St. Paul daily globe., 1889-02-08

to the ship, was imprisoned for not hav-
ing bayoneted the man. myself was
stopped on the highway of Apia even
before war had been declared, and the
officer who SO commanded had taken
possession of that part of the town,
threatened that
1 WOULD BE SHOT
II i proceeded. German SentrieS were
posted around my consulate at night. 1t
is for teStifying to these facts, pre-
sumo, that my resignation was asked.
Is it not natural that ] should differ
with Mr.. Bayard in policy-lf such it
can be called-which permits these
things to be done?" Were my regret"
said Mr.. Sewall, 'at the loss Of my
prestige in the Pacific by our submis-
sion to German aggression in Samoa
the measure of my humiliating expert
ence there, could await patiently the
publication of my testimony and the
certain results of an aroused and intelli-
gent public opinion. But such is not
the case to my lasting chagrin and Sor-
row. misled by Mr.. Bayard and acting
| under his Instructions, | led the weak
and suffering Samoans into fresh mis-
fortunes. Upon Mr.. Bayard and my
self, as an innocent inStl ument obeying
his instructions, must rest in large
the distress which now threatens the
very existence of the Samoan people.
When arrived in Samoa the inSurrec-
ton of TamaSeSe fOstered by German
officials for purposes now made PLAIN
was on the point of diSintegration. Ma
lieta, who had been repeatedly held
back by our representatives from assert
ing his authority, had determined to
TOLERATE THIS NO LONGER.
"At this juncture the day after / ar
rived | received instructions, of which
the purport was that | should restrain
Malietoa. did so, giving him to un-
derstand, as Nlr. Bayard gave me to un-
derstand, hat neither he nor his people
would be allowed to suffer from follow
ing the advice | gave him in the name
of our government. Malietoa yielded at
my solicitation, and our national honor
was pledged that as a treaty power we
would insist upon our treaty right to
the independent existence of Samoa.
As events have shown. / could not bet
ter have served the German purpose
than by this mission of mine to Ma
lietoa. As matter of fact, the public
documents before congress show that
the instructions in obedience to which |
acted on this occasion were sent me at
the instance Of the German and British
ministers. In less than month the
German ships arrived, Malietoa and his
chiefs were departed, the man whose
life | had saved by my intervention was
installed in his place, pitiless persecu-
ton begun against SamoanS suspected
of friendship for our flag, and German
control as effectively established as un-
der open annexation. Having restrained
the Samnans when they could have de-
strOyed Tamasese, and with his destruc-
tion the basis for German interference,
during the remainder Of my service l
urged their submission to the newt.
able, trusting that finally. when the
truth was known, our promises to them
would be fulfilled and
OUR OWN HONOR SAVED
by the restoration of the status before
the conference when / gave Malietoa
such fatal advice. In justice to myself,
in the hope Of securing it for these
wretched people, speak as do.' "a
great deal has been said about the in
structions of the department of state to
our representatives in Samoa. VIII
you give me some light on this point as
shown in the Instructions given you by
the department when you were about to
sail for Samoa, but were recalled by the
foreign relations committees" BE
been about the department and with
the president at odd intervals for
months, explaining the situation, point
ing out the inevitable result Of the Ger
man proceedings, and warning them
that that would happen which has come
to pass. When the rising of Mataafa
became known, and the German fleet
was ordered to return to Samoa, as
serted positively to Mr.. Bayard that
there could be but one motive in this,
and that was to actively assist Tamasese
in fighting Mataafa. MIR. Bayard re-
peated to me fresh assurances from Bis
marck that Germany did not care who
was king. But Immediately on the ar
rival of the German ships with Ger
man consul Oh board fresh from home
(Dr. Knappe). we find them siding with
Tamasese and precipitating the con-
forced to pay heavily. Realizing as l
own people, bitterly conscious of our
obligations to the SamoanS, | sought to
get from MIR. Bayard instructions that
would enable me in some measure to
assert our proper position there, but all
the instructions l received when | was
finally dispatched to Samoa was copy of
AN APOLoGETIC NOTE
to the German consul on account Of an
alleged newspaper interview with me
and these fresh assurances from Ger
many" would you please make
statement of your views in regard to
the action of the state department ac-
cepting Bismarck's proposition for a
conference at Berlin?" '1f | am out of
accord with the conduct Of the depart
ment heretofore in Samoan affairs, | am
3, nf 7
concur with every one who has studied
the question that the restoration of the
Statu quo should be preliminary to
any negotiation, and that this confer
ence shall be renewed under conditions
at least as favorable to us as when it
was rudely interrupted by Germany's
action. Bismarck proposes to renew
the conference now on German ground.
This mean much. Mr.. Pendle-
ton, our minister, is sick, and
whoever represents us is to
be removed from American public
feeling, and moreover, he is not likely
to be we'll acquainted with the subject.
Weber, for years the German consul in
Samoa, and Becker. the late German
consul there, together with a host of
other officials who know Samoan poll
tics, are in Berlin and will aid Bis
marcK. Without Weber. Bismarck
would be unable to negotiate at all. 1t
is known positively that Weber was in
Washington during the conference held
here coaching the German minister. In
the present state of feeling, Germany
would
HARDLY DARE SEND HIM OVER
here again. Besides, the history of our
negotiations with Germany in regard to
Samoa as pointed out by Mr.. Bates,
should caution us and make us reluct-
ant to accept any assurances from Ger
many for they have been made most
freely on the eve of her most important
movements there"
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