Statement on Hawaii Statehood by Secretary of the Interior Fred A. Seaton

of O.F) 147E1 C. File OF The AUG- 0 DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR INFORMATION SERVICE For Release on Delivery--(Expected 2 P.M., E.S.T.) APRIL 2, 1957 3. STATEMENT ON HAWAILAN STATEHOOD BY SECRETARY OF THE INTERICR FRED A. SEATON BEFORE SENATE INTERIOR AND INSULAR AFFAIRS COMMITTEE, AS DELIVERED BY UNDER XOF147-E SECRETARY HATFIELD CHILSON, APRIL 2, 1957 XOF4 As you know, because of Secretary Seaton's confinement to Walter Reed Hospital, he is unable to be here today, I have therefore been asked to present the follow- ing statement which is the Secretary's own--in support of immediate statehood for Hawaii. The Administration recommends, in the words of the President's 1957 Budget Message, the "enactment of legislation admitting Hawaii into the Union as a State. " The Territory we have known as Hawaii since 1898, when it was annexed to the United States, embraces an area of over 6,400 square miles; it is composed of a series of eight islands which form part of the Hawaiian archipelago. Captain James Cook "discovered" these islands in 1778, and in honor of the English Earl of Sandwich, named them the Sandwich Islands. The people of Hawaii have looked toward the United States for more than a century. In 1820 New England Christian missionaries converted Hawaiians to Christianity. Through the nineteenth century, as ties of friendship and trade grew stronger, the desire of Hawaiians to be Americans became more vocal. As early as 1854 her people requested their king to bring about the annexation of the Islands to the United States. During the same year, a treaty was drafted at the request of President Pierce. That Treaty included the assumption that the constitutional monarchy would become a State in a manner similar to that of Texas and California. After the Queen was deposed in 1893, the Republic of Hawaii was established as an interim government. In 1898 Hawaii was formally annexed as an "integral part of the United States". It became an "incorporated Territory" when Congress enacted its Organic Act in 1900. At the time Hawaii was annexed, there were but three other incorporated Terri- tories-Oklahoma, Arizona, and New Mexico. Ever since, the Hawaiian people have awaited the day when Hawaii would follow these other Territories and become a full and equal member of our nation. The Hawaiian people have pursued this goal with diligence. Since 1903 the Territorial Legislature has petitioned nearly every Congress to admit Hawaii as an equal partner in our government, Since 1919 every Hawaiian Delegate to Congress has introduced a statehood bill. Since yoars ago-_Congross has actively investigated this Territory to determine whether her apprenticeship has been completed.