influential member of the native Roman Church. By his artful methods he gained the confidence of the king and was made the head of his government. He kept the amiable, but too convivial, monarch well supplied with money, and in other respects gratified his desires. He readily fell in with his ambitious views and dispatched the embassy to the Samoan king.

The solitary ship of the Hawaiian navy, the little Kaimiloa, was fitted out for the voyage, and carried to Samoa a half-caste native ambassador, with a secretary and the usual staff of a diplomatic mission. On arrival, after a voyage during which the crew mutinied on account of short rations, the embassy established itself in an extravagant style of living. The treaty of alliance was readily made, and was celebrated by a banquet given by the Hawaiians. As morning dawned the floor of the banquet hall was found covered with Samoan chiefs, who had to be carried to their homes. The comment of the Samoan king to one of the embassy was: "If you have come to teach my people to drink, I wish you had stayed away." The Kaimiloa was hypothecated to raise funds to get the embassy away from the islands, its departure being hastened by the jealousy of the Germans. On its return to Honolulu it found Gibson dismissed from office and in jail. His expulsion from the country soon followed. By such exploits and through such advisers Kalakaua's administration was much discredited by the better class of residents and in the United States.

During the sessions of the International American Conference at Washington in 1890, Congress adopted

a resolution to extend an invitation to the government of Hawaii to participate in the conference. By this act the islands were recognized as a part of the American body of states, and the Monroe doctrine was applied to their political status.1 This step, however, did not alter the intimate relation which they held to the Orient. From their earliest contact with the United States these islands had been a base of operations for the trade of China, and the growing power of Japan had given to them added importance in the Pacific.

Kalakaua died in 1891 while visiting California for his health, and was succeeded by Princess Liliuokalani, who had previously been proclaimed heir to the throne. Although the petty kingdom was the merest mimicry of a monarchy, the substantial residents were disposed to tolerate the king in his whims and extravagancies of life and policy because of his kindly disposition and of his good intentions for his country. But his death precipitated the end of the monarchy, which events had already indicated as inevitable. The new ruler from the beginning manifested a headstrong disposition, an intention to control the government by her own will, and to surround herself with a body of advisers and intimates of bad character and of ill omen for the country. Her accession to power was followed by much dissatisfaction, and revolutionary schemes began to take shape. The bribery and corruption which prevailed and the orgies which defiled the palace during the

1 Allen's Report, 23-26; Alexander's Hist. Hawaii, 304; A Foot-Note to History (Samoa), by Robert Louis Stevenson, New York, 1892, p. 56; U. S. For. Rel. 1894, Appendix ii. p. 645.

reign of Kalakaua were continued under the queen, and the government went from bad to worse, the sessions of the national legislature being marked by open bribery, apparently with the approval of the head of the

state.

A crisis came in January, 1893. The queen was determined to overthrow the existing constitution and to proclaim one whereby more autocratic power would be possessed by her. As the first step to this end she sought to rid herself of her constitutional ministry. The legislature was prorogued, and the nobles and the diplomatic corps were summoned to the palace, the purpose being understood to be to witness the promulgation of the new constitution. This aroused the fears and hostility of the leading inhabitants of Honolulu, who assembled in mass meeting, denounced the contemplated measure, appointed a committee of public safety, which proceeded at once to organize their adherents into a military force. The queen, being alarmed at the magnitude and earnestness of the opposition, dismissed the nobles and diplomats, and from the balcony of the palace announced to her native adherents, who were clamoring for the new constitution, that she had been forced to postpone its promulgation, and later she issued a proclamation that no change would take place except by constitutional methods.

The committee of public safety, satisfied that she would embrace the first opportunity to carry out her cherished plan, began preparations, on January 16, for decisive action to put an end to the corrupt government. It being apparent that a revolution was impending,

the American minister requested the United States naval commander to land marines to protect American interests, and at five o'clock on the afternoon of the 16th a detachment of troops was landed and placed about the legation and consulate. On the day following, January 17, 1893, the revolutionists assembled under arms, and, marching to the government building, proclaimed the overthrow of the monarchy, and the committee of public safety took possession of the government without loss of life. The queen alleged that her adherents had been overawed by the landing of the United States troops, and, while peacefully submitting to the change, she appealed to the President of the United States to restore her to power.

A provisional government was at once established, with Judge S. B. Dole as president. Judge Dole was born in Honolulu, of American parentage, and resigned from the Supreme Court to accept the position. The new government was organized without opposition throughout the islands and recognized as the de facto government by the representatives of all the foreign powers resident at the capital. One of its first acts was to dispatch a commission of its citizens to Washington to negotiate a treaty of annexation to the American Union. The commissioners arrived in Washington on February 3, and, being introduced by the resident Hawaiian minister to the Secretary of State, laid before him their credentials and asked to enter upon negotiations. President Harrison, having satisfied himself that they represented the de facto and established government, and that ultimate annexation had been for many

years the policy of the United States, authorized negotiations, which resulted in the signing of a treaty on February 14 providing for the incorporation of the Hawaiian Islands into the United States as a territory.1

President Harrison's administration came to a close on March 3, and in the brief time before adjournment no action was taken on the treaty by the Senate. One of the first acts of Mr. Cleveland after his inauguration for a second term was to withdraw the treaty of annexation from the Senate. He was impressed by the declaration of the queen that she had been dethroned through the presence of the United States troops and against the will of a large majority of her subjects, and he sent a commissioner, Hon. J. H. Blount, to Hawaii to investigate and report upon the causes of the revolution and the sentiments of the people towards the provisional government. After a lengthy investigation Mr. Blount reported that the party which supported the new government constituted the intelligence and owned most of the property on the islands, that the greater part of the natives were in favor of the exqueen, and that the revolution succeeded through the support of the United States minister and troops.

Upon the return of Mr. Blount, President Cleveland appointed a minister to Hawaii, accredited to the provisional government, but with instructions to inform the ex-queen that upon the facts reported by Mr.

1 For events of Kalakaua's reign, U. S. For. Rel. 1894, Appendix ii. p. 645. For sketch of revolution, ib. 777; Minister Stevens's account, ib. 207. For President Harrison's message and treaty of annexation of 1893, ib. 197.