When in this manner missionary work is done and the zeal of Christians everywhere awakened, it will be found that the salt has not lost its savor and that the gospel restored to its legitimate position and receiving the support of all Christians has regained the power it had in the apostolic days, and is capable of becoming what it was intended to be, the religion of all mankind. Christian nations are at this time anxiously seeking for some means that will save the world from the horrors of war and assure permanent peace. It does not seem to have occurred to them as yet that Christianity is a means by which that end can be secured. They are, however, on the road that leads to that conclusion. They want permanent peace and are attempting to secure it by arbitration treaties. They will soon find that arbitration treaties cannot restrain the old war spirit unsoftened by Christianity and nursed by the maintenance of standing armies that are immense and of navies that darken all the seas. Under such conditions it is idle to talk about securing permanent peace by arbitration. The reign of peace cannot be secured until the divine element in man is awakened by an awakening so general and powerful that its influence controls all nations. Religion is the only power that can awaken the divinity in man and the gospel of Christ is the only religion which affords a hope that it will become the universal religion and thus be able to awaken everywhere what is God-like in man and prepare the way for permanent, universal peace. Then and not till then will the time have arrived, foretold by the Prophet Isaiah, when "swords shall be beaten into ploughshares and spears into pruning hooks."

THE ANNEXATION OF HAWAII: A RIGHT AND A DUTY.

PRESIDENT'S ANNUAL ADDRESS DELIVERED BEFORE THE GRAFTON AND COÖS BAR ASSOCIATION AT WOODSVILLE, N. H., JANUARY 28, 1898.

Gentlemen of the Association :

Our fifteenth anniversary has arrived and we will now enter upon its exercises. I give you a cordial greeting and bid you welcome here, trusting that we are all devoutly thankful for the Divine care and mercy that have sustained us during the year and brought us once more together.

I shall venture to address you upon the subject of Hawaiian annexation, although I am aware that it is a subject about which there may be different opinions. I am convinced, however, that far-reaching consequences will affect our country for good or for ill accordingly as this subject is rightly or wrongly disposed of. Therefore I claim that we should study the subject, hear discussion upon it, and be prepared to give our influence, whatever it may be, in the right direction. Especially do I claim that upon questions of this character the bar should be prepared to advise and act understandingly, and that every American citizen, with intelligence sufficient to comprehend his duty, as such citizen should expand his ideas and extend his vision beyond the attainment of mere partisan advantages.

Some time ago I wrote a paper which discussed this question and as it has not been published I propose to use it on the present occasion. There are some things in it which I might qualify or explain in the light of recent occurrences, but I am entirely content that the grounds there taken should remain as they are and be considered the record of my judgment both as to what the situation is and as to what ought to be done.

The subject of the paper to which I have referred is entitled "The Annexation of Hawaii: a Right and a Duty," and is discussed as follows:

The annexation of the Hawaiian Islands to the United States is a matter that demands the serious consideration of the American people. It raises questions that ought not to be discussed and settled in partisan spirit, but there should be honest inquiry and a judgment based upon conviction of what is just and for the good of all concerned. In view of the present situation and the past relations between those islands, this country, and other countries, it seems strange that any enlightened American citizen should be found opposed to their annexation. Such an opponent cannot stand on the ground that our national Constitution does not authorize us to receive additional territory. The right of the federal government to receive additions to its territories has been established by numerous precedents. Since the adoption of the Federal Constitution, vast territories from time to time have been added to the United States. According to our laws and according to our national policy and practice, there can be no doubt that our government has the power to make a lawful acceptance of the proffered annexation. The offer is made to us by the government of Hawaii of its own motion; a government fully established and recognized by the United States and the other nations of the world as in the actual and rightful control of its people. The parties are competent to contract. It simply remains for us to accept or reject the offer, and in so doing to be governed by the duty we owe to ourselves, to the Hawaiian people, and to the rest of the world. Those islands lie much nearer to us and our continent than they do to any other nation or continent. They belong to the American continent, and may properly be regarded as an appendage thereto. Steam and electricity make them comparatively near to our shores, and if the Nicaragua canal is built they will be still nearer. Their climate is salubrious and mild, with only a slight difference between the extremes of heat and cold. Their soil is rich, producing sugar-cane, coffee, rice, and tropical fruits in abundance. The sides of their mountains afford excellent pasturage. Their value for agricultural and grazing purposes simply would make their annexation a valuable addition to our territory. It is the testimony of competent engineers that those islands can be fortified easily, so as to be as impreg

nable to the assault of hostile navies as any of the numerous and costly fortifications which Great Britain has erected and maintains on the shores and islands of America. As a naval station for the defence of our Pacific coast, they would be invaluable. For many years last past this country has had a great and profitable trade with those islands. They are so far Americanized now that annexation will be but one step further, and the great emigration from this country thither which would immediately follow annexation soon would complete the work of their assimilation to our ways and institutions.

Ever since Hawaii became known to the civilized world our statesmen have contended that our interests there were paramount to those of all other nations, that we could not permit colonization or the exercise of control there by other countries, and that we favored the independence of the islands, but if their independence could not be maintained, then their ultimate destiny must be in our hands. To these contentions of our statesmen the world has yielded. We have practically controlled Hawaii for the last fifty years. Our missionaries have gone there, Christianized the natives, and settled there. Our men of affairs have gone there, taken the lead in all important matters, and out of barbarism have created civilization. Hawaii has been justly called the key of the Pacific ocean, and as such key its value is apparent when we consider what a vast commerce in the future is sure to seek for itself a highway over the waters of that ocean. In that commerce our country ought to lead, and will if she is true to herself. The time has arrived when Hawaii, unable longer to endure without protection her isolated condition, has petitioned our government to be permitted to become a territory of the United States. The question is, Shall we grant this petition? It has already been shown that the annexation of Hawaii would be an acqusition of great value. It has been said that he who will not provide for his own household is worse than an infidel; and it may be added that the nation which will not look out for its own interests and make the welfare of its people as secure as possible is an imbecile and contemptible nation. In this age all nations except the United States are intent upon adding to their territories. Great Brit

ain, France, Germany, and Russia are searching the remotest corners of the earth, and grasping new territory wherever they can do so with impunity. Lesser nations, in a smaller way, are doing the same thing. The United States alone seems to hesitate about adding to herself new territories, however desirable they may be. If we do refuse to allow the rich, desirable, and important Hawaiian Islands permission to became a part of our territory, it will be an act of utter recklessness and indifference in respect to our interests as a nation and our welfare as a people. It is certain that our duty to ourselves requires us to accept this offer.

The next inquiry is, What are the duties we owe in this matter to the people of Hawaii and to the rest of the world?

Let us first consider our duty to the people of Hawaii. Their islands are situated where all the great nations of the world desire a foothold. They have stood alone and independent until their position has grown so important that they realize they cannot stand alone any longer, and that they must ally themselves with some strong power. They have selected as that strong power the United States, the nearest to them of all nations, not only geographically but in every respect. They received from the United States Christianity and everything else that tends to distinguish them as they now are from the savages discovered by Captain Cook in 1778. Hawaii turns to the United States for protection as a child turns to its father. It is hard to conceive of a moral obligation stronger than the one that rests on us to accept this offer. All, or at least some, of the enemies of annexation say that "they never will consent that Hawaii should become a part of this country," and with the same breath they announce that "they will never permit any other nation to colonize or control it or be allied with it, and that, though weak and helpless, Hawaii must stand alone and independent." No reasonable man can consider such treatment of Hawaii as this to be humane and just. If the people of the United States have become indifferent to their own interests, and if they are determined to ignore all the claims that the people of Hawaii have upon them, then their only honest course is to say in response to this application, "No, we will not take you; go seek protection elsewhere."