Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-11-08
OF SAMOA
VI
Agreement Between Germany and
England
WAITING FOR AMERICAN ASSENT
Solomon p and Tonga Islands In
voiyed in the Deal.
NO OFFICIAL VICES

IN " ~ u HI ~ L ~ IL y u V L 4 Il -
| BERLIN, November SIT was officially
announced this morning that an agreement,
subject to the approval of the United
States, had been arrived between Great
| Britain and Germany by virtue of which
! the Samoan act is repealed and the islands
| of Upolu. Savaii and the small adjacent
islands fall to Germany as free property,
| and the Island of Tutuia and the subsidiary
islands go to the United States
Great Britain, it is added. renounces any
claim to the Samoan Islands and Germany
in turn, renounces any claim to the Tonga
Islands and to Savage Island in favor of
Great Britain and also cedes Choiscul and
San Isabel, the two easterly islands of the
Solomon group, with their insular sur
roundings, to Great Britain. The consular
representatives of the two powers in Samoa
and the Tonga Islands are to be withdrawn
for the present. and German subjects are
to have the same rights British subjects
in regard to the free and unimpeded en-
listment of native laborers in the whole of
the Solomon group in the possession of
Great Britain, including Choiseul and San
Isabel.
No oMciaf Advices.
The State Department has not yet been
advised of the agreement between Great
Britain and Germany respecting the Sa-
n oan group. 1t is gathered, however, that
if the outline of the arrangement set out
in the cable advices is accurate there will
be DO disposition to withhold our approval
provided certain minor conditions are in
Guided. From the outset whenever the
the governments talked of a division of the
islands a change in the status there
cur government took the ground that IT
was open to any change that promised to
simplify the administration of affairs and
conserve the interests of the United States
If Great Britain and Germany could agree
upon some plan that would meet these con-
ditions, it was stipulated that it should be
first submitted to the ratification of the
United States Indeed, this was necessary,
for the change proposed could be made
only by formal treaty to replace the treaty
Of Berlin, and this new treaty would
quire the approval of the United States
Serate. So that the State Department
could not accept any change on the bare
condition that it should be acceptable to
the two parties. Great Britain and Ger
many; it must also be of such character
as promised to make ii acceptable to the
United STATE Senate, and that could be
assured onlN By preserving such rights in
the Samoan group as we now enjoy by viz
tue OF the treaty of Berlin and other con-
Ventions. 9'"'H9
Believed to BE Satisfactory
1t is belieyed that the arrangement pro-
posed now will be satisfactory to the State
Department. The United States is not
concerned with the amount or character of
the compensation that passes between the
nations andsitr is question able whether any
data on that point will appear in the formal
treaty between the4two powers. But it will
appear, under the condition that We are
to preserve our treaty rights in Samoa,
that besides retaining the coalIng station
Of Page PIeo acquiring the Island of fu-
tufla. WhefroTf the faFbUr is' located, aud
the threE or fehlrasmaiier isfets in the Vicin-
ity the Limited. States will continue to en-
joy by stipulation the privilege of trading
with Apia under conditions equally as IA
Vorable as those now existing. The isletS
referred to are not of any particular i'm
portance from commercial point of view.
but 1t is deemed essential to control them
politically in order to prevent smuggling.
Ends Il Source of Controversy.
The partition of the Samoan group of is
lands marks the CLOSE of a long standing
source of international controversy. and
also brings about new terri orial arrange
ments in the South Pacific. In the early
stage of the negotiations it was agreed that
the United States should have the Island
of Tutuila, with its valuable harbOr of
Page Page, and the islands of its coast, in
Guiding the large slet of Manua. Beyond
this the United States was not specially
concerned, and the negotiations shifted to
Great Britain should retain the TWO re-
naming islands, Upolu and SaVaii.
The nature of these later negotiations has
been communicated to- Washington, and it
has been known for some days that, III
case Great Britain retired from Samoa,
Germany would give, as part compensation,
the large Solomon Islands Of Ysabel and
Choiseul. These are near the British pos
sessions in Australasia, being east of New
Guinea. They are twice the size of the
Samoan group, although this advantage is
offset by the mountainous character of the
country. and the warike nature of the peo-
pie many being cannibals
The area of all the German Solomon Is
lands is 5000 square miles, against 700
square miles for the entire Samoan group,
but it is not clear whether Germany cedes
all her Solomon possessions or only Choi-
seul and Ysabel. The latter is the largest
of the group, being about POO by 30 miles
in extent.
Satisfaction at the Embassies.
At the British and German embassies
here the announcement of the close of the
negotiations was received with much salts
faction, although official notice of the close
has not been. received. In some diplomatic
quarters it had been thought that the COM
pensation given by Germany would be in
German East Africa or in New Guinea in
the Australasian section.
A high diplomatic official stated that the
agreement was due mainly to the fact that
German public sentiment was averse to re-
firing from Samoa. and, yielding to this,
Great Britain had solved the matter by
taking an equivalent in territory elsewhere
He said it was best all around for the flu
ture OF Samoa, .--.
Lynch Law in Siberia.
Odessa Correspondence Of the London News.
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