The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1899-12-08

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of American and British warships be-
came Imperative to restore order, at
the cost of sanguinary encounters
In this emergency joint commission
of u. S., Germany and Great Britain
was sent to Samoa to investigate the
situation and provide temporary
remedy. BY it's active efforts tenn
| porary solution was reached for the
time being, the kingship being abolish
ed and provisional government estab-
lished. recommendation unanimously
made by the commission for a perman-
ent adjustment of the Samoa question
the three powers parties to the general
act But the more they were ex
amined the more evident It became
4 that radical change was necessary in
| the relations of the powers to Samoa.
| The Inconvenience and possible
perils of the anti-partte scheme of
supervision and control i'm the Samoan
group by powers having little interest
commercial rivalry had been once more
| emphasized by the recent events The
suggested remedy of the joint COM
mission, like the scheme it aimed to
| replace, amounted to what has been
styled a Tridominium, being the
| exercise of the functions of sovereignty
| by an unanimous agreement of three
powers. The situation had become far
more intricate and embarrassing from
| every point of view than it was when
my predecessor, in 1894, summed up it's
perplexities and condemned the parti-
cipation in 1t of the U. s.
| The arrangement under which Samoa
was administered had proved impracti-
cable and unacceptable to all the
powers concerned. To withdraw from
| the agreement and abandon the islands
to Germany and Great Britain would
not te compatible with our interests in
| The Archipelago. To relinuuish bur
| rights in the harbor of Pago Pago, the
| best anchorage in the Pacific, the oc-
| cupancy of which had been leased to
| the L. S. in 1878, by the first foreign
| treaty ever concluded by Samoa, was
not to be thought of either as regards
the needs of our navy or the interests
of our growing commerce of the east
| We would not have considered any
proposition for the abrogation of the
| troipartite control which did not con-
| firm us in all our right and safeguard
all our national interests in the islands
| Our views commended themselves to
the other powers. A satisfactory ar
| rangement was concluded between the
governments of Germany and England
| by virtue of which England retired
| from Samoa in view of compensations
| in other directions, and both powers re-
nounced in favor of the u. S. all their
rights and claims over and in respect
to that portion of the group lying to
the east of the Hist degree of West
longitude, embracing the islands of
Tutuila, Ofoo, Olosenga and Manua.
transmit to the senate. for it's consti-
tutional action thereon, a convention,
which besides the provisions above men
toned also guarantees us the same
privileges and conditions in respect to
commerce and commercial vessels in
all of the islands of Samoa as those
possessed by Germany.
TREATY WITH SPAIN.
My annual message of last year was
necessarily devoted in great part to
consideration of the Spanish war and
of the results it wrought, and the con-
ditions 1t imposed for the future. 1 am
gratified to announce that the treaty of
peace has restored friendly relations
between the two powers Effect has
been given to it's most important pro-
visions. The evacuation of Porto Rico
having already been accomplished on
the 18th of October, 1898, nothing re-
mained necessary there but to continue
the provisional military control of the
island until the congress should enact
suitable government for the ceded
territory. OF the character and scope
of the measures to that end shall treat
in another part of this message.
The Withdrawal of the authority of
Spain from the island of Cuba was
effected by the 1st of January so that
the full re-establishment of peace found
the relinquished territory held by us in
trust for the inhabitants, maintaining,
under the direction of the executive,
such government and control therein as
should conserve public order, restore the
productive conditions of peace so long
disturbed by the instability and dis
order which prevailed for the greater
part Of the preceding three decades,
and build up that tranquil development
OF the domestic state whereby alone
can be realized the high purpose, as
proclaimed in the Joint resolution ad-
opted by the congress on April 10th, 1898,
by which the U. s. disclaimed any dis
position or intention to exercise
sovereignty, jurisdiction or control over
Cuba, except for the pacification there
of. and asserted it's determination when
that was accomplished, to leave the
government and the control of the
island to its people. The pledge con
tanned In this resolution is of the
highest honorable obligation and must
be sacredly kept
l believe that substantial progress
dc IL, IA
the administrative measures adopted in
Cuba have aimed to fit it for a regen-
Grated existence by enforcing the supre-
macy of law and Justice; by placing,
wherever practicable the machinery of
administration in the hands of the in
habitants; by instituting needed sani-
tary reforms; by spreading education;
by fostering industry and trade; by
inculcating public morality: and, In
short, by taking every rational step to
aid the Cuban people to attain to that
plane OF self-conscious respect and
seif-reliant unity it's own sphere, while
A. H. A