The President offended many in dealing as he did with the Hawaiian Islands' problem. Most did not consider it the duty of this country to champion the cause of the native dynasty there, a course likely to subserve no enlightened interest. Whites, chiefly Americans, had come to own most of the land in the islands, while imported Asiatics and Portuguese competed sharply with the natives as laborers. Political power, even, was largely exercised by the whites, through whose influence the monarchy had been reduced to a constitutional form. [Illustration: Portrait.] Princess (afterwards Queen) Liliuokalani. In January, 1893, Queen Liliuokalani sought by a coup d'etat to reinvest her royal authority with its old absoluteness and to disfranchise non-naturalized whites. The American man-of-war Boston, lying in Honolulu harbor, at the request of American residents, landed marines for their protection. The American colony now initiated a counter revolution, declaring the monarchy abrogated and a provisional government established. Minister Stevens at once recognized the Provisional Government as de facto sovereign. Under protest the Queen yielded. [Illustration: Portrait.] James H. Blount. The new government formally placed itself under the protectorate of the United States, and the Stars and Stripes were hoisted over the Government Building. President Harrison disavowed the protectorate, though he did not withdraw the troops from Honolulu, regarding them as necessary to assure the lives and property of American citizens. Nor did he lower the flag. A treaty for the annexation of the islands was soon negotiated and submitted to the Senate. The Cleveland Administration reversed this whole policy with a jolt. The treaty withdrawn, Mr. Cleveland despatched to Honolulu Hon. James H. Blount as a special commissioner, with "paramount authority," which he exercised by formally ending the protectorate, hauling down the flag, and embarking the garrison of marines. Mr. Blount soon superseded Mr. Stevens as minister. Meantime the Provisional Government had organized a force of twelve hundred soldiers, got control of the arms and ammunition in the islands, enacted drastic sedition laws, and suppressed disloyal newspapers. [Illustration: Portrait.] Albert S. Willis.