St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1890-01-23
BLAINE's BACK-DowN.

About the time that WILLIAM WAL
TER PHELPS was appointed minister to
Berlin, as reward for his services in
concluding the Samoan convention, the
American people were jubilant in the
thought that the protocol agreed upon
at Berlin had conceded everything that
this nation had insisted upon. and that
Germany and England only got what
the generosity of our commissioners al
lowed them to have. 1t was thought
singular, too, at the time that the pro-
visions of the tripartite agreement were
not made public. but that was explained
upon the ground that it was not neces-
sary to inflict upon Germany and Eng
land the modification that publication
of the protocol would subject those
powers to.
1t turns out, however, that all our
glorification was in vain, and that Mr..
PHELPS got his diplomatic position at
the court Of Berlin as blind. What
was trumpeted last summer as great
accomplishment turns out to have been
clear back-down. The Samoan con-
Vention proves to be mass of retrac-
lions from the just demands made by
Dir. BAYARD when he was secretary of
state, instead of victory for American
diplomacy, and as a result Mr.. BLAINE
Is not looked upon by foreign powers
as the terrorlZer he was believed to be.
The convention appears to be a mere
memorandum of concessions made by
the United States, and the Germans
really secured more at the hands of Mr..
BLAINE's commissioners than they had
ever hoped to get under Mr.. BAYARD's
administration of the state depart
ment. The convention not only yields
every vital point made two or three
years ago by Commissioner Won AL
yENsIEBEN, who then represented the
German empire, but our American COM
missioners actually ate bigger dish of
crow than BISMARCK originally intend
ed for them. 1t is evident that Bis
MARCK knew the weakness of the aver
age American diplomatic stomach when
he secured a transfer of tile Samoan
case from Washington to Berlin. His
state dinners and champagne suppers
had the desired effect on Commissioners
BATES, PHELPS and KAssoN, for thew
not only voluntarily surrendered all
that we mad been claiming, bat cheer
fully conceded everything that BIS
HIARCK and SALISBURY asked of them,
Our commissioners made a great
blow about having gained the
concession that the Samoese should
have their own king. 1t turns
out, however, that the king they
are to name is only to be
king in name. The real power is lodged
in the chief justice, who is constituted
adviser to the king, and who is also TO
be regulator of the throne, and whose
decisions are to be paramount in au-
thOrity to the DEGREES of the king him
self. He is Furthermore invested with
authority to name the successor to the
throne. This judicial officer with pie
nary powers is to be chosen by Germany,
with the advice and consent of Great
Britain. The SamOese king of native
birth, for whom Mr.. BLAINE was such
a stickler, is after all only second edi-
ton of MCGINTY. and may as well be
at the bottom of the sea for the practi-
cal good he will be to the natives of
Samoa. BIsMARcK>s tin god on W heels,
styled the chief justice, is to be the real
ruler of Samoa.
Mr.. BAYARD's great fight against
Germany in relation to Samoan affairs
was in reference to the German land