Wichita eagle., 1889-01-30
MUCH ANXIETY.
Continued nom + INST rzee-

| Continued from fst Pxge.
| appear in the Record. After describing
| the location, population, ETC., Of the
1 Samoan islands, Mr.. Sherman said the
attention of the United States had been
| early called to those islands and special
agent was sent there who afterwards be-
came minister to the king of SaHnoa and
who made a treaty between The United
States and Samoa. That treaty was made
in 1873 and was signed by Mr.. Evarts and
the king. Its second article gave
to the United States the privilege
of entering and using the harbor Of
Pago Pago and establishing there a coal
| ing and naval supply station. and its fifth
| section provided that in case of differences
| with other nations the government of the
| United States would employ its good Of
fees in adjusting such differences: This,
Mr.. Sherman said. WIS the basis of the
right of the United States to occupy and
hold and to establish in the harbor Of Pago
Pago station for coal and other naval
| supplies. Within a year or two afterwards
somewhat similar treaties had been made
with Germany and Great Britain by which
those governments obtained ike privileges
| in other portions of the islands So that,
Mr.. Sherman said, each of these three
! great commercial nations secured by
treaties, following each other rapidly,
privileges somewhat similar in character
but In different localities, each securing
coallng station and harbor. Nh. Sherman
went on to speak of further arrangement
made shortly afterwards. and which was,
he said, very important. 1t had been en-
tered into between Great Britain and the
government of Samoa, but the German
and American governments We're also in
cluded in it, by which the town and dis
trict of Apia were constituted into a
municipality and were declared to be
neutral territory, where each of the
three nations might establish their store
houses, their workshops and all other
buildings necessary for carrying on their
traffic on those islands. The territory of
Apia was now known as the capital Of the
Samoan islands and was set aside for COM
nercial purposes. the government of Sa-
moa being practically excluded from it.
The municipal board consisted of the Ger
man, English and American consuls. This
treaty or agreement had not Deen submit
ted to the senate but had been signed by
the English consul and by the captain
of the American ship of war Iackawan-
ma. 1t had been acted upon by all
three nations as in the nature of
an agreement for the possession and oc-
cupancy Of that neutral territory.
Mr.. Sherman next referred to the treaty
of the 9th of April, 1886, between Germany
and Great Britain by which a sort of
delimitation was established for the jur-
isdiction of each government in the Poly
d
partition should apply to the Samoan
Islands. This, he said, was the legal
status today, for no other. arrangement or
agreement had ever been made in a formal
way that affretted in any degree the rights
of the several parties. He did not intend
to go into detailed history of events
in Samoa 1t was enough to say
that there was always a sort of quasi war
existing there between several branches of
the people, 1t was strange government,
controlled largely by family ties, some
what ariStOcratic, with contentious always
existing between the various chiefs. He
would not dwell upon the painful features
of that civil war; but it seemed to be the
general opinion of all the American con-
snlar agents who had been sent there to
examine into the nature of their govern
ment that the people were totally unfit to
conduct regular formal government.
But that civil war continued until finally
in 1888, by the aid of the consuls it was de-
clded by an agreement that MalletOa
should be king and Tamasese vice king.
Soon after that settlement, other Difficult
ties had arisen, and movement had been
made to annex the Samoa islands to New
Zealand, Malietoa sending an humble APP
peal to Queen Victoria, asking for such
annexation. The German government,
however, had demonstrated in the most
vigorous manner against it, insisting that
Mr.. Sherman finally brought the history
of events to the conference in Washington
between Mr.. Bayard and the German
minister as to the sending by each of them
of an agent to the islands to obtain fur
Their Information. He said that it was
manifest that the rebellion of Tennessee
had been organized by the German consul
and by q German named Weber, who was
at the head of aJarge commercial house.
He mentioned the arrival OF a German
feet at the islands some time in
May, 1886, an spoke of an insulting
letter from the vice admiral to Malietea,
ia which he addresses him not as king, but
as head chief. 1t was after these insults
to the king that United States Consul
Greenbaum raised the United States flag
at the request of Malietoa over the public
buildings in Apia. For time, he said,
the practical effect of that action. unauth-
orized as it was, had been to check
the action of the German local
authorities. After the German fleet
sailed away the German and American
consuls had again joined in a declaration
that Tamasese had never been recognized
by either of them as king and that Malietoa
was king. This act had been wholly with
out authority and Mr. Greenbaum's part
in it had, very properly, been disavowed by
the American government. he had no
more right to assert a protectorate there
than the German or English consul had.
1t was whilst the agents Of the three
conferees, Mr.. Bayard and the
English and German ministers, were
engaged in obtaining information, that
the German government deposed Malietoa
and set up TamaseSe. This was the worst
feature of the case, because at this very
time the negotiations were going on, on
sound, just and honest basis, for the res
toration of the status quo There were
indications. he thought, that the English
government was conniving with the Ger
man policy. He was not stating the facts
for the purpose of saying who was wrong
or who was right, or whether Germany
was justified iu the course which fshe had
pursued. He could not say, however, that
he found in the papers any justif-
cation for Germany. Prince Bis
marck, whose strong and imperial
will was shown in all of his
communications, asserted the equal rights
as matter oil policy that it would be bet
ter to place the custody of the islands
under the control of one of the powers and
as Germany had the largest property inter
ests there, that it would be best to place it
under German controrand power.
As TO the newspaper correspondent
Klein, who had been playing knight Grant
there. the government of the United
States was in no way response bic for him.
The statement of the man himself, al
though somewhat vain-glorious in style,
shows that he had nothing to do with the
attack on the German sailors. He sympa-
thized with those who were in rebellion
against Tamasese, went along with them
as newspaper man and possibly took q
hand in it, but the United States govern
ment was in no sense responsible for him |
He ar. Sherman) did not know whether
he was native born or a naturalized citi- |
zen.
Il. e