{"1": {"fulltext": "jut*?", "height": "4841", "width": "2838", "jp2-path": "hawaiianannexati00smit_0001.jp2"}, "2": {"fulltext": "", "height": "4537", "width": "2654", "jp2-path": "hawaiianannexati00smit_0002.jp2"}, "3": {"fulltext": "DU 627\\n.4\\n.S6\\nCopy 1\\n1 P\u00c2\u00a3. ,j\u00c2\u00a3\\nHAWAIIAN ANNEXATION.\\nAMERICAN FOREIGN POLICY: VIGOROUS, PROGRESSIVE,\\nAND HUMANE.\\nSPEECH\\nOF\\nHON. WILLIAM ALDEN SMITH,\\nOP MICHIGAN,\\nHOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,\\nWednesday, June 15, 1898.\\nW ASHINGTON.\\n1898.\\nJ\u00c2\u00bb.u.S.", "height": "4537", "width": "2654", "jp2-path": "hawaiianannexati00smit_0003.jp2"}, "4": {"fulltext": "68607", "height": "4537", "width": "2654", "jp2-path": "hawaiianannexati00smit_0004.jp2"}, "5": {"fulltext": "f\\nSPEECH\\nOF\\nHON. WILLIAM ALDEX SMITH.\\nOil the joint resolution i H. Res. 2o9) to provide for annexing the Hawaiian\\nIslands to the United States.\\nMr. WILLIAM ALDEN SMITH of Michigan said:\\nMr. Speaker: It is with some misgiving and trepidation that I\\nrise toward the close of this discussion, so full of interest and en-\\nlightenment. I do not take part, however, with any expectation\\nof affecting the vote soon to be taken, but solely for the purpose\\nof reflecting public sentiment in the district which I have the\\nhonor to represent and to discharge my duty as a Representative\\nupon this floor.\\nThrough four sessions of Congress I have willingly followed the\\nwise leadership with which we are favored, and in much of my\\npublic work have been blessed with the wisdom and experience of\\nolder Members, whose right to lead has been earned by long and\\nfaithful service in legislative affairs.\\nEven now, were the latitude less circumscribed and the subject\\nunder discussion less important, I would not venture to take the\\ntime of the House, but as a member of the Committee on Foreign\\nAffairs, charged with the preliminary responsibility for this legis-\\nlation, I owe a duty to you, which it shall be my privilege to per-\\nform.\\nOur action to-day will mark a new era in national affairs. God\\ngrant that it may be wisely performed, and that the century now\\nclosing may lose none of Its luster thereby, and the proud and\\nhonorable achievements of our country may be made more secure\\nand enduring by our legislation of to-day.\\n11 The world will little note nor long remember the petty strug-\\ngles of individuals for honor and place, but in the world s grand\\npageantry of glorious and progressive enlightenment, along whose\\nfitful highway nations travel in their onward march, these epochs\\nconstitute the century marks upon eternity s dial.\\nNot a determined navigator upon unknown seas, not a faithful\\nexplorer in darkness and gloom, not a struggling genius whose\\nmind, clogged with cumbersome detail, finally bursts into practical\\ninvention, not a sturdy pioneer in the march of progress, who has\\nnot builded better than he knew.\\nPerhaps, sir\u00e2\u0080\u0094 who can say nay?\u00e2\u0080\u0094 we are building better than we\\nknow for the future grandeur and greatness of America.\\nThe important question of Hawaiian annexation is not new to\\nthe count ry. Nearly fifty years ago our Government undertook\\nnegotiations for its annexation, and the American minister to\\nHawaii was at that time instructed that we were ready to receive\\nthe formal transfer of the territorial sovereignty of the islands,\\nand there has never been a time since when important negotia-\\ntions were not pending for their absorption into the Union.\\n3102", "height": "4537", "width": "2654", "jp2-path": "hawaiianannexati00smit_0005.jp2"}, "6": {"fulltext": "Why have we delayed? Through whose instrumentality have\\nwe been influenced?\\nWith a constancy horn of sincere desire, this little group of\\nPacific pearls have maintained their friendship for us through\\nstrife, revolution, and disaster, refusing alliances from others,\\nhelpful and honorable.\\nFour times she has been seized in eighty years\u00e2\u0080\u0094 once by Russia,\\nonce by England, and twice by France. Hostile demonstrations\\nupon her own part and the threatening attitude of our country\\ncaused her release. Finally, for fear and in dread of conquest,\\nthe absolute cession of her sovereignty to the United States was\\nexecuted and delivered in 1851, and a treaty was negotiated in\\n1854.\\nMr. Speaker, there is not a nation in the world that does not\\nrecognize the importance of the Hawaiian Islands to the United\\nStates. Are we blind to our interests when the disinterested\\nvision of others is so clear? Will we longer neglect this plain\\nduty, now so near consummation?\\nFor one, let me say that no obstacle is too great to be overcome\\nin the definite and distinct purpose of this hour, and the weak\\nand foolish prejudices of men have no terror whatever for me in\\nthe performance of plain public duty.\\nLong before the independence of America from England, the\\nquestion of island ownership was one of the utmost importance\\namong European nations. With an eye to the extension of her\\ntrade and commerce, every island in the Atlantic Ocean, the Ca-\\nribbean Sea, and the Gulf which they could trade for or easily con-\\nquer, has been brought under the English flag, It is not my\\npurpose to criticise this upon her part, for I believe it to have\\nbeen wise, farsighted, and sagacious, and worthy of emulation.\\nIs it not essential that we should be vigilant as to our true in-\\nterests at this point? Would it not be wise to seize the opportu-\\nnity presented to us by Providence and the logic of our national\\nfate?\\nIt has been urged that we have no constitutional power to\\nannex new territory. In what line of the Federal Constitution is\\nthis prohibited? Who knew more than Thomas Jefferson or\\nGouverneur Morris, whose pens put the Constitution into form,\\nabout the meaning and the purpose of this instrument in the mat-\\nter of territorial acquisition? At the time of the Louisiana pur-\\nchase Morris wrote, No decree de crescendo emperio, especially\\nemphasizing the fact that limitations were not inserted in the in-\\nstrument, because no boundaries could be safely assigned to our\\nfuture extension; and he further says:\\nI knew as well then as I do now that all North America must\\nat length be annexed to us. Happy indeed if the lust of possession\\nstop there.\\nWhile the great Jefferson, whose fertile mind is reflected in so\\nmuch of our Constitution, wrote, in reply to the letter of Gal-\\nlatin, regarding the Louisiana purchase:\\nThere is no constitutional difficulty as to the acquisition of\\nterritory, and whether when acquired it may be taken into the\\nUnion by the Constitution as it now stands, will become a ques-\\ntion of expediency.\\nThe turning point in that great question of territorial aggran-\\ndizement was solved upon the question of whether or not our\\nyoung Government wanted a portion of its contiguous soil occu-\\npied by the French\u00e2\u0080\u0094 whether we wanted to take the chances of a\\n31G2", "height": "4537", "width": "2654", "jp2-path": "hawaiianannexati00smit_0006.jp2"}, "7": {"fulltext": "Napoleon at the head of a French army ascending the Missis-\\nsippi River to reconquer, if possible, a new world; and Jefferson,\\nout of the wisdom of his experience and the courage of his con-\\nviction, made a purchase which the American people have ap-\\nproved every moment since it was consummated; and never in\\nthe history of the Republic was fifteen millions of American\\nmoney better invested to secnre wise territorial addition and to\\nsecure the peace of our border.\\nWhen Spain offered to this Government the Floridas, or at\\nleast a quitclaim of her title and pretensions, in 1819, the Su-\\npreme Court of the United States, called upon soon thereafter to\\ndefine our relation to the new acquisition, held, to the great sur-\\nprise of some of the strict constructionists of the Constitution, that\\nthe right of the United States to wage war and to make treaties\\nnecessarily implied the right to acquire new territory, whether by\\nconquest or purchase. This decision came from our greatest\\nChief Justice, John Marshall, and has been repeatedly affirmed by\\nhis successors upon the bench. (See 136 U. S. Rep. 1-42.\\nWhile Chief Justice Taney, in the celebrated Dred Scott deci-\\nsion, said:\\nWe do not mean, however, to question the power of Congress\\nin this respect. The power to expand the territory of the United\\nStates by the admission of new States is plainly given; and in the\\nconstruction of this power by all the departments of the Govern-\\nment it has been held to authorize the acquisition of territory, not\\nfit for admission at the time, but to be admitted as soon as its\\npopulation and situation would entitle it to admission. It is ac-\\nquired to become a State, and not to be held as a colony and gov-\\nerned by Congress with absolute authority; and as the propriety\\nof admitting a new State is committed to the sound discretion of\\nCongress, the power to acquire territory for that purpose, to be\\nheld by the United States until it is in a suitable condition to\\nbecome a State upon an equal footing with other States, must\\nrest upon the same discretion, It is a question for the political\\ndepartment of the Government, and not the judicial; and what-\\never the political department of the Government shall recognize\\nas within the limits of the United States the judicial department\\nis also bound to recognize, and to administer in it the laws of the\\nUnited States, so far as they apply, and to maintain in the terri-\\ntory the authority and rights of the Government, and also the\\npersonal rights and rights of property of individual citizens, as\\nsecured by the Constitution.\\nIn 183G there came an application from the Republic of Texas\\nfor admission into the Union as a new and equal State. The dom-\\ninant population there had always been composed of emigrants\\nfrom the United States. President Adams had tried to purchase\\nit from Mexico in 1827; while Andrew Jackson offered $5,000,000\\nfor it in 1835. A year later Texas claimed to have achieved her\\nindependence, and sent commissioners to Washington to negotiate\\na treaty of annexation. Mexico had not relinquished her claims\\nof ownership, and our Government delayed recognition until\\nTexas had proven its ability to defend its separate existence and\\ndiplomatic relations had been established between that independ-\\nent Republic and the United States, and many European powers.\\nIn 1838 John Quincy Adams introduced in the House of Repre-\\nsentatives a resolution denying the power of the United States to\\nannex the people of any independent state into the Union, hold-\\ning that no such authority resided in the Constitution or Govern-", "height": "4553", "width": "2582", "jp2-path": "hawaiianannexati00smit_0007.jp2"}, "8": {"fulltext": "6\\nmerit or any department thereof, and that this exercise would be\\nan assumption of power unlawful and void, even going so far as\\nto hold that if Texas were annexed, it would inevitably result in\\na dissolution of the Union. The situation there presented, the\\nresistance offered, and the encouragement given were sharp, tire-\\nless, and effective. Nevertheless, sir, in 1844 a treaty of annexa-\\ntion was concluded, which the Senate rejected by a vote of more\\nthan two to one.\\nTexas was the issue in the succeeding Presidential election, and\\nthe Democratic party scored a great and decisive victory, which\\nPresident Tyler promptly ratified by recommending an act of an-\\nnexation. The history of that controversy is well known to those\\nconversant with public affairs. Congress authorized the erection\\nof Texas into a new State of the United States, and President Ty-\\nler promptly affixed his signature to the act of union, and this in-\\ndependent Republic, the cause of so much contention in the past,\\nentered the Union over anew legislative highway which has been\\nblazed so wide and so straight that in the present emergency we\\nhave a precedent ample indeed.\\nWhile there can be no question, Mr. Speaker, but that treaty\\nmaking was especially lodged by the Constitution in the President\\nand Senate, and that the composition of the Senate was so framed\\nthat each State should have an equal voice, nevertheless, the exi-\\ngencies which at times confront the Republic warn us of the im-\\nportance of the popular branch of Congress, coming direct from\\nthe people; and the Texas precedent has made the votes of a ma-\\njority of both branches of Congress sufficient.\\nI am well aware, sir, that Jefferson has expressed doubt as to\\nthe wisdom of our Government receiving acquisitions which it\\nwould take a navy to defend, but the necessity for a strong navy,\\nable to give absolute security to our commerce upon the sea, has\\nforced its way permanently into the public mind. Secretary\\nAdams, in his instruction to our minister to Spain, once wrote\\nthat Puerto Rico was the natural appendage and Cuba had become\\nan object of transcendant importance to the commercial and po-\\nlitical interests of our Union. The commanding position of Puerto\\nRico with reference to theG-ulf of Mexico and the West India seas\\ngave to it advantages which could not be easily ignored, while\\nCuba, because of its situation between our southern coast and the\\nisland of San Domingo, with its splendid harbor at Havana, front-\\ning our shores, almost destitute of the same advantage, its produc-\\ntions and its necessities, with mutually profitable commercial ad-\\nvantage, gives this territory national interest with no parallel in\\neither ocean. At least one President (Polk) has tried to purchase\\nit, adding his testimony to the right and ability under the Consti-\\ntution for our Government to acquire foreign territory.\\nAt the close of the Mexican war we paid fifteen million dollars\\nfor New Mexico and California, while the Gadsden purchase of\\n1853 added southern Arizona at a cost of ten millions more.\\nThese acquisitions, understood and appreciated by the American\\npeople, have increased our interest at advantageous and desirable\\npoints. It has stimulated our desire for a canal across the Isth-\\nmus, in accordance with the spirit of progress and development\\nof the world.\\nNearly fifty years ago the advantages of this project were\\nhedged about by diplomatic agreements, which during much of\\nthe intervening time have been onerous and unacceptable.\\nWhether the Clayton- Bui wer Treaty shall be the basis of such an\\n3463", "height": "4537", "width": "2654", "jp2-path": "hawaiianannexati00smit_0008.jp2"}, "9": {"fulltext": "enterprise and its realization I do not care to say in the present\\ncontroversy: but Edward Everett in 1852, referring to one of the\\nislands in the G-ulf and the effect that a canal might possibly\\nhave upon it, said that\\nTerritorially and commercially it would in our hands bean\\nextremely valuable possession; under certain contingencies it-\\nmight be almost essential to our safety.\\nWhile the Ostend manifesto of 1854 emphasized these consider-\\nations quite strongly, that if a final cession can not be accom-\\nplished, that conquest of valuable territory might be dictated by\\nthe law of self-preservation. The interests of the American people\\nin properly protecting our Government by the acquisition of for-\\neign territory is reflected upon the statute books to-day, where\\nTitle LXX1I of the Revised {Statutes expressly lodges in the hands\\nof the President the right to acquire foreign territory by right of\\ndiscovery, and to take possession of any guano deposits on any\\nisland, rock, or key, which does not belong to any other govern-\\nment, expressly providing that such island rock, or key may, at\\nthe discretion of the President, be considered as appertaining to\\nthe United States. Thus our Government acquired jurisdiction\\nover and title to the island of Navassa. two miles long and lying\\nbetween Jamaica and San Domingo, discovered in 1857, and for\\ncrimes committed upon that island, the courts of the United\\nStates have in the past assumed jurisdiction and punished the\\noffender.\\nMr. Speaker, when President Lincoln recommended to Con-\\ngress the advisability of some colonization scheme, he said that\\nthe plan which he proposed might involve the acquiring of terri-\\ntory and also the appropriation of money beyond that to be ex-\\npended in territorial acquisition, adding that\\nHaving practiced the acquisition of territory for nearly sixty\\nyears, the question of constitutional power to do so is no longer\\nan open one with us. On this whole proposition, includ-\\ning the appropriation of money for the acquisition of territory,\\ndoes not the expediency amount to almost necessity, without\\nwhich the Government itself can not be perpetuated?\\nThe purchase of Alaska from Russia in 1867 for $7,200,000\\nbrought us into possession of large territory remote from our own\\nover two thousand miles. The question of contiguity was by this\\nact finally and completely abandoned, there being but two votes\\nin the Senate against the ratification of the treat}-.\\nThe same year that marked the extension of our territory by\\nthe purchase of Alaska marked the negotiations with Denmark\\nby Secretary Seward for the cession of the West India islands of\\nSt. Thomas and St. Johns for a consideration of $5,700,000, and\\nPresident Johnson thus tersely and effectively gives the reasons\\nfor our course\\nIn our Revolutionary war, ports and harbors in the West India\\nislands were used by our enemy to the great injury and embar-\\nrassment of the United States. We had the same experience in\\nour second war with Great Britain. The same European policy\\nfor a long time excluded us even from trade with the West Indies\\nwhile we were at peace with all nations. In our recent civil war\\ntheir piratical and blockade-breaking allies found facilities in the\\nsame ports for the work which they were successfully accomplish-\\ning, the injuring and devastating the commerce which we arc\\nnow engaged in rebuilding. We labored especially under this\\ndisadvantage, that European steam vessels employed by our cne-\\n3163", "height": "4553", "width": "2582", "jp2-path": "hawaiianannexati00smit_0009.jp2"}, "10": {"fulltext": "8\\nmies found friendly protection and supplies in the West India\\nports, while our naval operations were necessarily carried on\\nfrom our own distant shores. There was then a universal feeling\\nof the want of advanced naval outposts between the Atlantic\\ncoast and Europe. The duty of obtaining such an outpost peace-\\nfully and lawfully, while neither doing nor menacing injury to\\nothsr States, earnestly engaged the attention of the executive de-\\npartment before the close of the war, and it has not been lost\\nsight of since that time.\\nA not entirely dissimilar naval want revealed itself during the\\nsame period on the Pacific coast. The required foothold there\\nwas fortunately secured by our late treaty with the Emperor of\\nRussia, and it now seems imperative that the more obvious neces-\\nsities of the Atlantic coast should not be less carefully provided\\nfor. A good and convenient port and harbor, capable of easy de-\\nfense, will supply that want. With the possession of such a sta-\\ntion by the United States, neither we nor any other American\\nnation need longer apprehend injury or offense from any trans-\\nAtlantic enemy. I agree with our early statesmen that the West\\nIndies naturally gravitate to and may be expected ultimately to\\nbe absorbed by the continental States, including our own. I agree\\nwith them also that it is wise to leave the question of such absorp-\\ntion to this process of natural political gravitation. The islands\\nof St. Thomas and St. Johns, which constitute a part of the group\\ncalled the Virgin Islands, seemed to offer us advantages immedi-\\nately desirable, while their acquisition could be secured in har-\\nmony with the principles to which I have alluded.\\nBecause of the inharmonious relation existing between Presi-\\ndent Johnson and the Senate, a treaty for the acquisition of these\\nislands was rejected, and the first disturbance of our peace fore-\\nshadowed in the recent declaration of war with Spain was suffi-\\ncient to call the Senate of the United States into executive session\\nfor the very purpose of considering the annexation of the Danish\\npossessions, undertaken by Secretary Seward and unsuccessfully\\ncarried on under the Administration of President Grant.\\nThe question of the annexation of San Domingo did not turn\\nupon the wisdom or unwisdom of such a course upon the part of\\nthis Government; its fate was decided witHin the narrow confines\\nof spitefulness and personality, and our action to-day must not\\nbe supported or opposed by the temporary exigencies of party\\npolitics.\\nAs far back as 1843 an English officer, without any authority\\nfrom his Government, took possession of Hawaii in the name of\\nthe Queen, but England s young Queen, who still, by the grace of\\na generous Providence, occupies the throne, promptly disavowed\\nthe movement, when Mr. Legare, writing to our minister to Eng-\\nland, said that the Hawaiian Islands bore such peculiar relations\\nto us that we might feel like interfering by force to prevent their\\nacquisition by any of the great powers of Europe.\\nGreat Britain and France immediately thereafter agreed with\\none another never to take possession of the Islands, or assume a\\nprotectorate over them.\\nFollowing that, Mr. Marcy, our Secretary of State, in 1853,\\nthus addressed our minister to France:\\nIt seems to be inevitable that they must come under the con-\\ntrol of this Government.\\nAnd two years thereafter he informed our minister to Hawaii\\nc4C2", "height": "4585", "width": "2646", "jp2-path": "hawaiianannexati00smit_0010.jp2"}, "11": {"fulltext": "that this Government was ready to receive the formal transfer of\\nthe territorial sovereignty of the islands; while in 1868 negotia-\\ntions were again undertaken, and Secretary Seward, in view of\\nhis failure io impress the Senate with the necessity of annexing\\nthe Danish West Indies, wrote our minister to Hawaii that the\\ntime for consideration of annexation by the United States was\\nnot propitious.\\nThe attempted annexation of these islands by President Harri-\\nson is familiar to every citizen of our country, and the course of\\nhis successor, in withdrawing the treaty then pending in the Sen-\\nate, has been the cause of severe criticism and sharp comment\\never since.\\nHowever honest President Cleveland may have been, his course\\nwith reference to this subject, in my opinion, has never met with\\nfavor among the people.\\nAnnexation is not new to our country. The area of the United\\nStates before the Louisiana Purchase consisted of a million square\\nmiles, according to the estimate of Morse s American Geography,\\nwhile the subsequent acquisition of Louisiana and the Floridas\\ndoubled our territory, and Texas brought us three hundred thou-\\nsand square miles, while Mexico in 1848 and 1853 ceded a larger\\nnumber.\\nIn Alaska we received in 1867 a large addition, and thus our\\ntotal area has increased, under this policy of territorial acquisi-\\ntion and annexation, from a million square miles in 1793 to more\\nthan three millions five hundred thousand square miles at the\\npresent time.\\nIt has been generally supposed that our possessions were large\\nenough, but the area of Canada and Newfoundland, owned by\\nGreat Britain in this hemisphere, excels our own by several\\nhundred thousand square miles.\\nUnder the Clayton-Bulwer treaty we have practically pledged\\nour Government against further extensions in South America, but\\nin my humble opinion the whole North American continent and\\nevery island in the gulf and the Caribbean Sea, and such islands\\nin the Pacific as may be deemed desirable, are worthy of our ambi-\\ntion. Not that we are earth hungry, but, as a measure of national\\nprotection and advantage, it is the duty of the American people\\nto lay peaceful conquest wherever opportunity may be offered.\\n[Applause.]\\nIt has been argued that our Constitution makes no provision\\nfor a colonial system, but, Mr. Speaker, if President Monroe had\\nbeen merely a lawyer, if he had contented himself by looking for\\nprecedent which he was unable to find, if he had consulted the\\njurisprudence of his time and planned his action along academic\\nlines, the greatest doctrine ever announced to the civilized world,\\nwhich now bears his name, though in unwritten law, but in the\\ninspiration, the hope, the security of every American heart, would\\nhave found no voice potent enough and courageous enough to\\nhave encircled the Western Hemisphere with his peaceful edict.\\nPrecedent, sir, may do for a rule of law upon which a fixed and\\ndefinite superstructure must be built, but it is the duty of states-\\nmanship to cease looking at great public questions with a micro-\\nscope, and sweep the world s horizon with a telescope from a\\ncommanding height. [Applause.]\\nAvoid, if you can, sir, by specious reasoning the history of your\\nown country, but tell me what precedent Thomas Jefferson relied\\nupon when in 1803 he took $15,000,000 out of the Federal treasury\\nand purchased Louisiana?\\n3462", "height": "4553", "width": "2582", "jp2-path": "hawaiianannexati00smit_0011.jp2"}, "12": {"fulltext": "10\\nThis great and worthy act of one of the most enlightened of or.r\\nconstitutional authors gave to the country a territorj^ which now\\ncomposes the States of Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, Kansas,\\nNebraska, and Minnesota; west of the Mississippi, Colorado, the\\nDakotas, Wyoming, and Montana.\\nNaturally it would have been expected that Jefferson would\\nhave been praised for his courage and foresight. On the contrary,\\nhe was denounced with bitterness and partisan rancor almost\\nunknown in the discussion of our public affairs to-day.\\nNotwithstanding the limitations with which he was hedged\\nabout, Jefferson believed that each generation was competent\\nto manage its own affairs, and his peaceful accomplishment in\\n1803 was the most important achievement since the Revolution,\\nand furnished a precedent by which Florida was purchased in\\n1819 for five million dollars, California and New Mexico in 1848\\nfor fifteen million dollars, Arizona in 1853 for ten million dollars,\\nand Alaska in 1867 for seven million two hundred thousand dol-\\nlars. The grand total of this territorial investment foots up\\nfifty-two million two hundred thousand dollars\u00e2\u0080\u0094 a sum so small\\nas not even to attract the attention of the House of Representa-\\ntives in a days debate, in the present period of our country s\\naffairs; and yet the investments made thereby constitute living\\nmonuments to the statesmanship that foresaw their importance\\nand the Americanism that prompted their acquisition.\\nThe spirited rivalry among nations for trade early found expres-\\nsion in the exclusive charter given by Queen Elizabeth to the\\nGreat East India Company in 1599, and their general monopoly of\\nthe market from the Cape of Good Hope to the Straits of Magel-\\nlan was the resultant effect.\\nThe importance of this company in establishing British suprem-\\nacy in the East is well known to every student of history. The\\nostensible object of charity in the Empire of Hindoostan gradu-\\nally brought the entire Empire into the possession of that com-\\npany, thus christening Queen Victoria Empress of India.\\nWho is not familiar with the escapades of Dr. Jamieson and the\\nSouth African Company, who undertook, in the interest of trade\\nand conquest, to overthrow the South African Republics and make\\nVictoria Queen of Ethiopia.\\nCan you read of England s efforts in the Celestial Empire with-\\nout detecting the important trend of events? Chinese resistance\\nto English opium smugglers opened the way for the English to\\nbombard the forts at the mouth of the river and effect an entrance\\nto Canton, where an indemnity of $6,000,000 was demanded and\\ncollected, followed by the siege of Pekin, which netted the English\\nGovernment $21,000,000, and secured for her the cession of Hong-\\nkong, thus securing the commerce of southern China, and plac-\\ning herself in position to command the trade of 400,000,000 frugal\\nand industrious people.\\nMr. Speaker, territorial and trade conquests are world-wide.\\nRussia and England have appropriated the continent of Asia\\nfrom the Indian to the Arctic Ocean, where our trade is one of\\npurchase only. The Dutch own the great islands of the Indian\\nArchipelago, and England holds the balance, absolutely control-\\nling their commerce.\\nWe must recognize the fact, sir, that England holds the whole\\nof the Australian continent and its neighboring islands, and\\nnearly half the area of our own continent.\\nWithin the last three years the nations of Europe have by\\n3463", "height": "4585", "width": "2646", "jp2-path": "hawaiianannexati00smit_0012.jp2"}, "13": {"fulltext": "11\\nmutual agreement divided among themselves the entire area of\\nAfrica. England has added Egypt to her other African domin-\\nions; France has appropriated a large part of North Africa be-\\ntween Egypt and the Atlantic; all the equatorial region is now\\ndivided among Italy, England, France, Germany, and Austria.\\nSouth America and the Orient are the natural trade allies of the\\nUnited States. Their relation to us must grow more important\\nand desirable in the years to come. Then why talk of an Anglo-\\nAmerican alliance? Who is so short sighted as to wish us to\\nassume any responsibility, however remote, for the faithful per-\\nformance of the multitude of agreements, treaties, and protocols\\nof England? To be sure, they are our natural kin, and we are\\nproud of our ancestry, but our friendship will be more enduring\\nand our burdens easier to bear if we refrain from entangling alli-\\nances with any powers across the sea. Such territory in the ocean\\nor in the Gulf as naturally belongs to our Government we can\\nmake our own in due season, and wisdom would seem to prompt\\nus to leave no natural or willing ally, weak and defenseless as it\\nmay be, to become the mere toy of an aggressive empire, imperil-\\ning our peace and good order.\\nThe Pacific Ocean, unfettered by European subjugation, can be\\nmade indeed pacific, if we are wise enough to garner the harvest\\nnow so ripe for our sickle.\\nWho opposes this wise policy that has received the sanction of\\nmany Presidents? The same halting, hesitating conservatism that\\nadmonished Washington against taking on the Northwest Terri-\\ntory, and prompted Benjamin Franklin to favor its relinquishment;\\nthe same doubting conservatism that deprived us of Canada in\\nthe war of 1812, and defeated by a tie vote in the Senate the treaty\\nfor the annexation of San Domingo. [Applause.]\\nOur military school taught Grant the value of strategic points\\nof defense and attack. His campaigns were marvels of exact-\\nness and keen perception, executed with prowess and true mili-\\ntary genius. His keen appreciation of the advantage of American\\nownership and control of the Island of Santo Domingo was in line\\nwith his record so amply demonstrated in the field of military\\ntriumph. He decided that it was wise for the American nation\\nto accept this island, freely offered by its inhabitants; he believed\\nthe acquisition of Santo Domingo to be a strict adherence to the\\nMonroe doctrine\u00e2\u0080\u0094 a measure of national protection.\\nFrom the formation of our Government it has been important\\nthat the American nation control, as far as possible, the West\\nIndies. Our Presidents have expressed an almost universal desire\\nof the people for an advanced naval outpost between the Atlantic\\ncoast and Europe. The Dominican people longed for a higher\\ncivilization; they had fought for and established their govern-\\nment against oppression and conquest, just as the Hawaiian\\nRepublic has since done, and they turned to us as a Mussulman\\nturns toward Mecca. The Commission of Inquiry appointed by\\nour Government, and of which the honorable chairman of the\\nCommittee upon Foreign Affairs of this House was identified,\\nmade a most searching, critical investigation into the condition,\\ncharacter, and resources of that island, and reported back that\\nthe people were courteous, respectful, and polite; that crime was\\ncomparatively unknown; that no pauper class existed; that intem-\\nperance and beggary were more common among the enlightened\\nnations of the world; that the resources of the island were vast\\nand various, making it one of the most fertile regions on the face\\n3162", "height": "4553", "width": "2582", "jp2-path": "hawaiianannexati00smit_0013.jp2"}, "14": {"fulltext": "12\\nof the globe. Fanned by trade winds, the} were constantly sup-\\nplied with pure air from the sea, while the bay of Samana was\\nthe most important in the West Indies, being 30 miles long and\\n10 miles broad, commodious enough to accomodate the largest\\nfleets.\\nWhy did we need this island? For this good and sufficient\\nreason it sits like a sentinel in the Caribbean Sea, guarding the\\nMona Passage, destined to be the eastern avenue of communica-\\ntion between two great oceans when the Nicaragua Canal shall\\nbe an accomplished fact. A trained military eye could appreciate\\nthe importance of this outpost, and President Grant would have\\nmade it part of the American Union. How clearly he saw, how\\ncourageously he acted, and with what patriotism was he inspired!\\nSir, the countries of the Western Hemisphere stand face to face\\nwith the necessity of dealing with one another as Americans.\\nThis entire group of magnificent islands is naturally a part of the\\nAmerican territory.\\nThe West India Sea corresponds to that of the Mediterranean\\nfrom Syria to the Pillars of Hercules. The Mediterranean is di-\\nvided into an eastern and western basin, and as Italy, Sardinia,\\nand Tunis divide the basin there, so Cuba, Jamaica, Santo Do-\\nmingo, and Yucatan divide the Gulf and the Caribbean Sea. As\\nthe former is fed by the venerable, ancient Nile, so ours is aug-\\nmented by the pulsating artery of the Mississippi. The Mediter-\\nranean is a world s sea, lying in the temperate zone, amid an an-\\ncient civilization, and our southern basin is destined to be a\\nworld s sea when an international waterway shall pierce the\\nisthmus connecting the Eastern and Western Hemispheres by\\ndirect and rapid communication.\\nThis has been the dream of trans- Atlantic thinkers for two hun-\\ndred and fifty years. Indeed, its importance was first suggested\\nby Charles V after the discovery of America by Columbus, and\\nlater by Phillip II, to whom Cortez reported that the greatest\\nservice he could render to the King was to find an opening through\\nthe Isthmus to the Pacific.\\nThe idea of constructing a canal through Lake Nicaragua was\\nfirst suggested in 1G65. Thus we see why European countries have\\nalways been alive to the importance of island ownership in the\\nvicinity of the Isthmus. Its construction will raise the islands to\\nan importance beyond calculation. A lavish nature, tropical cli-\\nmate, and prolific soil have rendered their possession valuable.\\nThey will be the cause of contention and competition in the future.\\nIs it not essential that we should be vigilant as to our true inter-\\nests at this point? Great Britain already holds the keys to navi-\\ngation in the West Indies. She owns Jamaica\u00e2\u0080\u0094 Cromwell wrested\\nit from the Spaniards in 1655, and Kingston is the base of opera-\\ntions of the British West India fleet. Her flag floats over the\\nCaman Islands, Trinidad, St. Vincent, the Barbadoes, St. Lucia,\\nand the Bahamas, as well as the eastern coast of Yucatan and\\nBritish Honduras, all strongly fortified. Spain with dying grasp,\\nscarcely felt in her benumbed extremities, clutches at her vanish-\\ning dominion in this hemisphere; but the realization of the hopes\\nand desires of humanity everywhere will soon light this dark\\ncorner of the world with the bright flame of indignant liberty.\\n[Applause.]\\nFrance owns the Islands of Guadaloupe and Martinique, lying\\nwell up toward the Mona Passage; but Santo Domingo rises above\\nthem all, with special advantages and with special prominence.\\n3163", "height": "4585", "width": "2646", "jp2-path": "hawaiianannexati00smit_0014.jp2"}, "15": {"fulltext": "Had President Grant s fervent wish been granted, our flag\\nwould to-day wave over the island, and from the folds of its stars\\nand stripes, dedicated to liberty and union, would float out over\\nthe gulf and sea a spirit of patriotism tempering the entire archi-\\npelago. Should it have been accepted when tendered? Then, is\\nit not our duty to accept the Hawaiian Islands, situated with ref-\\nerence to our own country as advantageously in the Pacific as\\nSanto Domingo is at the Gulf? The faintest encouragement would\\nhave been sufficient for some countries to have encircled these\\nislands. And this generation will be unfaithful to those that\\nfollow if we do not lessen the possibilities of war by taking into\\nthe National Union such naval outposts in both oceans as are\\nnaturally a part of our country. [Applause.]\\nMr. Speaker, the United States is a great manufacturing nation\\neventually we must find new markets for our energy and enter-\\nprise such desirable territory is fast passing under the control of\\nother nations our history is filled with unaccepted opportunities.\\nHow much longer shall we hesitate Is it not time to take new\\nobservations of the world s affairs, and be guided by more pro-\\ngressive enlightenment? Just as the mariner scans the firma-\\nment, when the compass is doubted, and follows the familiar\\nplanet into his true course, so we, in this new period of the\\nworld s affairs, should look up from the ledger and receive new\\ninspiration and guidance from the movement and course of\\nnations with whom we share the world. [Applause.]\\nSir, the proverbial friendship of the great Empire of Russia,\\nwith its population of nearly a hundred and thirty million people,\\nmust not be impaired. She is to-day one of the most powerful\\nnations of the earth\u00e2\u0080\u0094 a devoted, worthy, and unselfish friend to\\nour Government. When the fate of this nation was struggling\\nin the balance, the Emperor of Russia sent a fleet to our door with\\ninstructions to conserve the peace at any hazard, should European\\nunfriendliness become manifest. Russia was never so powerful,\\nso wealthy, so full of exultant confidence in her destiny; never was\\nthere such profound peace and general wellbeing within the Em-\\npire; never were her counsels of such weight abroad. The potent\\nand patient genius of Alexander III has made Russia the arbiter\\nof Europe, as Napoleon once made France, and Bismarck made\\nUnited Germany. We rejoice in her progress, and no alliance\\nmust be made that will in the slightest degree impair the friend-\\nship we hold most dear.\\nCommercial scope internal improvement\u00e2\u0080\u0094 an American for-\\neign policy, vigorous and humane\u00e2\u0080\u0094 are the necessary accompani-\\nments of greatness. The annual products of our country amounted\\nin 1890 to nearly $14,000,000,000; and is rapidly increasing from\\nday to day. In the present fiscal year the balance of trade in our\\nfavor will be $600,000,000; our exports are double our imports,\\nwhile our total foreign commerce will, upon the 30th of the pres-\\nent month, reach the enormous sum of $1,800,000,000. Our^best\\ncustomers are Great Britain, Russia, Germany, and France. If\\nwe will take in the Hawaiian Islands, hold on to the Philippines,\\nand cultivate good neighborship with the Orient, to which they\\nare the key, the expansion of our commerce will be augmented a\\nthousandfold, and the artisans, mechanics, and laboring men of\\nour own country will then supply much of the genius and the\\nhandiwork of the whole world, thus realizing the fulfillment of\\nthe prophecy of Gladstone, who, a few years ago said of our coun-\\ntry:\\n3102", "height": "4553", "width": "2582", "jp2-path": "hawaiianannexati00smit_0015.jp2"}, "16": {"fulltext": "u\\nIt is she alone who, at a coming time, can and probably will\\nwrest from us that commercial supremacy, we have no title. I\\nhave no inclination to murmur at the prospect; if she acquires it,\\nshe will make the acquisition by the right of the strongest, but in\\nthis instance the strongest means the best. We have no more\\ntitle against her than Venice or Genoa or Holland against us.\\nOur manifest destiny is the heritage of mankind; then let us\\nneglect no opportunity to strengthen and conserve our proud and\\nresponsible position. The twentieth century will open upon\\ntwenty Republics, ours being the first, and perhaps\u00e2\u0080\u0094 who knows?\\nbefore another century has gone the world may be crowned with\\na new diadem, sparkling with the jewels of humanity, enthroned\\nand elevated, and empowered with the natural and divine right\\nto govern themselves. What then will our position be? ShallVe\\nlead by virtue of being the conservator of good government and\\nthe champion of human rights? or shall we, sordid-like and indif-\\nferent to the welfare of others, content ourselves to live alone and\\napart from the rest of the world? From whom did we receive the\\ncup of liberty? From the oppressed and bound of every land.\\nCan we, then, refuse to pass this cup to those thirsting for self-\\ngovernment, liberty, and peace? No, Mr. Speaker, our duty is\\nplain; we must lift up, by example and otherwise, our weak and\\nburdened neighbors; we must take them into the Union when\\nopportunity offers, thus strengthening ourselves and helping\\nthose less fortunate.\\nThe Hawaiian Islands possess advantages in the Pacific which\\ncan not be ignored; Pearl Harbor is the only great land-locked\\nharbor, easily defended, in the Pacific; we have no rights there\\nthat are not determinable upon one year s notice by either party;\\nwe should take immediate steps to utilize this great harbor, lying\\nat the intersection of the commercial routes from Vancouver to\\nAustralasia, from the Isthmus of Panama to Japan, and from San\\nFrancisco to Manila and Hongkong. These watery highways\\nmark the course of commerce in the future. More than one-half\\nthe population of the world is bounded by the Pacific and Indian\\noceans, while the commerce countries bordering these oceans, not\\nincluding North America, amounts to over $2,250,000,000 a year,\\nof which we get but a small part.\\nOver 80 per cent of our exports go eastward, across the Atlantic,\\nand less than 5 per cent westward. We grow 80 per cent of the\\nraw cotton in the world, yet with the cheapest power in the world\\nand the most efficient labor we have only 15 per cent of the spin-\\ndles of the world. China, Japan, Korea, and India are cotton-\\nusing countries, and with changing conditions there is a market\\nworth striving for. Already Russia sees the advantages which\\nwill accrue to her in the Pacific, and the construction of its trans-\\ncontinental railway from St. Petersburg to the Pacific foreshadows\\nher intentions in that rich but long-neglected field. Sir, I favor\\nthe annexation of the Hawaiian Islands, because it will prevent\\nthe establishment of hostile sovereignty at that advantageous\\npoint, and will tend to straighten our western border and con-\\nserve its peace. [Applause.]\\nThe nearest English station is 4, GOO miles distant from San\\nFrancisco; the nearest French station is 3,600 miles distant; the\\nnearest Spanish station is 4,700 miles distant, and will soon be re-\\nmoved, thank God, more than twice as far. Russia is 4,700 miles\\naway, and Japan 4,500 miles away, while China is 5,500 miles from\\nour coast. Take these islands into the Union and you will remove", "height": "4585", "width": "2646", "jp2-path": "hawaiianannexati00smit_0016.jp2"}, "17": {"fulltext": "15\\nother nations far from our door and insure more permanent peace\\nand security. It was upon this theory that the old seers and prophets\\nadvocated annexation of contiguous territory as a peace proposi-\\ntion; but it has been said by some opposed to annexation that the\\npopulation is undesirable; possibly that may be so, but the same\\nargument was used against the admission of California and Texas\\ninto the Union, but the undesirable element in both States was\\nsoon lost sight of in the sturdy immigration that stable govern-\\nment attracted, and so it will be with these islands. Strengthened\\nby absorption into the Union, they will become attractive and\\ninviting fields to American enterprise.\\nThe strategical importance of the islands has been attested by\\nscientific, military, and naval experts without number, while the\\nripe testimony of Mahan. Schofield, and Belknap must be ac-\\ncepted as of great value. Some concern has been manifested re-\\ngarding the character of the government to be established there.\\nIt will be such in my opinion as the wisdom of Congress may de-\\ntermine, and the power and authority of Congress in this regard\\nhas just received enlarged and high judicial sanction in the de-\\ncision of Judge Morrow^ of the United States circuit court of Cali-\\nfornia, which says:\\nCongress may legislate in accordance with the special needs\\nof each locality and may vary its regulations to meet the circum-\\nstances of the people.\\nThe Territories of the United States are entirely subject to\\nthe legislative authority of Congress. They are not organized\\nunder the Constitution, nor subject to its complex distribution of\\nthe powers of government as the organic law, but are the crea-\\ntion, exclusively, of the legislative department, and subject to its\\nsupervision ancf control.\\nIt may legislate in accordance with the special needs of each\\nlocality, and vary its regulations to meet the circumstances of the\\npeople.\\nA hundred years ago it was predicted of our nation that it would\\nsome day stretch its arms upon two oceans, and direct the vessels\\nfrom one to the other by an artificial route through Lake Nica-\\nragua that would change the course of the commercial world and\\nthe fate of empires. At such a time how important our action to-\\nday may become and of what vital value the undisputed posses-\\nsion of the Hawaiian Islands.\\nLet us rise to the occasion to-day, meet this important exigency\\nin our national affairs with courage and patriotism, and, inspired\\nby the glorious achievements of the past, prepare for greater vic-\\ntories in the years to come, and thus prove ourselves worthy the\\nproud legacy fortune gave us by inheritance. Wave proudly and\\ngrandly, O flag of our country; from each of thy folds let some\\ninspiration go out to melt away prejudice and avoid friction; in\\neach star let every republic find its hope and every empire see its\\nduty! [Prolonged applause.]\\n3-iG2", "height": "4553", "width": "2582", "jp2-path": "hawaiianannexati00smit_0017.jp2"}, "18": {"fulltext": "LIBRARY OF CONGRESS\\n020 392 108 1", "height": "4585", "width": "2646", "jp2-path": "hawaiianannexati00smit_0018.jp2"}, "19": {"fulltext": "", "height": "4553", "width": "2582", "jp2-path": "hawaiianannexati00smit_0019.jp2"}, "20": {"fulltext": "LIBRARY OF CONGRESS\\nurn mi\\n020 392 108 1\\nHollinger Corp.\\npH8.5", "height": "4585", "width": "2646", "jp2-path": "hawaiianannexati00smit_0020.jp2"}}