Complex sentence: He encouraged schools, tree-planting and the palm trade, dynamited the north passage to the lagoon, and built roads but, having managed to upset the residents, parliamentarian John Wilson was sent from the mainland in April 1882 to investigate the situation.
Split into simpler sentences: He encouraged schools, tree-planting and the palm trade, dynamited the north passage to the lagoon, and built roads. He also managed to upset the residents, and parliamentarian John Wilson was sent from the mainland in April 1882 to investigate the situation.