The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-08-14
THE CHER OF pAeo-rAeo.
A Possible source of Trouble MT tho Amerl-'
cnn ConlinE station In salmon.

The present potentate Of paGo- Pago. where
tho United States have n conlinR station in the
Samoan archipelago. Ia 40 inflated with n char
acteristic samoan sense of his own greatness
that no regards himself as an independent
sovereign. a fact that may tend to complicate
affairs when tho navy resumes its right to
maintain n ccaling and rentting station In
that bay Of Tutuila. II was only after much
lighting and more pickering debate, the latter
by no means yet ended. that the present chief
secured the title OF MaunEa. the mountain,
which Ia the official designation OF the chief of
tho hamlet OF Pago~PnRo, and carries with 1t to
a ~forceful chief the rule overthat half OF Tutuila
which lies east of PaRo-PaRo. He is physically
a large man and'has shown himself ablo to sus-
tain his part in war; but then 1t was Samoan
war In which oratory and intrigue count for far
more than bravery. He is Of low birth. and
lacks that formal courtesy and quiet restraint
which we're formerly characteristic OF all ruling
chiefs and still survive in a few who have kept
remote from the disturbances OF the last twenty
years. He is OF q coarse and hot temper. and
has contrived to keep his position only through
the violence OF his words and deeds.
Maunga regards himself so highly that he re-
fuses allegiance to the constituted Government
OF Samoa, and looks upon King Malietoa as no
more than an equal In rank. and Il feeble equal
~ N'%a'f ~ Isl t' NNAiSSi no WV AhliAN iNtAl 'ul-
ing rights In his bay he makes no opposition.
but insists that they are based not on the Ber-
lin act, which he processes not to accept. but on
the Narragansett treaty. entered into in 1873
between the Maunga of that time and Capt. r.
W. Meade. He makes loud professions Of his
friendship for the United States. but in utter
scorn OF the authorized Government Of Samoa
claims that he and America are friends because
they have entered into a treaty together. This
claim he never puts forward before white off,
Gals, but In native debates he has more than
once gained his point by insisting that he has
In one, particular Maunga is capable OF. max
ing trouble at the outset Of the re6stablishment
OF the coaling station. The largest piece OF the
United states property at Pago-Pago Is skirted
by a shore reef OF coral and the beach Is no
more than a heap Of coral stems east up by the
was purchased by Consul General Sewall this
continuously acting cause has added q strip
some twenty or thirty feet wide Of the same
material along the whole shore frontage. As
that strip was not there when the land was pur-
chased. and as IT lies outside the boundaries
sion cannot see any way. in which. the new
land can belong to the United States.
MaunRa claims to be lord over
the sea and all that 1t contains-a claim which
the Samoans themselves acknowledge to be
valid. In, his view he is, therefore. the owner
Of the added land, since 1t was put there by the
industry OF the sea and out ofmarine materials.
The settlement Of the point will involve some
difficulties which at any moment the. ferocious
Ill humOr OF the chief may convert into trouble.
lest there be thereby established a dangerous
precedent. ,Atthe. same time. IL the claim be
bluntly denied, it may convert an ally into a
hostile neighbor.