Our Present Duty

William M. Springer
13 pages (2007/1893); 143KB download
WOWIO Books; ISBN: WOWIO-00294

DESCRIPTION

As a former Representative of Illinois, William Springer wrote this article opposing the annexation of Hawaii into the United States. Refuting the popular moral appeals to annex the independent nation of Hawaii, Springer notes, "Whether the government of Hawaii was a just one, a moral one, or an efficient one, is a matter which does not concern the American people. We have no more right to overthrow a monarchy in Hawaii because it does not conform to our ideas of a just government, than we have to overthrow a monarchy in Canada or Great Britain, or Russia or Turkey, or Spain or elsewhere." This article first appeared in The North American Review, in 1893 alongside John Stevens' "A Plea for Annexation".