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then appointed the Honorable J. H. Blount special commissioner to Hawaii with "political authority in all matters" and practical command of the naval forces. There is only one opinion as to Mr. Blount's conduct of this mission entertained by those cognizant of the facts. He displayed tactless discourtesy to the representatives of the existing government and an equally unwarranted degree of favor toward the royalists, among whom he took up his residence, and from whom alone he secured the data for his report. In short, he evinced as little ability as desire for the proper performance of the task with which he had been entrusted. Subsequently the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs, after a special investigation based upon more reliable information than that furnished to the President by his commissioner extraordinary, reached directly contrary conclusions from those of that gentleman's report.

AN AMERICAN MINISTER IN AN UNDIGNIFIED ROLE.

The sojourn of Mr. Blount in Honolulu and his open adherence to the cause of the monarchy naturally aroused the hopes and ambitions of the royalists and created a state of unrest throughout the Islands. Three months after his departure Albert Willis arrived as the American Minister to Hawaii. It would be difficult to find in modern diplomatic history circumstances more extraordinary

than those connected with this appointment. Mr. Willis was instructed to use his best endeavors for the subversion of the government to which he was accredited and with which the United States was upon the most friendly terms. The new Minister lost no time in opening negotiations with the exQueen and meanwhile he showed his bias by holding aloof from the members of the provisional Government and its adherents. This conduct produced a condition of affairs which is tersely described in a letter of protest from President Dole. "The ene

mies of the government," wrote the President to Mr. Willis, "believing in your intentions to restore the monarchy by force, have become emboldened. Threats of assassination of the officers of this government have been made. The police force is frequently informed of conspiracies to create disorder. Aged and sick persons of all nationalities have been and are in a state of distress and anxiety. Children in the schools are agitated by the fear of political disturbances. The wives, sisters, and daughters of residents, including many Americans, have been in daily apprehension of civic disorder, many of them having even armed themselves in preparation thereof. Citizens have made preparations in their homes for defence against assaults which may arise directly or indirectly from such conflict. Rumors of the intended landing of your forces for offensive purposes have agitated the community for many

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days. The situation for weeks has been one of actual warfare, without the incident of actual combat. Even the ex-Queen has called upon this provisional government for protection, which has been awarded her. Owing to your attitude the government has been compelled by public apprehension to largely increase the military force at great expense. Its offices have been placed, and still continue, in a condition of defence and preparation for a siege, and the community has been placed in a state of mind bordering upon terrorism." The force of these statements will be better appreciated if it is understood that Sanford Dole was a man of the utmost composure and one in the habit of weighing his words with the greatest care.

On the nineteenth of December, a few days before the despatch of this letter, Minister Willis had demanded of President Dole " in the name and by the authority of the United States, the prompt relinquishment" of the government to Liliuokalani. A respectful but unequivocal refusal was returned to the Minister. This firm attitude of the Provisional Government put an end to the intrigues that had been carried on under the directions of the authorities at Washington and compelled the President to refer the matter to Congress, giving him to understand that the Americans in Hawaii were immovably determined to maintain the course dictated by their mature and careful judgment.