Jere Krischel at 09:46, 20 December 2005

2005-12-20T09:46:14Z

Jere Krischel at 04:43, 12 December 2005

2005-12-12T04:43:53Z

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7G8 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS.
Senator DOLPH. Did you have any talk with the President when
you called Sunday morning to pay your respects?
Mr. BLOUNT. The Secretary of the Interior and I were in there to
pay my respects. It was Sunday morning, and we did not stay long.
Senator DOLPH. Did the Secretary of State or his private secretary
read over the instructions'?
Mr. BLOUNT. The private secretary, I think, read them.
Senator DOLPH. Did the private secretary retire during your conversation
with Mr. Gresham?
Mr. BLOUNT. Oh, yes; he was not present at the conversation.
Senator DOLPH. NO one was present at your conversation with the
Secretary of State about your duties in Hawaii ?
Mr. BLOUNT. NO.
Senator DOLPH. YOU can not tell whether you were with him a half
hour?
Mr. BLOUNT. I do not recollect. The paper was read. That was the
main thing—reading over that paper and looking at it. Very little was
said.
The CHAIRMAN. I would like to ask a question on a matter some of
you gentlemen may wish to interrogate Mr. Blount about. I find in a
paper that has been printed by the House, Executive Document 13,
which seems to be some additional correspondence not published
before that time, at least in compliance with any request of the House
or Senate, a telegram of Mr. Foster to Mr. Stevens. It is on page 31
of this document which I hold in my hand.
" DEPARTMENT OP STATE,
" Washington, February 14, 1893.
"Tour telegram of the 1st instant has been received, with coincident
i-eport from commander of the Boston. Press telegrams from San
Francisco give full details of events of 1st instant, with text of your
proclamation. The latter, in announcing assumption of protection of
the Hawaiian Islands in the name of the United States, would seem
to be tantamount to the assumption of a protectorate over those islands
on behalf of the United States, with all the rights and obligations
which the term implies. It is not thought, however, that the request
of the Provisional Government for protection, or your action in compliance
therewith, contemplated more than the cooperation of the
moral and material forces of the United States to strengthen the
authority of the Provisional Government, by according to it adequate
protection for life and property during the negotiations instituted here,
and without interfering with the execution of public affairs. Such
cooperation was and is within your standing instructions and those of
the naval commanders in Hawaiian waters.
"So far as your course accords to the de facto sovereign Government
the material cooperation of the United States for the maintenance of
good order and protection of life and property from apprehended disorders,
it is commended; but so far as it may appear to overstep that
limit by setting the authority of the United States above that of the
Hawaiian Government in the capacity of protector, or to impair the
independent sovereignty of that Government by substituting the flag
and power of the United States, it is disavowed.
" Instructions will be sent to naval commanders, confirming and
renewing those heretofore given them, under which they are authorized
and directed to cooperate with yon in case of need. Your own instruc-
HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 769
tions are likewise renewed and you are accordingly authorized to
arrange with the commanding officer for the continued presence on
shore of such marine force as may be practicable and requisite for the
security of the lives and property interests of American citizens and
the repression of lawlessness threatening them whenever in your judgment
it shall be necessary so to do, or when such cooperation may be
sought for good cause by the Government of the Hawaiian Islands,
being, however, always careful to distinguish between these functions
of voluntary or accorded protection and the assumption of a protectorate
over the Government of the Hawaiian Islands, which the United
States have recognized as sovereign and with which they treat on
terms of sovereign equality.
"JOHN W. FOSTER."
Senator GRAY. That has been printed before.
The CHAIRMAN. That is addressed to Minister Stevens. I wish to
inquire whether you had knowledge of the existence of this telegraphic
dispatch before you went away?
Mr. BLOUNT. I was going to say in response to the Senator that I
expressed to the President the desire not to go off until I knew what
was in the State Department in the way of information, and the Secretary
of State had collected all the documents; they had all been sent
to the Senate, and they were given to me in confidence. I took them
and read them on the way from San Francisco to Honolulu, as much as
I could with seasickness. I never looked at them in Washington.
The CHAIRMAN. The documents?
Mr. BLOUNT. Yes.
The CHAIRMAN. Was the one I have just read amongst them?
Mr. BLOUNT. Yes, given to me confidentially.
Senator DOLPH. When you left for Hawaii you took your instructions?
Mr. BLOUNT. Yes.
Senator DOLPH. Which you considered private?
Mr. BLOUNT. Yes.
Senator DOLPH. And the communication to Admiral Skerrett which
has been read ?
Mr. BLOUNT. Yes.
Senator DOLPH. And an official communication to the Provisional
Government?
Mr. BLOUNT. Yes.
Senator DOLPH. And a letter to Minister Stevens?
Mr. BLOUNT. Yes—no, I did not deliver the letter; the letter was
sent to Minister Stevens.
Senator DOLPH. YOU did not yourself carry him any communication?
Mr. BLOUNT. No; I had a copy. Now, I believe I did hand that
paper to Mr. Stevens on shipboard. I could not say positively about
that.
Senator DOLPH. It is immaterial.
Mr. BLOUNT. Yes.
Senator DOLPH. NOW, under your instructions and the letter of the
Secretary of the Navy to Admiral Skerrett, you were placed in supreme
command of the naval forces in Hawaii, so far as any relation of our
Government to the islands was concerned, were you not?
Mr. BLOUNT. Well, that language might import more than I would
be willing to admit. Without defining in general terms 1 felt from
the instructions of the Secretary of the Navy to Admiral Skerrett that
S. Doc. 231, pt 6 -19

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Jere Krischel at 09:46, 20 December 2005

Jere Krischel at 04:43, 12 December 2005