the rights we have hitherto asserted over it and relinquish all claim to control its destiny. The acquiescence of other nations heretofore in our ex- ercise of control over the islands and in our asserted right to permanent control over them was a virtual contract on our part with those nations that we would continue perma- nently to maintain such control, and that they could deal with us thereafter for the accommodation which their com- merce on the Pacific ocean might require at those islands. If we should reject the proffered annexation we shall not be able to do what the various nations of the world have a right to expect us to do for them. The acquisition of 10 Hawaii by England would give her another impregnable posi- tion near the shores of America from which she could easily assail and plunder our Pacific cities or land on our coasts an invading army. Various objections have been urged against the annexa- tion of Hawaii, all of which on investigation will be found to be either irrational or frivolous. It has been objected that the islands are too far out in the ocean and that it will cost us much labor and money to defend them. In reply we will call attention to what we have already shown, viz. : that Hawaii is of vast strategical importance ; that it is the key of the Pacific ocean ; that in our hands it is a point of infinite value for defence ; and that in the hands of an enemy it is a point where he could aggregate his resources in security and with great facility raid or invade our Pacific states. Some of the oj^ponents of annexation, when hard pushed for arguments, have assumed that the educated and Christian Hawaiian natives are not represented by their government and that they are opposed to having their country become a part of the United States. Appeals are made to the sympathies of the American people not to com- pel by superior force these contented and intelligent natives against their wishes to become citizens of our country. There is no evidence that the native Hawaiians are opposed to becoming such citizens ; on the contrary, whatever their feelings may be towards their existing government, the evidence is that they favor annexation to the United States. All agree that these native Hawaiians are educated and intelligent. They know what their situation is and what it will be if they become American citizens. The assertion that they are really opposed to annexation to the United States is not only without proof but it is without the prob- ability of truth. Another objection is that we want no more territory; that if we take Hawaii it will be a precedent for taking Cuba and Canada, if they should be hereafter offered to us, and 11 that we want no more territory, however valuable it may be or however just and reasonable it may be that we should take it. This objection involves the consideration of mat- ters of vital importance to the well being of our people. It is certainly important that a nation should keep open all the avenues in which its people can escape from inertia and sloth and get a training that develops their mental and physical powers and qualifies them to do effective work for the elevation and improvement of their country. Our com- merce and shipping that once found their way over all the waters of the globe, that rivalled and threatened to surpass the commerce and shipping of Great Britain, are now gone. The schools of seamanship thus furnished kept the energies of our people alive, developed their brawn, intellect, and courage, and fitted them for valorous deeds. Our country was then full of hardy, brave, and patriotic seamen, but now it is with difficulty that seamen enough are found to man our infant navy. We have grown so much afraid of the salt water that in this age of steam, when in a little space of time oceans are crossed, our people are importuned to reject the annexation of islands belonging to our conti- nent because they are a little way out at sea. Formerly our millionaires were merchants, such as Girard, Gray, and John Jacob Astor, who accumulated their millions by gi- gantic commercial enterprises carried on over the waters of the world. Now our millionaires accumulate their millions by creating gigantic monopolies and trusts and by wreck- ing railroads. The whaling business has been a great school for developing in our young men hardihood, daring, and energetic habits. That school also is closed, probably never to be opened again. Our people can hardly be said to carry on the fishing business with the vigor of former days. In fair competition they scarcely keep even with Canadian fishermen and seal-catchers. The whalingf busi- ness died out by reason of inevitable changes. The tame ness of our fishermen comes from our general decay in sea- 12 going energy. Our commerce and shipping have dwindled to their present im^Dotent condition by reason of restrictive navigation laws and prohibitory tariffs. The only avenue now open that leads to what will preserve the energy and enterprise of our people and keep them in the line of na- tional progress is the avenue that leads to new lands where by toil and hardship the wilderness can be subdued and in its stead civilization planted. This avenue, if no more ter- ritory is to be added to our national domain, is now also practically.closed. The last of our good settling lands were taken up when Oklohoma was organized and opened up for settlement. The tremendous rush of stalwart humanity to get a foothold on the virgin soil of Oklohoma afforded a glimpse of the mighty forces that have made for us so many great and prosperous states out of what a little while ago was a howling wilderness. In the past the energy, muscle, and brains of the country cultivated, developed, and em- ployed in whaling, in the fisheries, in ocean commerce, and in the settlement of new territories have made the United States a great and powerful nation. And now whaling be- ing a dead industry, the fisheries in a decline, no prospect of a restoration of our lost commerce and shipping, and our lands suitable for settlement all taken, the opponents of Hawaiian annexation come to the front and say that there must not be any more territory annexed to the United States. If this interdict against more territory is estab- lished and the United States forever limited to their present boundaries, while existing conditions in other respects re- main, then the sooner our people cease their activities, re- tire within their shells and go to seed, the better. Wlien a nation closes up all its avenues that lead to enterprise and progress, it has made preparation for death, and thereafter- wards the sooner it passes to inertia and sloth and suffers itself quietly to be consumed by dry rot, the easier it will sink into nonentity and be forgotten. In such a case, how- ever, energetic habits that can find no legitimate vent will 13 be liable to break out in criminal disorder and hurry the nation's death by rioting, havoc, and destruction. Already so many of the avenues in which our national energies have operated hitherto have been either closed or obstructed that symptoms of decay and disorder thereby occasioned have been manifested. There has been a falling off among our people in the reliance that the individual has upon himself. There is a growing disposition to seek paternal aid from the government. The capitalist embarked in a business venture, wants legislation that will insure him liis profits. The farmer asks the government to loan him money with which to lift his mortgage. Recently an army recruited from the unemployed and headed by General Coxey marched on Washington, demanding of Congress that it should enact measures which would give them employment. Discontent and uneasiness, generated by idle energies, pervade the multitude. It is certain that this country will fall into premature decay and wither away long before it has reached its prime, unless the forces that have built it up to its pres- ent magnitude are kept employed. We must not heed the voice that says, " Let us stop here, keep what we have got, and proceed no farther." We cannot stand still. We must advance or we shall certainly retrograde. Any lullaby about feasting on what we have and working no more is luring us to destruction. We have only one alternative. We must either advance on the lines that Washing'ton, Jefferson, and our great statesmen have marked out and on which we have hitherto proceeded or fall back amid shame, disorder, and misery, and take the road that leads to final extinction. The age of our country is a little more than a century. Comparatively speaking, England is very old, whether her age is reckoned from the withdrawal of the Roman legions and the Anglo-Saxon occupation in the fifth century or from the Norman conquest in the 11th century ; yet through all the ages of her national existence she has constantly been 14 augmenting her energies by keeping them actively em- ployed, and to-day she is more aggressive and progressive than ever before. England commenced her career as a nation with a section of the island of Great Britain. In the course of time she annexed Wales and Ireland by conquest, and Scotland by treaty. She has extended her empire by conquest over almost half of the continent of North America. She has conquered and maintains domin- ion over the immense empire of India. She holds undis- puted sway over innumerable islands scattered everywhere, lying in all the waters and zones of the globe and varying in size from an island of continental dimensions with mil- lions of square miles down to an island containing but a few acres. England possesses more or less territory on all the grand divisions of the globe and she boasts with truth that the sun never sets on her dominions. She is never scrupulous about the right when she can take with impu- nity. She colonizes all her territories that are vacant, or only roamed over by savage tribes, and English speaking people are rapidly multiplying throughout her dominions. She has torn down all the barriers to trade that she has ever erected, and urges trade on everybody. All the known avenues of trade are kept wide open and search for new ones is constantly made. The activities and energies of her merchants, cultivated and developed by their vast opportu- nities, have monopolized the commerce of the world and ex- tended their traffic into the remotest seas and to all land. Trade vigilantly sought after and prosecuted everywhere and colonization of all parts of the earth steadily carried on, have fostered the spirit of enterprise in the British people and caused them continually to grow in hardihood, vigor, and intelligence. The same forces that have enabled modern England to surpass her former self in bold seaman- ship, daring adventure, and brilliant exploits have developed and strengthened the intellect of her people and given her energetic, far-seeing statesmen. Englishmen know and 15 cherish the sources of their greatness. They also appre- ciate their faithful servants and treat with clue respect the rulers who dignify and give charactei" to the nation. Wit- ness the honors recently paid to their very worthy queen. England is not cited as an example for our imitation, but as an example for us to study and by such study to be profited. She has kept open every avenue where it was possible for her people to find employment, and as a conse- quence her people have always been characterized by thrift and industry, her laborers contented and her soldiers brave. Her navies control the seas, her merchants hold the com- merce of the world, and her cabinet is ruled by strong, brainy men. The example of England teaches us what we ought and what we ought not to do. It teaches us that we ought to open up to our people all the avenues to employ- ment of which we can obtain rightful control, and on the other hand it teaches us to shun the wrongs of England in seizing territory without right and extending trade by undue means. The lesson taught us by the example of England ought also to teach us to realize what supreme folly it would be for us to refuse the offer of a territory which we can rightfully take, and which is of great value to us, not only for its intrinsic worth, but for its position and the se- curity its possession would afford our country. It has been asserted that if Hawaii was made a territory of the United States it could not be governed, that Con- gress has not power to govern it as a territory, and that it is not fit to be made a state. This assertion is the assertion of one who either wilfully misstates or is grossly misin- formed. Congress is authorized expressly by the consti- tution to govern the territories and has always exercised that power with perfect submission thereto ever since the government was organized. It has used its strong arm whenever necessary for the preservation of wholesome rule in the territories. In Utah it uprooted and abolished po- lygamy, planted and defended there by the stubborn power 16 of religious fanaticism. Christianity was introduced into Hawaii two or three generations ago, and the living de- scendants of its aboriginal inhabitants have been reared and trained as christians. They can read and write and are of a peaceable, law-abiding disposition. The Chinese and Japanese now resident in Hawaii are mere laborers, and if the United States laws are extended over it their further immigration will be restricted. A slight considera- tion sliows the absurdity of the claim that Congress, with its ample powers, will find any difficulty in governing Hawaii, because of a small civilized remnant of the abor- igines, or on account of a few laborers from China and Japan. The further fact that Congress would not be au- thorized to admit Hawaii as a state, until in its judgment she was fit to become a member of our family of states, ought to quiet all apprehension of any bad result from her annexation. Fears have been expressed that our country is extending its boundaries too far for safety, as it respects •external defense and internal harmony. The only mode of