blic lands in the islands, and is
not only unable to dispose of lands to settlers desiring to take up
homestead sites, but is without power to give complete title in cases
where lands have been entered upon under lease or other conditions which
carry with them the right to the purchaser, lessee, or settler to have a
full title granted to him upon compliance with the conditions prescribed
by law or by his particular agreement of entry.

Questions of doubt and difficulty have also arisen with reference to
the collection of tonnage tax on vessels coming from Hawaiian ports;
with reference to the status of Chinese in the islands, their entrance
and exit therefrom; as to patents and copyrights; as to the register
of vessels under the navigation laws; as to the necessity of holding
elections in accordance with the provisions of the Hawaiian statutes
for the choice of various officers, and as to several other matters of
detail touching the interests both of the island and of the Federal
Government.

By the resolution of annexation the President was directed to appoint
five commissioners to recommend to Congress such legislation concerning
the islands as they should deem necessary or proper. These commissioners
were duly appointed and after a careful investigation and study of the
system of laws and government prevailing in the islands, and of the
conditions existing there, they prepared a bill to provide a government
under the title of "The Territory of Hawaii." The report of the
Commission, with the bill which they prepared, was transmitted by me to
Congress on December 6, 1898, but the bill still awaits final action.

The people of these islands are entitled to the benefits and privileges
of our Constitution, but in the absence of any act of Congress providing
for Federal courts in the islands, and for a procedure by which appeals,
writs of error, and other judicial proceedings necessary for the
enforcement of civil rights may be prosecuted, they are powerless to
secure their enforcement by the judgment of the courts of the United
States. It is manifestly important, therefore, that an act shall be
passed as speedily as possible erecting these islands into a judicial
district, providing for the appointment of a judge and other proper
officers and methods of procedure in appellate proceedings, and that the
government of this newly acquired territory under the Federal
Constitution shall be fully defined and provided for.