Template:1018-1019

-p1018-

Mr. Stalker. Comparatively little; there was no excitement on the street that I could detect.

Senator Gray. It was understood that the Queen had surrendered in the way you have described?

Mr. Stalker. Yes. The next morning these matters were all in the public prints, and her ukase, or whatever she termed it, was printed, and in the morning papers.

Senator Gray. Did you hear any talk of projects or schemes of resistance to the Provisional Government on that day, or shortly after?

Mr. Stalker. No; never while I was there did I hear anything to lead me to believe that there was any organized resistance in contemplation.

Senator Gray. Did you ever have any conversation with any of the officers of the Boston?

Mr. Stalker. Yes; I met them frequently at different times on board the boat, and met them at the hotels.

Senator Gray. Did you have any discussion with any of them in regard to these events which had taken place?

Mr. Stalker. I talked with Capt. Wiltse about the subject.

Senator Gray. What was the tenor of your conversation, so far as it had reference to this matter?

Mr. Stalker. I remember on one occasion we were driving up from Waikiki, which is a suburb, bathing resort, and the conversation turned on this matter. I was interrogating Capt. Wiltse as to whether the United States troops had not participated in this matter to rather an unjustifiable extent.

The Chairman. Will you state just when that was?

Mr. Stalker. This was a few days after; I can not state the day.

The Chairman. After this Tuesday?

Mr. Stalker. Yes; after Tuesday—between that and the end of the month some time. I asked him this question, whether this was not a move to destroy the form of government that was the one preferred by the great mass of the people of the islands.

Senator Gray. With reference to the participation by the soldiers?

Mr. Stalker. With reference to their participation; as to whether our Government had not involved itself in what had been done. Capt. Wiltse made this remark to me: "All this talk about who has a right to vote and who has a right to govern in these islands is bosh; I do not care a cent about that; the only question is, does the United States want these islands? If it does, then take them." Those were his words.

Senator Gray. You say this was some days after the revolution?

Mr. Stalker. Yes; some days.

Senator Gray. And after the circumstances which you have described?

Mr. Stalker. Yes.

Senator Gray. Was or was not the movement which you have already described, and which resulted in the surrender, such as it was, of the Queen and the establishment of the Provisional Government on the terms of the proclamation, an annexation movement to the United States, as distinguished, I mean, from an ordinary revolution having for its object the displacement of one government by another?

Mr. Stalker. I believe it was. Perhaps even a better form would be----

Senator Gray. State it in your own form.

Mr. Stalker. I believed it was.

Senator Gray. State in your own words what your belief was.

-p1019-

Mr. Stalker. My belief was that it was a movement intended to end in the annexation of those islands to this country.

Senator Gray. By that you mean that was the purpose which animated those who acted in the revolution?

Mr. Stalker. Yes.

The Chairman. Did you have any reason to know or believe that that movement was disconnected from any purpose on the part of the revolutionists to preserve and maintain their rights under the constitution of 1887?

Mr. Stalker. I did not believe the revolution was inaugurated for the purpose of securing their rights under that constitution.

The Chairman. You did not believe that?

Mr. Stalker. No.

The Chairman. State the grounds of that belief.

Mr. Stalker. I believed it from this fact, that one of the first items of information that came to us after the downfall of the existing government was that a boat would be dispatched immediately to make a tender of these islands to this Government. That was early the next morning. That was a matter of conversation everywhere. On making inquiry, I went down to Mr. Severance's office to ascertain whether I could get a permit to go home on that boat. I had stayed a little longer than I had intended, on account of the exciting events there, and I wanted to come over on the Claudine at the time she sailed with the commissioners. Mr. Severance told me that I would not be able to get on board that boat; and it was evident the following day that the preparations were active for annexing these islands to the United States.

Senator Gray. You were stating, in answer to a question by the chairman, what the grounds of your belief were. You stated one fact. I will ask whether you had any grounds for it in what you heard from those who were active in the revolution that annexation was their object?

Mr. Stalker. Possibly simple disconnected remarks. I had no conversation with any active member of the revolutionary party containing statements to that effect; only incidental remarks dropped in my hearing, like these: "Soon we will all be Americans."

The Chairman. By whom were those incidental remarks dropped?

Mr. Stalker. I can not say. I remember hearing that remark dropped by some person. I believe I heard that remark, or similar remarks, in some of the crowds on the street, from men whom I would not know.

Senator Gray. English-speaking people—American people?

Mr. Stalker. Oh, yes; American people.

The Chairman. To get at the nature of the belief on which you were forming these opinions, I will ask you whether any person officially connected with the Queen or the revolution came to you to inform you of the nature of the affairs or the progress of the affairs that were expected?

Mr. Stalker. No.

The Chairman. What you had learned was the common gossip on the street?

Mr. Stalker. Yes; that is where I gathered practically all my information.

Senator Gray. You were seeking information?

Mr. Stalker. I was seeking information. I was inquiring----

The Chairman. Did you gather from what you heard there and observed there in this way that these people who were promoting the