Jere Krischel at 09:19, 20 December 2005

2005-12-20T09:19:04Z

Jere Krischel at 04:43, 12 December 2005

2005-12-12T04:43:19Z

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760 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS.
Senator SHERMAN. They gave him direct instructions?
Mr. BLOUNT. Yes.
The CHAIRMAN. That was the only occasion of the communication of
your authority to Mr. Stevens ?
Mr. BLOUNT. I did not make them; I had a copy.
The CHAIRMAN. That is all the information Mr. Stevens had of your
authority?
Mr. BLOUNT. So far as I have any information. I suppose the Government
has given you copies of everything—all their communications
to and from Mr. Stevens.
The CHAIRMAN. The orders that you gave to Admiral Skerrett are
supported, if I understand you correctly, alone by the letter of authority
given to you by the Secretary of State?
Mr. BLOUNT. And the letter that Mr. Herbert, the Secretary of the
Navy, sent to Admiral Skerrett.
The CHAIRMAN. To execute your orders?
Mr. BLOUNT. Yes.
The CHAIRMAN. YOU construed your authority, of which you have
just been speaking, to be sufficient to justify you in taking command of
that fleet?
Senator BUTLER. Control.
The CHAIRMAN. I put it " command," for the purpose of removing the
troops off the shore, and of hauling down the flag that had been raised
there upon the Hawaiian public buildings ?
Mr. BLOUNT. I thought I was justified under the instruction and
that order given by the Secretary of the Navy, of which I had information.
The CHAIRMAN. If at any time while you remained there you had
supposed that the preservation of life and property and their treaty
rights made it necessary, you thought you would have had authority,
under the construction of your powers, to have ordered the troops back
upon the shore ?
Mr. BLOUNT. I think so. The letter of the Secretary of State speaks
of it. I do not recollect the exact instructions; but it speaks about my
conferring with Admiral Skerrett—makes some such suggestions. But
taking that communication and the order from 'the Secretary of the
Navy to Admiral Skerrett, I thought I had authority to order the
troops back to protect the property of American citizens.
The CHAIRMAN. You thought you were the judge of the political or
actual situation in Hawaii, or in Honolulu, to the extent of authorizing
you to protect the public peace, and thereby to protect American property
and life?
Mr. BLOUNT. I do not say to protect the public peace. I did not
understand it to that extent. I understood that if there was a contest
between the people of the Provisional Government and any other people
there for the control of public affairs, if it did not involve the property
and the persons of American citizens who were not participating
in the conflict, I had nothing to do with it.
The CHAIRMAN. Would not a conflict of that kind in the city of
Honolulu, with 20,000 population and a great many nationalities represented,
necessarily involve some danger to American life and property
and commerce?
Mr. BLOUNT. I felt this way about that: I knew that that question
was one that might come, and that I would wait until it came to see
what discretion I would use under the circumstances that arose. I
tried to carry out my power as I understood it.
The CHAIRMAN. And you construed your authority to be sufficient
HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 761
to enable you to use the naval forces of the United States then in the
harbor for the purpose of protecting the life, liberty, and property and
treaty rights of American citizens in the event of a commotion?
Mr. BLOUNT. Yes. I think there is no doubt about that. I think
that appears from my instructions. I think that is very clear.
Senator BUTLER. I understand that under your instructions if that
exigency had arisen, and you thought it necessary, you would have
ordered the troops ashore to protect life and property?
Mr. BLOUNT. Yes.
The CHAIRMAN. In ordering these troops from the shore to the ship,
were you influenced by this construction of your authority?
Mr. BLOUNT. There were several things. It did not seem to me that
an investigation could go on very well with the flag and troops there.
They were calculated to repress certain people and prevent them testifying—
if that condition of things were kept up. In the next place, it
did not occur to me that there was any justification for it at all, for its
continuance. I have nothing to say about the original placing of it;
it was not a matter of my own to determine. But I found it there; I
thought it could be removed without any difficulty, and I accordingly
ordered the flag removed and the troops back on board the vessel.
Before proceeding further, here are what I conceive to be the orders
under which Admiral Skerrett was acting:
"MARCH 11, 1893.
" S I R : This letter will be handed to yon by the Hon. James H.
Blount, Special Commissioner from the President of the United States
to the Government of the Hawaiian Islands.
"Yon will consult freely with Mr. Blount, and will obey any instructions
you may receive from him regarding the course to be pursued at
said islands by the force under your command.
"You will also aft'ord Mr. Blount all such facilities as ho may desire
for the use of your cipher code in communicating by telegraph with this
Government.
" Respectfully,
"HILARY A. HERBERT,
" Secretary of the Navy.
"Pear-Admiral J. S. SKERRETT,
" Commander in Chief United States Naval Forces,
" Pacific Station, Flagship Mohican, Honolulu, H. If
The CHAIRMAN. That was the order of the Secretary of the Navy to
which you had reference?
Mr. BLOUNT. Yes. Mr. Chairman, allow me a moment. I made a
statementa while ago that until my instructions were published 1 had
not communicated then to anybody. I forgot that I did communicate
then to Admiral Skerrett. I felt that I could not confer with him
about anything unless he knew my instructions.
The CHAIRMAN. Knew what your instructions were?
Mr. BLOUNT. Yes.
The CHAIRMAN. The extent of your authority?
Mr. BLOUNT. Yes. No officer connected with the vessels there
other than Admiral Skerrett had any knowledge of it.
The CHAIRMAN. I will ask you the question: Was the movement of
the troops or the orders for hauling down the flag in any respect
intended to be an evidence of your participation in the domestic affairs

Template:760-761 - Revision history

Jere Krischel at 09:19, 20 December 2005

Jere Krischel at 04:43, 12 December 2005