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1854-92] The United States and Hawaii. 667 expressly disavowed it. In the arbitration at Paris, under the treaty of February 29, 1892, counsel for the United States relied chiefly upon a theory of property in seals ; but as this theory had not found expression in positive law, even in the United States, it was not accepted by the tribunal. The claim of right having thus been disallowed, the arbitrators, in conformity with the treaty, drew up a plan of joint regulations, which was put into force. Under a subsequent convention, British subjects, whose vessels had been seized, were duly compensated (1898). The tendency towards a more active foreign policy, clearly exhibited during President Harrison's administration, was illustrated by the Act of Congress authorising the appointment of ambassadors to foreign countries, wherever such countries gave that rank to their representatives in Washington ; but it was much more strikingly exemplified by the conclusion, almost at the close of his term of office, of a treaty for the annexation of the Hawaiian Islands. From an early day the United States had asserted a predominant interest in this group. The events of 1854, when a treaty for annexation was agreed on, were followed by other warnings that the question of forming closer ties waited upon crises in native affairs ; and the exceptional stipulations of the reciprocity treaty of 1875 merely accentuated the protective relation which the United States had maintained towards these islands. In 1887 the native King, Kalakaua, who had, by seeking to intervene in the affairs of Samoa, and by other unwise courses, shown a want of stability, was induced, under pressure of the white element, to accept a new consti- tution. Under this constitution the native Hawaiians were restive, since it established responsible government and in other ways curtailed their political power. On January 14, 1892, Queen Liliuokalani, who had succeeded Kala- kaua in the royal office, sought by a coup d'etat to restore the old constitution. A counter-revolution took place; and on January 16 a body of marines was landed from the U.S.S. Boston. The next day a republic was proclaimed, to last until terms of union with the United States were agreed on. The new government was recognised by the American minister. The Queen abdicated, declaring that she did so under compulsion, and that she would appeal to the government at Washington for reinstatement. The Provisional Government imme- diately dispatched commissioners to the United States. They were received at the Department of State on February 4 ; and on the 15th a treaty of annexation, which was signed the day before, was sent to the Senate. Action upon it had not been taken, when President Cleveland, succeeding to the Presidency, withdrew it, and sent a commissioner to Hawaii to make an investigation. The commissioner reported that the revolution was brought about with the connivance of the American minister, and that the presence of the American marines, who were landed at the minister's instance, influenced the Queen in abdicating.