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behalf in cases wherein he may appear to have been treated in an arbitrary and oppressive manner.

The contention that the persons claiming redress had not exhausted their remedy before Hawaiian Courts is one which appears to Her Majesty's Government to be quite unsustainable in view of the Acts of Indemnity passed by the Hawaiian Legislature. No objection would have been made by Her Majesty's Government to the prosecution and punishment of such of Her Majesty's subjects in Hawaii who had been guilty of participation in seditious or treasonable acts either in due course of law or under martial law if the enforcement of martial law was reasonably necessary for the safety of the community.

The Agreement to leave the Hawaiian Islands cannot, Her Majesty's Government state, be construed as an admission of guilt, being signed under pressure of imprisonment and apprehension of proceedings under martial law at a time when, in the view of Her Majesty's Government, such proceedings could not be supposed to be necessary for the safety of the community.

The persons who pray for intervention in their behalf were, in the opinion of Her Majesty's Government, subjected to imprisonment under martial law under circumstances which show that, in respect to those persons, martial law was not enforced for the suppression of insurrection, but that it was used as a means of punishing them by imprisonment and exile for having expressed views unfavourable to the existing Government of Hawaii, and that compelling aliens, the subjects of a friendly State, to leave the country, at great inconvenience to themselves and at the cost of ruin in business, is, in the absence of circumstances which call for such measures as an act of self-protection, a step of an unfriendly character, which justifies the Government of such aliens in expecting that adequate compensation will be made to them.

The expression of the foregoing views of Her Majesty's Government upon the matter in question move me to beg of you an early reply from the Government of the Republic of Hawaii.

I have, &c.

A. G. S. HAWES,

Her Britannic Majesty's Commissioner and Consul-General.

ANNEX 17.

Mr. Cooper to Acting Consul-General Kenny.

(Personal.)
My dear Mr. Kenny,

Foreign Office, Honolulu, H.I.,
December 17, 1897.

REFERRING to our several conversations in regard to the claims which have been preferred by your Government on behalf of certain subjects, I have to say that I have presented your proposition for settlement to the Executive Council, and after mature deliberation, I am directed to inform you that the Executive intends to recommend to the next Legislature the payment of the Dunwell claim, but in regard to the other claims, it has been decided that the Government cannot recognize any liability, and that the payment of any sum, even by way of compromise, cannot safely be done, as it is our opinion it will establish a precedent which might become embarrassing in the future.

I have, &c.

HENRY E. COOPER.
Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Acting Consul-General Kenny to Mr. Cooper.

(Personal.)

My dear Mr. Cooper, Honolulu, December 20, 1897.
I HAVE received your letter (personal) of the 17th
instant, acquainting me with the decision of the
Executive Council in the matter of the claims of certain
British subjects against your Government for compen-
sation for imprisonment without trial, concerning which
we have had several conversations with a view to
arriving at some basis of settlement which might be
satisfactory both to your Government and to the men
concerned.

You inform me, as a result of your having laid the matter before the Executive Council, that they intend to recommend to the next Legislature the payment of the Dunwell claim, and that, in regard to the other claims it has been decided that your Government cannot recognize any liability, or safely pay any sum, even way of compromise, as it is their opinion such paymen would establish a precedent which might becom embarrassing in future.

by

I regret that your Government do not see their way to settling these claims in the spirit of compromise evinced by you personally during our interviews on the subject.

I have, &c.

W. J. KENNY.

ANNEX 18.

Sir,

Acting Consul-General Kenny to Mr. Cooper

Honolulu, January 17, 1898.

I HAVE the honour to request that you will be so good as to send me a formal reply to the note addressed to you by my predecessor, Mr. Hawes, on the 28th May, 1896, in support of the claims of certain British subjects against your Government.

I have, &c.

W. J. KENNY.

Sir,

ANNEX 19.

Mr. Cooper to Acting Consul-General Kenny.

Department of Foreign Affairs,

Honolulu, February 1, 1898. IN response to your request of the 17th January, that I make you a formal reply to the note addressed to me by your predecessor, the late Mr. A. G. S. Hawes, on the 28th May, 1896, I have the honour to say, in addition to my personal note upon this subject, that it is understood that your Government does not controvert the contention that on the occasion of the insurrection of 1895:

1. The Proclamation of martial law was justifiable.
2. That there was full authority for the prosecution
and punishment of all those who were connected
with that affair: and

3. That the main basis of the claims of British
subjects for compensation is that they were
subjected to imprisonment under martial law
under circumstances which show that, in respect
to those persons, martial law was not in force
for the suppression of the insurrection, but that
it was used as a means of punishing them by
imprisonment.

With the exception of the case of Charles E. Dunwell, my Government is unable to admit that any of the persons who are the subjects of this correspondence were subjected to punishment, and for that reason sees no grounds for any liability to compensate them for either loss of time, injury to business, or personal feelings during their confinement. This same suggestion applies to those who were allowed to leave the country upon their own request, as evidenced by the signing of stipulations by them previous to leaving, which stipulations, it is firmly maintained, were not executed under any pressure or apprehension, other than their liability to be tried by a competent Tribunal for their alleged participation in the insurrection.

In regard to the case of Dunwell, it is admitted that he was subjected to unnecessary punishment for the purpose of compelling him to testify to a matter which was within his knowledge, but which he persistently refused to admit; and although the treatment which he underwent is not without precedent in other countries under similar circumstances, it is proposed by the Executive to recommend to the Legislature a sufficient appropriation for the payment of his claim of 6501., but no further or other liability in regard to any of the other claimants can be admitted.

I have, &c.

HENRY E. COOPER.

Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Sir,

ANNEX 20.

Acting Consul-General Kenny to Mr. Cooper.

st

Honolulu, July 5, 1898. I HAVE the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your despatch of the 1st February last, in reply to the note in support of the claims of certain British subjects again your Government, addressed to you by the late Consul General Hawes on the 28th May, 1896, stating that, wit the exception of the case of Charles E. Dunwell, th Hawaiian Government is unable to admit that any of th persons on whose behalf claims have been presented b Her Majesty's Government were subjected to punishmen that for this reason the Hawaiian Government sees n grounds for any liability to compensate them for eithe [11488]

loss of time, injury to business, or personal feelings during their confinement, that this same suggestion applies to those who were allowed to leave Hawaii upon their own request, as evidenced by the signing of stipulations by them previous to leaving, and that the Hawaiian Government finally maintains that these stipulations were not executed under any pressure or apprehension other than their liability to be tried by a competent Tribunal for their alleged participation in the insurrection.

Her Majesty's Government note with satisfaction that the Government of Hawaii has admitted the justice of Dunwell's claim, but they cannot accept the contention which has been put forward with regard to the other claims.

The reasons which induced Her Majesty's Government to present these claims are fully set forth in the note addressed to you by the late Consul-General Hawes on the 28th May, 1896, above referred to. Nothing which your Government has since advanced has led Her Majesty's Government to change their opinion with regard to the fairness of these demands. But, as a proof of their wish to maintain friendly relations with the Government of Hawaii, and of their desire to arrive at a satisfactory solution of this question. Her Majesty's Government would propose that the cases which still remain unsettled should be referred to the arbitrament of an independent jurist to be selected by agreement between the two Governments, or, in the event of their being unable to arrive at an agreement, to be designated by the King of Sweden and Norway, the President of the Swiss Confederation, or by some other neutral personage of high distinction.

Her Majesty's Government would be glad to receive an early decision with regard to this proposition. I have. &c.

W. J. KENNY.

Sir.

ANNEX 21.

Mr. Cooper to Acting Consul-General Kenny.

Department of Foreign Affairs.

Honolulu, July 15, 1898. I HAVE the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your communication of the 5th instant, relating to the claims

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