The British Government is anxious to lease an uninhabited island
from the Republic of Hawaii as a station for a cable telegraph from Australia to Canada. The Hawaiian Govern- ment is willing, and indeed anxious, to grant a request which would help to place the islands in immediate communication with the rest of the world. They are, however, precluded from granting it without the consent of the United States, by the Treaty between London and Washington, which forbids the alienation of territory to either Power without the other's per.
mission. The correspondence has therefore been submitted to President Cleveland, who in the promptest and kindest way has at once, to the extent of his power, granted the request. He has requested the Senate to permit him to make the necessary alteration of the Treaty, being satisfied that the project will be beneficial to both Hawaii and the United States, and that Great Britain has no intention of aggression. The matter is not very important ; but we have been so accus- tomed of late to a. dog-in-the-manger attitude on the part of foreign Powers, that the friendly common-sense of the Pre- sident will arouse a keen sensation of pleasure.
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