y^&- S,/H 
 
 •C& 
 
 There i3 no constitutional disability as to the acquisition of territory, and 
 ■whether, -when acquired, it may bo taken into the Union by the Constitution ad 
 it now stands will become a question of expediency. 
 
 REMARKS 
 
 HON. JOSEPH Y. GRAFF, 
 
 OF ILLINOIS, 
 
 ON TIIE 
 
 ANNEXATION OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS, 
 
 IN THE 
 
 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, 
 
 JUNE IS, 1898. 
 
 But in determining this question it is not the acquiring of territory to satisfy 
 pride or the greed of possession that influences me. Territorial expansion is not 
 the need of the hour, but, in my judgment, the central and controlling factor in 
 the determination to annex the Hawaiian Islands is that it will aid in our com- 
 mercial expansion. 
 
 "WASHINGTON. 
 1898. 
 

 ^ 
 *• 
 
 * 
 
 - 1 
 

 REMAEKS 
 
 OF 
 
 HON. JOSEPH V. GKAFF. 
 
 Tho House having under consideration the joint resolution (H. Res. 253) to 
 provide for annexing the Hawaiian Islands to the United States- 
 Mr. GRAFF said: 
 
 Mr. Speaker: In arriving at a judgment regarding the annexa- 
 tion of the Hawaiian Islands I was not hampered by any pre- 
 viously formed or expressed opinion concerning the subject, and 
 therefore was able to give the matter a conscientious, careful, and 
 unprejudiced examination. I have been affected in reaching a 
 conclusion, first, by what appears to be the sentiment of the Ameri- 
 can people. I have great confidence in their good judgment, and 
 it is justified by the manner in which they have met the various 
 crises through which the Republic has passed and the manner in 
 which they have shown themselves competent to deal with the 
 most complex questions. 
 A notable illustration of this we had in the last campaign. 
 <J They sat in their meetings and at the fireside, and even in the 
 shops and stores, and carefully delved into the complicated ques- 
 tion presented, and, in my judgment, the verdict which they 
 finally rendered was well ripened, mature, and wise. They are a 
 courageous, but a conservative people. They have all due respect 
 for the traditions of the fathers, and yet have a well-founded con- 
 fidence in their ability to meet the problems of the future, which 
 are for them, and not for those departed, to solve. I have ample 
 evidence collected during the last few weeks that the great ma- 
 jority of the American people are in favor of the annexation of 
 these islands in the Pacific Ocean. In the next place, so far as 
 the advantages of annexation are concerned as a strategic, mili- 
 tary, and naval base, I have yielded to the judgment of the ex- 
 perts of the Army and the Navy of the United States, and of the 
 Administratiqn. General Schofield, the last one of those surviv- 
 ing who were prominent in the late rebellion as a commanding 
 officer, and one who by experience and ability has shown himself 
 to be worthy of regard concerning a question of this character, 
 stated to the House Committee on Foreign Relations that the 
 most important feature of all is that it economizes the naval force 
 rather than increases it. He said also: 
 
 It is capable of absolute defense by shore batteries, so that a naval flee t 
 after going there and replenishing its supplies and making what repairs are 
 needed, can go away and leave the harbor perfectly safe to the protection of 
 the army. The Spanish fleet on the Asiatic station was the only one of all 
 the fleets we could have overcome as we did. Of course, that can not again 
 happen, for we will not be able to pick up the weakest fellow next time. Wo 
 3:53 8 
 
are liable at any time to get into a war with a nation which has a more pow- 
 erful fleet than ours, and it is of vital importance, therefore, if we can, to hold 
 the point from which they can conduct operations against our Pacific coast. 
 Especially is that true until the Nicaraugua Canal is finished, because we 
 can not send the fleet around from the Atlantic to the Pacific. 
 
 In addition to this, Admiral Walker, who has had an extended 
 experience in the waters of the Hawaiian Islands, emphatically 
 confirms General Schofield, saying that it would cost far less to 
 protect the Pacific coast with the Hawaiian Islands than without 
 them; that it would be taking a point of vantage instead of giving 
 it to the enemy. 
 
 It must be remembered, Mr. Speaker, that we have a coast line 
 of nearly 2,000 miles on the Pacific, and our Alaskan coast line is 
 greater in extent than our Atlantic, Gulf, and Pacific coast lines 
 combined. To my inexpert mind, it would seem that modern 
 ships of war and commerce as well require facilities for coaling 
 and for frequent docking for repairs. We are entirely without 
 this, and that, too, in the great expanse of the Pacific Ocean. With 
 millions of square miles of water around them, it rises above the 
 waves a single and only fortress of the sea and now offered to us 
 for the taking. It must be remembered that the Pacific Ocean 
 from onr own coast is on an average more that 5,000 miles wide, 
 twice that at least of the Atlantic and four times in area. Eng- 
 land at least realizes the importance of such harbors of refuge and 
 bases of supply and has established fortified coaling stations all 
 around the world in the pathways of commerce. A cruiser or 
 battle ship with a coal capacity necessary to carry her 5,000 miles, 
 steaming at 10 knots an hour, will exhaust her coal in less than 
 1 ,000 miles by doubling her speed. With a supply of coal well 
 guarded in Pearl Harbor, our war ships and merchantmen can 
 cross the Pacific at the maximum speed or concentrate at distant 
 points at high speed, thus largely increasing their efficiency, while 
 their adversaries, being under the necessity of conserving their 
 coal or risking the running out of coal away from their own ports, 
 must move at much less speed, thus being placed at great disad- 
 vantage. 
 
 England, Germany, France, Japan, the United States, and once 
 Spain, all have a Pacific squadron. Every one of these is stronger 
 than ours, save that Of Spain, which was the weakest. But the 
 Administration has asked for the annexation, and the President 
 has placed the military and naval advantage as one of the causes. 
 This has also contributed to forming my opinion. To-day the 
 people of this country are back of the Administration and the con- 
 duct of this war and in all those things which are necessary to its 
 successful prosecution as viewed by the Administration as they 
 have never been behind any Administration from the commence- 
 ment of this Government. Therefore, not being a military expert 
 myself, I yield to the judgment of the Administration upon that 
 point. But to me the controlling factor in the determination of 
 this question is its importance from a commercial standpoint. 
 
 War is not our normal condition; we desire to pursue rather 
 the arts of peace, and when war comes it can never be resorted 
 to by the American people except upon justifiable grounds and as 
 a necessity. To me, therefore, war is simply an incident, a most 
 glorious one, but yet simply an incident in the determination of 
 action npon these resolutions for annexation. I think it is unfor- 
 tunate that in the discussion of this question the problem of the 
 
 3156 
 
retention of the Philippine Islands should have been brought into 
 consideration. I am not afraid that we shall ba hysterical, and 
 because we have annexed the Hawaiian Islands shall be intoxi- 
 cated with an uncontrollable desire for territorial aggrandizement. 
 
 I do not believe that the decision of the present question will 
 influence our judgment when we come to settle the Philippine 
 problem. This has not been our history; it has not been the his- 
 tory of Congress. But in determining this question it is not the 
 acquiring of territory to satisfy pride or the greed of possession 
 that influences me. Territorial expansion is not the need of the 
 hour, but, in my judgment, the central and controlling factor in 
 the determination to annex the Hawaiian Islands is that it will 
 aid in our commercial expansion. We must remember that mar- 
 velous as has been our growth in population, from 3,000,000 people 
 at the close of the Revolution to 73,000,000 to-day, it is surpassed in 
 the wonderful increase of the productive power of this country 
 through improved machinery, the product of American genius. 
 
 Whether this fact be a matter of congratulation or regret, no 
 legislative power can stop it. The difference between the amount 
 which could formerly be produced by a given number of laboring 
 men and that which can be produced with the machinery of to-day 
 operated by the same number passes comprehension. It is a 
 problem to be met. There is much to congratulate ourselves upon 
 under present conditions. I believe that we should first take care 
 of ourownniarket, as we have done, through the policy of protection. 
 But we must also put our foot upon the sea. We must have our 
 share of the world's commerce. I am to-day informed by the gen- 
 tleman from Maine [Mr. Bingley] that the Treasury statistics 
 show that from February 1 of the present year to the end of the 
 present month each month's receipts under the Bingley bill are 
 sufficient to pay the peace expenses of the nation, basing those 
 expenses upon the expenses of each month corresponding for the 
 last year, and leave a surplus on July 1 of §10,000,000, and that, 
 too, in the face of the fact that importers, anticipating this pro- 
 tection f eature of the Bingley bill, flooded our markets, especially 
 with one year's supply of wool, thus materially lessening the pos- 
 sibility of large revenue receipts during the first year of its opera- 
 tion. I give below a table of the exports of merchandise manu- 
 factured in this country, not including coin or bullion of any 
 kind, with the value of each year's exportation, commencing with 
 the passage of the McKinley Act, in 1890: 
 
 Exports of vierchandise. 
 
 Year ending Jnne 30— 
 
 Value. 
 
 Year ending June 30— 
 
 Value. 
 
 1S90- ._ 
 
 $845,293,838 
 
 873,270,283 
 
 1,015,732,011 
 
 831,030,785 
 
 1894 
 
 1892,140,572 
 
 1891 
 
 1895 - --- 
 
 807,538,165 
 
 1892 
 
 1896 
 
 882,606,938 
 
 1893.— 
 
 1897— 
 
 1,050,993,506 
 
 
 
 
 It is somewhat significant that of the two years in which we 
 sold abroad the largest amount of agricultural and manufactured 
 products one should be under the operation of the McKinley Act 
 and the other under the Administration of McKinley, and. the 
 next year will surpass, according to the estimate of the Treasury 
 Bepartment, that of the present; or the exports for the nine 
 months ending march 31, 1898, are §910,612,651, which would 
 3456 
 
make the exports for year ending June 30, 1898, $1,214,150,201. 
 But the struggle is ever necessary and ever unending. We can 
 not be blind to the fact that the four great European powers, Eng- 
 land, Russia, France, and Germany, are endeavoring to obtain 
 commercial supremacy of the world by the policy of colonization. 
 The territory of Africa is speedily being divided between the great 
 powers, and now already has commenced the parceling out of the 
 Empire of China between them. More than one-half of the popu- 
 lation of the world is in countries upon the Pacific and Indian 
 oceans. Hon. J. R. Procter, in an article he wrote for the Forum 
 in September, 1897, says: 
 
 The foreign commerce of the countries bordering these oceans, excluding 
 North America, already amounts to over $2,250,000,000 a year. Of this great 
 commerce we as yet have but a small fraction. Over 80 per cent of our total 
 exports go eastward across the Atlantic and less than 5 per cent westward. 
 
 Nor can we ignore the new constitutional monarchy of Japan 
 which has awakened from its sleep of centuries and startled the 
 world with its progressiveness and power. Are we to be pre- 
 pared for this changing of the front of the world's market? Are 
 we to forget that we are between two oceans? I verily believe 
 that the commercial conflict of the future is to be for the trade of 
 the Orient. 
 
 We are no longer simply an agricultural nation, and it is not for 
 the interests of the farmer that we should be that alone. The 
 splendid victory of Dewey atManila has not aroused us to dreams 
 of territorial aggrandizement, but it has awakened us to the ne- 
 cessity of ports of our own under the American flag where our 
 vessels may seek refuge and coal all over the world. We wish to 
 see the American flag floating on every sea over goods manufac- 
 tured by American workmen and cereals raised by American 
 farmers shipped in American bottoms. When the American goes 
 to the Orient, or wherever he goes the round world over, we want 
 it understood that he is a citizen of a Republic which protects the 
 commercial and personal interests of the American citizen wher- 
 ever he may be. This is not " jingoism." This is a practical pos- 
 sibility. 1 am not in favor of commercial expansion for any other 
 reason than the benefit of the 73,000,000 people whom we have 
 within our present boundaries. And if in the annexation of 
 Hawaii we can give them the privileges of our Government, to 
 our own advantage, we have enough of caution and discretion to 
 meet the Philippine problem when it comes upon its own merits. 
 
 We did not seek to wage this war for territory. We entered 
 into it because Spain had forfeited her rights to govern the Island 
 of Cuba, and because her misgovernment had been an evil both 
 to that unhappy people and to our own commercial interests. We 
 sought, according to the usages of war, because Spain persisted in 
 resisting, to strike her wherever we could find a vital point, and 
 we certainly are not called upon to allow the expenses of this war, 
 prolonged by Spain, to be paid other than out of any of her pos- 
 sessions of which we may have control at its close. Our right un- 
 der the Constitution to acquire territory by conquest, annexation, 
 or purchase has been too well established by precedents in our 
 own history to be questioned. At the time of the Louisiana pur- 
 chase Jefferson wrote to Gallatin: 
 
 There is no constitutional disability as to the acquisition of territory, and 
 whether, when acquired, it may be taken into the Union by the Constitution 
 as it now stands will become a question of expediency. 
 
 The Democratic members of this House last night held a caucus, 
 and one of their members therein offered a resolution to the 
 
 aiso 
 
effect that the annexation of the Hawaiian Islands was dangerous, 
 unwise, and un-Democratic. But the word " un-Democratic " 
 was stricken from the resolution, as it wisely might be, and as 
 amended the resolution passed. 
 
 Florida was ceded by Spain in 1819 without the consent of the 
 Spanish population of Florida. Louisiana was purchased from 
 France in 1803 without the consent of the French population of 
 Louisiana. Texas was annexed in 1845, and that not by treaty 
 ratified by the Senate, but by an act of annexation passed by both 
 Houses of Congress, as we are attempting to pass these resolu- 
 tions, and yet this method is now pronounced unconstitutional by 
 one of the members on the other side of this Chamber. Califor- 
 nia was ceded by Mexico in 1848. The Gadsden purchase was 
 made 1853, and the purchase of Alaska finally in 1887. In con- 
 sidering the form of government which we would give to the 
 Hawaiian Islands it may be remembered that we delayed admit- 
 ting portions of the acquired territory for more than eighty years, 
 and parts of it still remain unadmitted as States. 
 
 The total area of the United States at present is, in round num- 
 bers, 3,668,000 square miles. It was originally onlyabout 1,132,000 
 square miles. Thus by these acquisitions, after the formation of 
 our Government, we tripled our territory and acquired all we now 
 have west of the Mississippi, as well as Louisiana and Florida. 
 And I am frank to say that the proudest part of the history of the 
 Democratic party was that to it was due the greatest credit for these 
 acquisitions. It seems to me that it is very inconsistent for them 
 now to grow so very conservative over the acquisition of a little 
 group of islands in the midst of the sea. It must also be remem- 
 bered that the "Whig party suffered by reason of its opposition to 
 the Mexican war which resulted in the acquisition of the Califor- 
 nia territory ceded by Mexico; and the same forebodings existed 
 then as are brought up to-day, and the arguments made now are 
 repetitions of those days. 
 
 We remember that the Whig party only escaped condemnation 
 by the wise selection of the old hero of the Mexican war, Zachary 
 Taylor, who snatched victory from the jaws of defeat. The 
 leader of the party on the opposite side of this Chamber would not 
 be here were it not for the annexation of Texas. This is not a 
 new question. The value of the Hawaiian Islands to the United 
 States has been recognized by almost every Secretary of State for 
 the last half century. 
 
 There is a little Republic in Italy 4 miles from the shore of the 
 Adriatic, away up in the Apennine Mountains, thirteen hundred 
 years old, consisting of five villages, with some 8,000 inhabitants, 
 and 22 square miles, entirely mountainous. There is little or no 
 use for the prison. She is not a tempting prize to the stronger 
 powers of Europe. Her people are industrious, prudent, and 
 economical. She does not intermeddle with the world outside. 
 She shuts out the telephone, the railroad, and all of the modern 
 appliances of this age. They have been kept in simplicity, yes; in 
 liberty, yes; but they also have been kept in ignorance. They en- 
 joy liberty bound up within themselves, but not such a liberty as 
 we would or can enjoy. They have no part in the world's work. 
 We can not escape it. If they had existed from the time of Adam, 
 we would have lived longer in our hundred and nineteen years of 
 national life than they. 
 
 We frequently hear men longing for the simplicity of the primi- 
 tive times of the beginning of this Government. Perhaps some 
 34:6 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
 019 944 334 3 
 
 may think it would be better. It matters not. Sir, we can not 
 turn the wheels of progress back, if we would. We must meet 
 the problems of the future. We can not rely upon the principles 
 laid down for the settling of the problems of the past, when we 
 were an agricultural Republic alone, to meet the problems of the 
 future of a great commercial power, except as they may be appli- 
 cable to the present time. I have confidence in the present and, 
 above all, I have a confidence in the guiding power of the God of 
 nations, who has directed us thus far in preserving a liberty which 
 is not one simply for ourselves, not an exclusive privilege, but is 
 typified in the statue at New York Harbor of Liberty Enlightening 
 the World. [Applause. J