But he went far, very far; he has
aroused a cry among the natives "Hawaii for the Hawaiians," which,
very likely, may breed mischief; for I am very sure that this brief
civilization has not quenched the "red fire" of race; and his hint
regarding the judicious disposal of the king in the event of
annexation, was felt by many of the more sober whites to be highly
impolitic.
The reciprocity treaty, very lucidly advocated by Mr. Carter, and
which means the cession of a lagoon with a portion of circumjacent
territory on this island, to the United States, for a Pacific naval
station, meets with more general favour as a safer measure; but the
natives are indisposed to bribe the great Republic to remit the
sugar duties by the surrender of a square inch of Hawaiian soil;
and, from a British point of view, I heartily sympathise with them.
Foreign, i.e. American, feeling is running high upon the subject.
People say that things are so bad that something must be done, and
it remains to be seen whether natives or foreigners can exercise the
strongest pressure on the king. I was unfavourably impressed in
both lectures by the way in which the natives and their interests
were quietly ignored, or as quietly subordinated to the sugar
interest.
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