Evening star., 1899-03-31
NOTHINGFROM KAUTZ
A Dispatch Via Sydney is Expected
Any Moment.
TO SETTLE SAMOAN TROUBLES
Appointment of a Joint Commis-
sion Seems Likely.
COM ING OF DR.. SOLF

u " M n t ~ u h. > y l. Is
No further word has been received at the
| Navy Department this morning from Rear
Admiral Kautz regarding the Samoan sit
| uation. and the impression is gaining
ground among the officials here that there
is a missing cable report from Sydney
| which, upon its arrival, viii clear up the
| mystery regarding the brief dispatch dated
Auckland which was received yesterday. In
reading the brief cable of yesterday, in
| which Rear Admiral Kautz referred to the
| Improvement of the situation since his tel
| egram "of the 18th, via Sydney, New South
| Wales, 1t was at first supposed that the
| date given, the 1Sth was mistake as the
only Sydney telegram received here was
dated the 10th. That telegram probably
left Samoa several days before the meeting
| OF the consuls aboard the Philadelphia, and
| certainly week before the actual fighting
! began, which. according to the press dis
| patches, commenced on the 18th. 1t is con-
| sidered almost inconce1vable that Rear Ad-
| miral kautz made no attempt at commune
! cation with the department between the
| tlme or the sending of the telegram dated
| sydney, the 10TH and the one received yes
! terday from Auckland, the 18th which
| probably left Apia on the 23d
II Is now considered to be almost certain
| that the admirafs reference to the tele-
gram OF the 18th, via Sydney, referred to a
telegram forwarded from Apia on the 18th.
II TINS proves to be the case the telegram
| OF the 18TH which has not vet been receiy
ed, doubtless contained the details of tbe
! oeclslon Of the consuls aboard the Philadel-
phia, the subsequent ultimatum to Mataafa
ana MS followers and the account of the
| three days bombardment before the dis
patch was sent
In the light of the existence of such a dis
patch the brief cable of yesterday can be
| rAn6
mean that the situation had improved dur-
ing the interim between the 18th and the
| 90, all the preliminary facts presumably
penlg ALREADY in the hands of the depart
| ment mere. The distance from Apia to Syd-
ney Is greater than that from Ap:a to Auck-
land According to information in the
hands of the bureau of navigation the time
taken by steamers in plying between the
| two former points is thirteen DAYS while
steamers make the distance from Apia to
Auckland in ten days.
Message Expected Today.
| According TO the regular sailing time of
steamers between Apia and Sydney Ghir-
| teen days. if Rear Admiral Kautz had for
warded a telegram on the 18th, via Sydney.
| the dispatch would not have arrived at sgd
ney until today, at the earliest, so that
with this explanation the non-arrival of
the missing dispatch of the 18th via sgd
ney is satisfactorily accounted for. If the
steamer is on time and the new eXplana-
| ton of the department proves to be cor
rect, this dispatch should arrive today
certainly within very few days if, is
possible, the steamer bearing it may have
encountered rough weather on her voyage.
s British Embassy Advices.
The British embassy here has received
advices from Samoa in the shape of dis
patch to the British foreign office from it's
representative there. 1t is under date of
March 20, and is a brief report on the col
lision between the two native factions
there, and the bombardment by the British
and American vessels. The dispatch does
not go into details but is confirmatory of
the press advices already received. 1t says
that the rebel faction advanced into the
town and began occupation, and it was
then determined by the commanders of the
British and American vessels to lombard
the villages occupied. 1t announces that
four British sailors were killed. This dis
patch was cabled to Ambassador Paunce-
fote here.
Joint High Commission.
A modus vivendi for the settlement of the
Samoan troubles has been proposed, and is
now under favorable consideration by the
three governments concerned. 1t contem-
plates the creation of a joint high commits
siSn, consisting of one member from each
country, to pass upon the recent clash of
authority and resulting disorder. The prop
osition, it Is understood. was put forward
by Germany, and is the second one sub
m,tted for settlement of the entire
question.
The first proposition was that the United
States and Great Britain join with Ger
many in removing all the officials now scrv-
ing in Samoa through whom the troubles
had arisen. To this the United States and
Great Britain replied that their respect
i've officials were not regarded as having
acted in the wrong it could not be con-
ceded that they should be withdrawn, and
thus discredited. Now the new proposition
is presented to leave the whole question to
high commissioners, one from each govern
ment, the high commission to have su-
pIeme authority in reaching a settlement
Tfis would suspend, for the time being, the
authority of the present officials in Samoa
so far as the recent difficulty was con-
cerned, and leave the settlement to an en-
tireiX new body, free from prejudice and
with such standing as to give added
weight to its findings.
Only a Temporary Arrangement.
1t would be temporary in character, not
suspending or varying the Berlin treaty
except for this special purpose and for
that reason would come under the general
designation of modus vivendi The treaty
itself contemplates this special arrange
ment, as 1t provides in section l. article
g.. that amy special amendment may be
adopted by the consent of the three powers
with the adherence of Samoa
Up to the present time final accept
ance has been given either by the United
oeotCS VI oiSul teIit<iii uut III view OF the
troubles reported within the last few DAYS
all parties seem much inclined to accept
this as anording at least some prospect of
solution. This is borne out by today's
cable advices from Berlin referring to the
favorable acceptance of the last prbposi-
ton. The cable gives no hint of the spe-
cific proposition, but it is on the lines above
laid down.
DR.. SOlf Coming.
DR.. Solf, the new head of the municipality
of Samoa, is expected to arrive AT tbe
German embassy today or tomorrow. and
/ the German ambassador will present him
to the officials here.
COMMENT ON SAMOAN INCIDENT.
Both German and English Papers Dis
posed to Be Conservative
LONDON, March 31.-The Berlin cor
respondent of the Times says:
Pending further information from Sa-
moa the German press refrains from COM
ment calculated to embitter the contro-