The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1876-06-14
The snmonn DimcnItr.
coIonel steinbergrr,s statement.

siding in the city, having arrived from Lsvuka
per mail steamship City of San Francisco As only
one side OF the recent startling events at Samoa
has been told, we interyiewel Col. Steinberger
on Saturday last. We found him courteous aud
obliging. The statement was as follows =
am native OF the United States, and was
born in the State Of Pennsylvania, bnt ABOUT half
my life was spent IN England. chiefly 10 London
| | was through the American war IN the Federal
army. Il seems strange that man who has been
/ 20 loyal towards Eugshmen. who has been their
/ defender. an advocate OF the Washington treaty,
aud who has stood up in psblic meetings, and
declared that English honor aud courage were
supreme, should be the first TO suffer under
| British man .of-war in Samoa. | should feel
Obliged # you would supply me with files Of pa
pers since the arrival Of The Barracouta, it will
be necessary for me to forward TO the depart
ments al home such extracts rs | may want.
am here Invested of documentary evidence. My
/ papers have all been seized and | am separated
from them. Some Of the papers tue natives
| themselves had buried for their protection, were
discovered after was taken prisoner on board the
I Barracuda was taksn away from the island
! by the Barracuda Il is well for the captain TO
say, ." did il under the orders OF the United
States Consul" | repudiate that aud assert
that it was the business OF the captain TO know
what authority the Consul had to do these things.
In truth, the Consul had no authority, or, ii lie
had, he should have produced it. 1t is fact that
the Consuls hostility to ne is hostility to gen.
teman who would refuse to meet man like him.
and did so. His enmity is partly aroused be-
cause. under my administration, closed up the
drinking shops. in accordance with what | think
to be the propriety Of life in that Or in any other
country.
was sent to Samoa by the U. S. ship Tusca-
rOra. and was United States Commissioner Of
Samoa. | was created Premier OF tue kingdom,
but refused TO accept pay, and my acceptance OF
the position was dependent upon the action Of
the department in the city Of Washington, for,
being an officer Of the U. s. government, could
not accept any position with pay or emolument
until such time as should get permission from
the U. 5. government. | was sent TO Samoa by
the U. 5. government. with war ship pluced ut
my disposal You have but heard &c pt1'te state
ments. There are not five people in The island
who objected TO my administration They got
the king on board the BarrlcOuta ON the night OF
the 9Th. and he there became intoxicated. and
was got to sign the paper deposing the. lie con.
fessed afterwards that he knew nothing about
signing the paper, On the following morning, /
was seized by the captain Of the BirracOuta, who
accompanied by force oi lao men. When
seized, had not been taken above 200 yards
from the house, before the king was dethroued by
the Parliament for what be had done, and he was
expalriated and he and his family put into prison
lie has since been bauished. The Parliament
did this aud then said to the captain Of the Bar
racouta, We will treat for nothing aud do moth
ing until you return us our Premier The cap !
tam said, - ell, what is your Premier, We will /
give you Premier" The poor fellows who sui |
Tered by the engagement--sOme 80 or 40 sailors /
of the BarHcouta-met me this morning and car
ried me bodily, by force into drinking saloon to /
testify their respect, and they cheered again and /
again, and said | must drink with them | had 4
to beg TO be allowed to walk TO the hotel, How |
is it that English sailors will do these things |
when not under orders? When English blue
jackets DO that, there must be something wrong. /
When 10000 natives are in sackclOth and ashes, /
and praying for me, as they do in their churehesr
is 1t likely that | am the scounirel and adventure
er have been represented to be- | have built
their schools, and have obtnned $40 0O0 worth |
OF goods, clothing, &c. for them from the U. S,
About the schooner Peerless, little need be said,
that matter is before the court. The title to her
is not worth cent. She was seized because |
had made arrangements TO intercept the mail
steamers TO carry dispatches 10 Washington. II
| would have said to the London Missionary So
ciety las they have eutreated me for months aud
Wesleyaos, this trouble would not have arisen.
1t was the Loadon Missionary Society that caused
the trouble. There were three religious bodies
there-the Roman Catholics, the Wesleyans and
the London Missionary SOciety-and If | would
have discarded the Catholics and Wesleyans in
my administration, it would have been oil right.
The U. s. government must, think, take up this
matter Capt. Stevens has traduced the Presi-
dent of ;he U. S. When be spoke of him. it was
as this man Grant, have done with him new"
You would not esteem 1t very nice if au Ameri-
can captain dealt with the name of Her Majesty
IN the same way. Our consul at the island Is not
worth talking about, aud you know 10y your late
American files that these cOnsulships have been
destroyed. had stenogapher engaged at the
meetings 10 Samoa, and every word that Captain
Stevens uttered at those meetings has gone on to
Washington.
The Barracuda arrived at Ievuka on the 4th
inst. ut about A. ". AtabOut o'clock | asked
Mr.. Mcleod, the first lieutenant, to say to the
captain that would like to know what my des-
tiny is. | had previously sent my protest to tue
captain. The lieutenant returned IN u very few
minutes, and said the captain was on the quarter
deck, and wished to see me. | went to the quar-
ter deck and for the first time he addressed me as
Col. Steinberger lie said beg your pardon
Tor not having informed you before, but have
not been well. | have been instructed by the
consul to take you to Auckland with your pa
pers." We parted at about 10 o'clock. Haliau-
hour afterwards. when / was about to retire,
Capt. Stevens came up in front of my BERTH and
said A" Col. Steinbsrger, | would like to see you
early in the morning with the first lieutenant
said Oh, l have not retired, and will meet you
Immediately" He then left, and shortly after
wards | met him on the quarter deck with Mr..
Maxwell, the second officer. The captain had
been on shore before this meeting. He said to
me, Would you not like to be landed here in
Levuka ?' l said, No" The captain said,
Well, l will put you on shore here ii you like"
Ny answer was an unqualified, 10. | said, In
our talk, about o'clock to-day, you said that it
vas your determination. under authority, to take
ne to Auckland, and accept that Capt. Ste
fens said, Are you willing to be landed here"
md again answered in the negative. He then
yot into towering passion, and called to Mr.
Mcleod to call away boat and put me ashore,
md that was the end Of it,
When on shore sent protest to the captain
Igainst my being landed, aud letter to the Com
nodore These we're returned without tue seals
icing broken. l did not deal with Capt. Ste
Iens as be had done with me, in calling mean
American adventurer. do not deal in contume-
ious epithets. All my private property was
eized. Even little white boxes bound with .
lack, and sealed, which contained lettes, photo
raphs, keys Of caskets marriage certificates,