CONTENTS. Pages. II. Historical Sketch: Discovery and Settlement. Government by Native Rulers. Relations to the United States and Other VII. Tariff and Customs Regulations VIII. Transportation Facilities, Postal System, etc IX. Patents, Currency, Commercial Licenses, Passports, etc. . . . . . 5 HAWAII.' I. Location: Commercial and Naval Importance. The Hawaiian Islands, formerly known as the Sandwich Islands, are situated in the North Pacific Ocean, and lie between longitude 154° 40′ and 160° 30′ West from Greenwich, and latitude 22° 16' and 18° 55′ North. They are thus on the very edge of the tropics, but their position in mid ocean and the prevalence of the northeast trade wind give them a climate of perpetual summer, without enervating heat. The group occupies a central position in the North Pacific 2,089 nautical miles southwest of San Francisco; 4,640 from Panama; 3,800 from Auckland, New Zealand; 4,950 from Hongkong, and 3,440 from Yokohama. Its location gives it great importance from a military as well as from a commercial point of view. Broadly speaking, Hawaii may be said to lie about one-third of the distance on the accustomed routes from San Francisco to Compiled from a pamphlet, "The Hawaiian Islands," issued by the Department of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Hawaii, 1896; Commercial Relations of the United States, 1895-96; United States Consular Reports; Monthly Summary of Finance and Commerce of the United States, May, 1897, issued by the Bureau of Statistics, Treasury Department; Circular No. 18, Section of Foreign Markets, United States Department of Agriculture, entitled "Hawaiian Commerce from 1887 to 1897"; A Brief History of the Hawaiian People," by W. D. Alexander; The Statesman's Year-Book," 1897, and Documents of the United States Congress. Japanese and Chinese ports; from San Francisco to Australia; from ports of British Columbia to Australia and British India; and about halfway from the Isthmus of Panama to Yokohama and Hongkong. The construction of a ship canal across the Isthmus would extend this geographical relation to the ports of the Gulf of Mexico and of the Atlantic Seaboard of North and South America. A glance at the map will at once make clear the fact that no other point in the North Pacific has such a dominating relation to the trade between America and Asia, as a place of call and depot of supplies for vessels. From a naval standpoint, Hawaii is the great strategic base of the Pacific. Under the present conditions of naval warfare, created by the use of steam as a motive power, Hawaii would secure to the maritime nation possessing it an immense advantage as a depot for the supply of coal. Modern battle ships, depending absolutely upon coal, would be enabled to avail themselves of their full capacity of speed and energy only by having some halfway station in the Pacific where they could replenish their stores of fuel and refit. A battle ship or cruiser starting from an Asiatic or Australian port, with the view of operating along the coast of either North America or South America, would be unable to act effectively for any length of time at the end of so long a voyage unless she were able to refill her bunkers at some point on the way. On the other hand, if the United States possessed Hawaii, she would be able to advance her line of defense 2,000 miles from the Pacific Coast, and, with a fortified harbor and a strong fleet at Honolulu, would be in a position to conduct either defensive or offensive operations in the North Pacific to greater advantage than any other Power. II Historical Sketch. DISCOVERY AND SETTLEMENT AMERICAN MISSIONARIES-RELATIONS WITH THE UNITED STATES-ANNEXATION TREATIES. The name Sandwich Islands was given to the Hawaiian group by its English discoverer, the famous navigator, Captain Cook, in honor of his patron, the Earl of Sandwich. The word Hawaii is derived from the name of the largest of the islands, and is now used to designate the whole group. The official name of the islands, under their present form of government, is The Republic of Hawaii. According to Prof. W. E. Alexander, Chief of the Government Survey of Hawaii, it seems to be almost certain that Juan Gaetano, a Spanish navigator, saw Hawaii in 1555 A. D. A group of islands, the largest of which was called La Mesa, was laid down in the old Spanish charts in the same latitude as the Hawaiian Islands, but 10 degrees too far east. On the 18th of January, 1778, Captain Cook, while sailing due north from the Society Islands, discovered the Islands of Oahu and Kauai, of the Hawaiian group. The next day, he landed at Waimea, Kauai, where he held friendly intercourse with the natives, and afterwards, laid in supplies at Niihau. He finally sailed for Alaska, February 2. The Hawaiians looked upon him as an incarnation of the god Lono and upon his crew as supernatural beings. Returning from the Arctic the following winter, he anchored in Kealakekua Bay, January 17, 1779. Here, he received divine honors and was loaded with munificent presents |