Page:American Diplomacy in the Orient - Foster (1903).djvu/390

 about its annexation to the United States. Kamehameha III. (the reigning sovereign) and his council were greatly alarmed, and their appeals led to the sending of an American man-of-war to Honolulu to insure the islands from attack. The rumors proved to have no substantial foundation, but they indicated the growing expectation of eventual incorporation of the islands with the Union.

The census made it manifest that the native population was rapidly decreasing, and the race seemed destined to ultimate extinction. Although surrounded by good advisers and Christian influence, the reigning family was developing an incapacity to govern, and this feature became more apparent in later years. The paramount interest of the United States caused it to regard the situation with concern.

Mr. Marcy, the Secretary of State, although of conservative tendencies, entertained broad-minded views of the duty and destiny of his country, and he regarded the time propitious for a permanent settlement of the status of these outlying islands adjacent to the American domain. The king had already, during the trouble with France, indicated his desire in that crisis to transfer the sovereignty to the United States, and Mr. Marcy instructed the American minister to approach him with a proposition for annexation. The king was found favorable to the project, and the draft of a treaty was agreed upon; but two of its provisions did not meet