Jere Krischel at 08:10, 7 February 2006

2006-02-07T08:10:16Z

Ken Conklin at 19:44, 30 January 2006

2006-01-30T19:44:12Z

Jere Krischel at 05:14, 12 December 2005

2005-12-12T05:14:53Z

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1082 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS.
Honolulu all the time. Admiral Kimberly was there a solid year.
Admiral Brown was there for more than a year, and for some reason
or other our Government has been obliged to keep that port guarded
by our ships of war. I take it that the interests of the United States
have gotten so great that that was a necessary policy to pursue.
Since the Canadian Pacific line has been opened (they have a line of
steamers now from Vancouver to Australia and New Zealand, touching
at Honolulu) it has become vastly more important for the interests
of Great Britain to acquire those islands than it has ever been before.
I believe to-day that the Canadian authorities are making every effort
to divert trade from those islands to Canada.
Senator FRYE. I suppose in landing troops for the preservation of
American life and property you do not feel it incumbent upon you to
wait until an outbreak has actually happened?
Mr. BELKNAP. Not always.
Senator FRYE. If a certain thing is to happen which is likely to
produce an outbreak, like an election, such as that of Kalakaua, you
feel yourself at liberty to get ahead of that1?
Mr. BELKNAP. That was what was done at Corea. There was no
outbreak; but the minister requested the presence of the troops, and
the King was afraid for his life.
Senator FRVE. If you found that the Provisional Government on a
certain day, say Monday, at 2, 3, or 5 o'clock, or at any time in the day,
was going to take actual possession of the Queen's public buildings,
and dethrone her absolutely, you would not deem it necessary to wait
until that had taken place for the landing of the troops?
Mr. BELKNAP. NO ; not if convinced that riot would ensue.
Senator FRYE. But owing to the liability of its taking place and the
likelihood of a riot, you would land your troops?
Mr. BELKNAP. Yes; under the peculiar condition of affairs at the
moment.
Senator FRYE. What is your judgment as to what it would cost to
fortify Honolulu?
Mr. BELKNAP. I have not any doubt that $5,000,000 would put
Honolulu in a most perfect state of defense, with guns mounted in
earthworks.
The CHAIRMAN. If you desired to control the Pacific Ocean, North
Polynesia, in a military sense, either for an offensive or defensive
operation in reference to the protection of the western coast of the
United States, including Alaska, is there any place on that coast or
elsewhere in the Pacific Ocean which you would consider so important
to the United States as the Hawaiian group, if we had there a fortified
port or naval station?
Mr. BELKNAP. I know of no point in the Pacific Ocean which we
should hold as good as the Hawaiian Islands, especially Honolulu.
The CHAIRMAN. You think it would be a great national misfortune
to have any other flag than ours put there?
Mr. BELKNAP. Yes; most emphatically.
The CHAIRMAN. Or if the flag of any foreign country should be put
there would that alter your opinion as to the merit or value of the
possession for the protection of our western coast and our commerce in
the Pacific Ocean?
Mr. BELKNAP. So long as there is no other flag there it is always an
open question; it involves the liability of troublesome questions arising
all the time. Our flag should be there, in my opinion.
HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 1083
The CHAIRMAN. Suppose some foreign power should close the question
by coming in and occupying the islands, if they saw fit to do it, as
a base of operations against the United States, would you not consider
that a great calamity to this country?
Mr. BELKNAP. A very great calamity. Great Britain now has Puget
Sound, which she ought not to be permitted to hold a single day, in my
judgment. Especially with the Nicaragua Canal Honolulu will be a
port of call of all the ships in the Pacific Ocean.
The CHAIRMAN. IS it indispensable to have a port to recoal in the
Pacific Ocean?
Mr. BELKNAP. Yes; and Honolulu is a splendid harbor.
The CHAIRMAN. Well sheltered?
Mr. BELKNAP. Well sheltered. Another peculiarity of the Hawaiian
Island is, the climate is so fine and equable, they have no violent
storms, such as they usually have in the tropics. We ought to have our
flag there, and we ought to have a cable connecting the islands with
the United States.
The CHAIRMAN. In your survey for the route for the cable between
San Diego and Honolulu, did you find any practical obstructions?
Mr. BELKNAP. NO. We have made a closer survey since my survey
and found that a cable can be very readily laid.
The CHAIRMAN. 1 am informed that you made a survey for a cable
route also, extending from the coast of Japan in the direction of the
United States along the Aleutian range?
Mr. BELKNAP. Yes.
The CHAIRMAN. State whether you found the route practicable for a
cable.
Mr. BELKNAP. I found the route practicable, except the very deep
water, which I think would be obviated by going a little further north.
The CHAIRMAN. A large part of that route would be on land if you
chose to make it?
Mr. BELKNAP. It would be cheaper to have it in water.
The CHAIRMAN. IS that ocean troubled with icebergs to interfere
with the laying of a cable?
Mr. BELKNAP. Not where you would lay the cable. I think possibly
sometimes the Pacific mail steamers have encountered them, when
they have gone north, in very high latitudes; but I have not seen icebergs
in the Pacific Ocean except off Cape Horn.
The CHAIRMAN. Did you take the temperature of that ocean current?
Mr. BELKNAP. Yes.
The CHAIRMAN. What would you say was the average temperature?
Mr. BELKNAP. It was 8° or 10° higher than the rest of the ocean, so
far as I remember.
The CHAIRMAN. It is decidedly a warm current?
Mr. BELKNAP. Very warm current.
The CHAIRMAN. A heavy flow of water?
Mr. BELKNAP. Very heavy; similar to our Gulf Stream.
The CHAIRMAN. It is that current which keeps warm the coast of
California and Oregon?
Mr. BELKNAP. Yes.
The CHAIRMAN. And also keeps open Bering Straits?
Mr. BELKNAP. Yes.
The CHAIRMAN [exhibiting a newspaper article from the Boston
Journal of December 20, 1893]. Is this a correct statement?
Mr. BELKNAP (after examining). Yes.

Template:1082-1083 - Revision history

Jere Krischel at 08:10, 7 February 2006

Ken Conklin at 19:44, 30 January 2006

Jere Krischel at 05:14, 12 December 2005