Page:The Presidents of the United States, 1789-1914, v. III.djvu/321

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GROVER CLEVELAND 269 cember, 1893, Mr. Willis, the U. S. minister, had formally announced the president s policy to Presi dent Dole, who had returned a formal refusal to give up the government in accordance with that policy, at the same time denying the right of Mr. Cleveland to interfere. On February 7, 1894, the house of representatives passed by a vote of 177 to 75 a resolution upholding Mr. Cleveland s course and condemning annexation, but a similar resolu tion was tabled in the senate, 36 to 18, on May 29, and on May 31 a resolution was adopted against interference by the United States. On July 4, 1894, the constitution of the republic of Hawaii was formally proclaimed by the revolutionary gov ernment, and Mr. Dole was declared president un til December, 1900. The U. S. senate passed a resolution favoring the recognition of the new re public, and thus the matter practically passed out of Mr. Cleveland s hands. This was not the only question of foreign policy that was forced upon the administration. Early in 1895 an insurrection broke out on the island of Cuba. Mr. Cleveland at once took measures against violation of the neutrality laws, and in his message in December he appealed for the observance of strict neutrality as a "plain duty." Sympathy with the insurgents was wide-spread, however, and it became increasingly difficult to detect filibustering expeditions, and still more so to indict and convict