Daily Republican. [volume] ([Wilmington, Del.]) 1874-1890, 1889-01-23
THE SAMOAN MUDDLE.
SECRETARY BAYARp INTER.
VIEWED. .... .-..
Germany Has Not Broken Faith witt
the United states Government, but
With the English Gov
ernment.

w AShiNoIoN, ~. W., Jan. S2.- ut
dispatches from London and Berlin In
regard to Samoan affairs, published In
this mornings newspapers, were shown
to Secretary Bayard at the State Depart
| ment this afternoon, with the view of OBJ
tanning some expression of opinion from
him on the subject His attention was
especially invited to the statement that
/ "Germsny has come to definite under
standing with the United States with re-
gard to Samoa" and, In response, he
said: "Of course expect Germany to
live up to her honorable engagements
with the United States. have no right
to think otherwise. But you must know
| that there are matters L do not care to
discuss In the newspapers" When asked
In regard to the policy of this Government
he referred the question to the Presidents
message to Congress of the 18th instant,
! and invited special attention to the fol-
lowing passages:
Germany, however, still asserts, as
from the first she has done, that she has
no desire or intention to oyerturn the
native Samoan Government or to ignore
our treaty rights, and she still invites
our Government to join her In restoring
peace AMI quiet. But thus far her pro-
positions vi this subject seem to lead to
such preponderance of German power
In Samoa as was never contemplated by
us, and Is Inconsistent with every prior
| agreement or understanding, while her
recent conduct as between native warning
factions gives rise to the suspicion that
she is not content with neutral position.
The Secretary also quoted the follow
ing language from bis letter to the Ger
man Minister, dated the 18th instant, as
indicative OF his own views on the sub
ject: ....
81 received with extreme satisfaction,
your assurance of the intentions of your
Government to maintain and carefully re-
spect tie treaty right of this Government
under all circumstances, and this, as
stated to you, necessarily included respect
for the existence of Samoan autonomy
and Independence, which Ia the basis Of
the three treaties made with the United
States, Germany and Great Britain, the
first named being earliest In date"
The Secretary also alluded to the agree
ment entered into between Great Britain
and Germany in April, Is 0, defining the
boundaries of English and German domin
| ms in the West Pacific Ocean, In which
IL is specifically declared that the Samoan
Islands are neutral territory The United
States, he explained, has no Joint treaty
with either England or Germany In re-
gard to the neutrality of Samoa. There
fore, If Germany has interlered with the
neutrality OF that country, she has not
broken treaty with the United States,
but has broken one with Great Britain.
CONSUL GENERAL sEwALL's TESTIMONY.
| WASHINGTON, Jan. 30 The senats
Committee on Foreign Relations will hole
q meeting tomorrow morning, when 1t II
expected the Samoan question will bt
taken up and discussed at length with Q
view of making an immediate report tc
the Senate.
Printed copies of the testimony OF
Consul General eewall have been placed
In the hands of the members of the full
committee In preparation for the consid-
Grafton of the matter tomorrow.
Mr.. SeWall, in his testimony, criticises
severely the conduct of the State De-
/ partment on the Samoan question. The
result of the meeting Tomorrow will
probably be the report to the Senate of a
resolution condemnatory of the attitude
and non faction of the State Department.
Mr.. Sewall quoted extensively from
correspondence between him and the
State Department from the time of his
arrival, showing that the British Consul
had been acting with the Germans for
| three years, and he expressed the opinion
freely that there was an arrangement be-
tween the two Governments, by which
Great Britain was 10 keep her hands off
| In this fight.
His understanding, he said, had always
been that the German Government, un-
der this arrangement, was to take pos
| session OF Samoa, the British Government
of the Tonga Islands, and that eventually
Great Britain was to come into possession
of Hawaii. He said he believed that II
these operations were not checked they
would soon extend to Hawaii, which Is
to be the northsrn resting place of the
cable between Vancouver and New Zeal
and.
When asked by the committee what
effect the recent action of the Govern
ment in sending another war vessel to
Samoa would have on the Germans, Mr..
Sewall replied that the instructions of
this Government to Admiral Kimberly
were the ordinary instructors; that the
Germans knew the limited authority they
gave, and that under these instr nc tons
the representatives of the United States
cannot reach the real cause of the trouble
at all.
Return Their Thanks.