Evening journal., 1889-02-09
RAYARD AND BATES.
Mr.. Bates Has Grievance and He and
Sewall Attempt to Befog the Question.

German government has been misled an
! victimized to certain extent by the con
duct of the German trading company
which is at the bottom of all the troubl
in Samoa. The German government wa
naturally anxious to promote the inter
ests of German company, and 1t in
structed its consul to give i
all the aid in its power. The con
sui, who is the mere creature of tbs
company, exceeded his powers, and owing
to the remoteness of Samoa. and the diff
hculties of communication, was able L
do SO with comparative impunity. Now
that his doings have resulted in serious
mischief he has been brought up with q
round turn and sharply reprimanded He
Is said to have been dismissed, but it Is a
fact, according to the statement made to
Minister Pendleton by the German foreign
once that he has been rebuked and his
action Is 'disavowed and regretted"
just here it should be stated that it
was precisely because Prince Bismarck
suspected Mr. Bayard of seeking to do
what Messrs. Sewall, Bates ct al. assert
ne ought TO have done, /. e., TO take,
Samoa under the American eagles wing
that the unfortunate Malietoa was
treated so roughly. Such. at least
4
Official correspondence now made public
The Sun has described the efforts az
Bush, an emissary of Kalakaua the
Hawaiian King, TO conclude a
treaty, offensive and defensive ;,
with Malietoa. These intrigues ex-
cited Bismarck's suspicious. AS
American influence was paramount ia
Hawaii, he naturally concluded that Mr.
Bayard was backing" Bush and seek
ing IN an underhand way, under cover Of
Hawaiian alliance, to establish American
control in Samoa, withstanding a
treaty obligation to do no such thing
Bismarck retorted by pulling Malietoa
from the throne. Thus the very course
prescribed by Mr. Bayards critics fal-
though it existed only in Bismarck inn
agination, since Mr.. Bayard was acting
IN good faith. as he afterwards proved To
Bismarck S satisfaction resulted in bring.
ing about the deposition Malietoa and an
the train of evils that has followed
All these facts are made clear by the
protocols and official correspondence now
transmitted to the Senate the substance
of which was anticipated in the Suns
dispatches and interviews with Mr.. Bay.
ard over week ago They have an
especial pertinence now, however. that
the adversaries Of the administration.
encouraged aud stimulated by the publ.
cations of Messrs Sewall and Bates. are
renewing their efforts to befog the cues
tlon. They were silenced for a time bv
the convincing statement made by Mr.
Bayard to the Suns correspondent. and
by the President message and Prince Bis
marck unexpected concession. Brought
face TO face with the question as to
whether they would have the administra
tion 60 to war, or at least To the verge OF
1t IN asserting claims in Samoa to which
we have not the shadow OF title. they
sought to shirk the responsibility, and all
their sound aud fury evaporated in the
proposition to dump lot of coal at Pago-
Pago. There is nothing new in this pro
posal, by the way, and any credit attach
ing to 1t belongs TO the administration.
Three years ago Secretary Bayard sug
gested to Congress the propriety of send
ing small quantity of coal to Pago. Page
by way of asserting our title to the
coaling station, and Congress took no
notice of the recommendation.
The administration might well say
Save me, my friends" in view of the
extraordinary conduct of two Of its
appointees, Mr.. Sewall, late consul-g gen
eral to Samoa, and Mr. Bates, who was
sent out as cOmmi Missioner to collect in
formation prior TO the assembling Of the
conference of 1887. Mr. Bayard refused
to-day to make any comment upon the
bitter attack of Mr.. Sewall in an inter.
view with an Associated Press reporter.
1t may be stated, however, that the de-
partment, in asking for Mr.. Sewells
resignation. was not actuated, as he
asserts, by resentment because of his
adverse testimony before the Sen
ate committee on foreign relations,
but by the conclusion that to
send Mr.. Sewall back to Samoa in
view of his notorious hostility to Mr.
Bayard's views as TO what ought to be
done, would be for the Secretary of State
to stultify himself. There is also another
view of the matter Mr.. Sewall has ex.
pressed himself in bitter terms toward
Germany, and 10 send any avowed enemy
of Germany to Samoa on the eve Of the
proposed conference to settle the Samoan
difficulties would be a slap in the face to
Bismarck. AS soon as he had heard of it
he would probably say, There is no use
holding conference" Incidently it may
be stated that Mr.. Sewall, in published
interview, says he would not refuse the
consul generalship if it were rendered him
by the Harrison administration.
Mr.. Bates has grievance Part of his
report on Samoa was omitted from the
documents sent to the Senate; eonse
quently some of his labor land the best
part of it, probably, in his opinion) was
wasted. At the State Department it is
explained that he was sent out to gather
facts, not opinions, and that the part of his
report which was put into the editorial
waste basket in the Secretary's office was
an argument to prove that this country
should establish a protectorate over Samoa
"a thing which, as heretofore stated. it
was obligated not to do. AS the reports
of all the commissioners, representing
Germany, England and the United
States, We're communicated to the re-
spective governments, it was thought
best to omit this portion of Mr. Bates's
report as not being germane TO the diplo-
matte negotiations. Consequently, as it
had no official status, it was not sent to
the Senate.
Mr.. Bayard said TO representative of
the Sun to-day that date for the meet
ing of the conference had not been de-
termined as yet. It win doubtless be |
held very soon, as the administration is
now very near the close of its official life |
The points to be contended for by this |
country will be the pacifcation Of Samoa,
the restoration of the autonomy of the |
Islands and the protection of American |
interests There is reasonable ground |
for hoping that these will be secured. !
It would be very unfortunate if personal
spite or partisan jealousy should
Succead in throwing any obstacle /