April Fool's Joke Proclamation - Revision history

Jere Krischel: /* Joke on Cleveland */

2008-01-29T03:12:45Z

Joke on Cleveland

Jere Krischel: /* Literal References to Joke Proclamation */

2008-01-29T03:10:29Z

Literal References to Joke Proclamation

Jere Krischel: /* Legislating the Joke */

2008-01-29T03:10:09Z

Legislating the Joke

Jere Krischel: /* Honoring the Joke */

2008-01-29T03:09:27Z

Honoring the Joke

Jere Krischel: /* An incorrect citation */

2008-01-29T03:08:31Z

An incorrect citation

Jere Krischel: Joke Proclamation moved to April Fool's Joke Proclamation

2008-01-29T03:06:54Z

Joke Proclamation moved to April Fool's Joke Proclamation

Jere Krischel: /* Joke on Cleveland */

2008-01-28T20:47:19Z

Joke on Cleveland

Jere Krischel: /* A Joke Taken Literally */

2008-01-28T20:44:19Z

A Joke Taken Literally

Jere Krischel: /* Honoring the Joke */

2008-01-28T20:42:47Z

Honoring the Joke

Jere Krischel: /* A Joke Taken Literally */

2007-04-04T07:03:45Z

A Joke Taken Literally

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 Although Helena G. Allen attributed it to Cleveland "jokingly", the joke doesn't seem very funny for Cleveland.  If it's meant sarcastically, that would imply he believes the complete opposite of what he wrote (i.e., that the queen was in fact righteously and lawfully dethroned).  If he's trying to insult Stevens through exaggeration, it implies that he believes in something much less extreme that what he wrote (i.e., that the queen was suspiciously, but lawfully dethroned).  Certainly, if Cleveland was the author, and the proclamation was attested to by Walter Q. Gresham, it would appear in his presidential papers and messages, which it does not.  And certainly, there is no conceivable reason why Cleveland would choose to issue a proclamation to a single newspaper, and not include it in his official papers and messages.
-Given the context of being preceded by a message to the Senate and House of Representatives asking for the abolition of the Senate, the joke was quite obviously on Cleveland, and his loyalty to the Queen and secret attempts to reinstate her were being mocked.  A president of the United States would never refer to an official (John Stevens) as the devil, or use the phrase "miserable herd of missionaries" (in fact, in all of his presidential writings, the word "devil" is only used to refer to "Devils Lake Indian Reservation").  The timing of the Joke Proclamation is also telling - printed within days of the Morgan Report's release to the public on February 26, 1894.  The fact that anyone ever believed that this was actually written by Cleveland is surprising.
+Given the context of being preceded by a message to the Senate and House of Representatives asking for the abolition of the Senate, the joke was quite obviously on Cleveland, and his loyalty to the Queen and secret attempts to reinstate her were being mocked.  A president of the United States would never refer to an official (John Stevens) as the devil, or use the phrase "miserable herd of missionaries" (in fact, in all of his presidential writings, the word "devil" is only used to refer to "Devils Lake Indian Reservation").  The timing of the April Fool's Joke Proclamation is also telling - it was printed within days of the Morgan Report's release to the public on February 26, 1894, a report which was terribly embarrassing to the Cleveland administration, having thoroughly repudiated and rebuked Cleveland's initial appeal to Congress on December 18, 1893.  The fact that anyone ever believed that this was actually written by Cleveland is surprising.
 ==Honoring the April Fool's Joke - fooling people for over a century==

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 </pre>
-==Literal References to Joke Proclamation==
+==Literal References to April Fool's Joke Proclamation==
 *[http://hawaiianrestoration.com/ Website asking for commemoration of April 30th every year until 2013 based on Ficticious Proclamation]

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 According to this [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/n/a/2006/04/21/national/w121549D16.DTL&type=printable article by Chris Newmarker of the Associated Press], sovereignty activists in 2006 have made a pilgrimage to Cleveland's birthplace, and plan a national day of prayer on April 30th, 2006 to celebrate the Joke Proclamation.  There is no indication that they understand that the proclamation they are celebrating was not written by Cleveland (and was intended to mock him), nor do they seem to understand that Cleveland reversed his position on reinstating the Queen after the completion of the Morgan Report (See: [[The Rest of The Rest of The Story]]).
-==Legislating the Joke==
+==Legislating the April Fool's Joke - keeping the fooling alive for posterity==
 Apparently unaware of the hoax, the State Legislature of Hawaii introduced [http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/sessioncurrent/Bills/HCR82_.htm legislation in 2007] citing Cleveland's Joke Proclamation as fact.

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 Given the context of being preceded by a message to the Senate and House of Representatives asking for the abolition of the Senate, the joke was quite obviously on Cleveland, and his loyalty to the Queen and secret attempts to reinstate her were being mocked.  A president of the United States would never refer to an official (John Stevens) as the devil, or use the phrase "miserable herd of missionaries" (in fact, in all of his presidential writings, the word "devil" is only used to refer to "Devils Lake Indian Reservation").  The timing of the Joke Proclamation is also telling - printed within days of the Morgan Report's release to the public on February 26, 1894.  The fact that anyone ever believed that this was actually written by Cleveland is surprising.
-==Honoring the Joke==
+==Honoring the April Fool's Joke - fooling people for over a century==
 According to this [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/n/a/2006/04/21/national/w121549D16.DTL&type=printable article by Chris Newmarker of the Associated Press], sovereignty activists in 2006 have made a pilgrimage to Cleveland's birthplace, and plan a national day of prayer on April 30th, 2006 to celebrate the Joke Proclamation.  There is no indication that they understand that the proclamation they are celebrating was not written by Cleveland (and was intended to mock him), nor do they seem to understand that Cleveland reversed his position on reinstating the Queen after the completion of the Morgan Report (See: [[The Rest of The Rest of The Story]]).

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 </pre>
-=An incorrect citation=
+=April Fool's! - how missing a date means missing the joke=
 [[Image:Clevelandmessage.png|thumb|400px|right]]
 Helena G. Allen's footnoted citation is as follows:  New York Sun, February 26, 1894.  The apparent title for the proclamation was "Fools' Day a Fast Day".  An examination of microfilm of the February 26, 1894 edition of the New York Sun showed no trace of any such proclamation.  Further investigation revealed the proclamation in the New York Sun, February 27, 1894, page 6, immediately following a fictitious "Special Message" attributed to Cleveland demanding the abolishment of the Senate.  '''The proclamation was also incorrectly quoted by Helena G. Allen, as it referred not to the LAST day of April next (April 30), but the FIRST day of April next (April Fool's Day).'''  Both jokes are quoted here in their entirety:

← Older revision	Revision as of 03:06, 29 January 2008
(No difference)

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 {{TOCright}}
 =A Joke Taken Literally=
-On p314-315 of ''The Betrayal of Liliuokalani'', Helena G. Allen alleged that a proclamation of President Cleveland was printed in the New York Sun, on February 26, 1894.  However, an examination of microfilm of the New York Sun, February 26, 1894, shows no such proclamation at all.  Ms. Allen mentioned it in the context of discussing the constitution of the Republic of Hawai'i (which is odd, since the constitution of the Republic of Hawaii was not issued until 4 months after the date of the proclamation).  Ms. Allen's exact words were as follows:
+On p314-315 of ''The Betrayal of Liliuokalani'' (1991), Helena G. Allen alleged that a proclamation of President Cleveland was printed in the New York Sun, on February 26, 1894.  However, an examination of microfilm of the New York Sun, February 26, 1894, shows no such proclamation at all.  Ms. Allen mentioned it in the context of discussing the constitution of the Republic of Hawai'i (which is odd, since the constitution of the Republic of Hawaii was not issued until 4 months after the date of the proclamation).  Ms. Allen's exact words were as follows:
 <pre>