The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1899-02-04
IHE GERMAN FIRM IN SAMOA.
1t Is Big Commercial Agency With
Bigger Political Influences.
New York SUM-

N4NcN 1OTk Oun).
1t is very hard TO draw the line of dis
tinction in Samoa between commercial
Germany and the political side of the
question. One thing is a settled fact pat
ent TO the eye. The German ward of Apla
Matafele. begins at the German consulate
ana is bounded at the further end of the
beach by the barracks and the factory of
the German firm. What lies beyond is
merely, the monarchy of Samoa and the
strictly Independent and autonomous gov
eminent OF the kingdom. . Independent
this Samoan monarchy NAV be- autono-
nous its government, but there is only one
way to get TO it, and that road begins at
the office of the imperial German consul
general and passes the door of the Ger
man firm. And when one has Travelled
TINS Teutonic approach ana has arrived at
the samoan independence cooped at the
end or a barren peninsula of sand where
there is not even a source of sweet water
10 drink. then is found the small palace
or the king, in the relative position of a
porters lodge to the large mansion which
the feeble Samoan government had TO
build for its German president. Nor
would the Samoan government have had
such Scanty accommodations had il not
been for the generosity of the government
OF the United States, which gave to Lau-
pepa the wrecks of the Trenton and tha
Vandalia.
The German firm has been mentioned.
The German firm is its most common title. /
short "a sufficiently good description of
what is meant, not so cumbrous as the
REGULATION OF the SlSnDOdrd IN full would
be. On those beaches where it rules with
the power that many a king lacks. il is
called by many Names always descriptive
some spoken only in whispers and among
trusted friends, for it may be remarked in
passing that the man who seeks a fight
with the German firm viii find the South
Seas too small for him. 1t is the Firm"
the Long Handle Firm THE Dutchy
Handel" the d. II. & p. c." but al
ways and everywhere the German
Firm" Its fun name calls for a para
graph all by itself. Some have said that
the spruce young clerks are required to !
recite the name night and morning as a /
sort of litany:
Die Deutsche Handels-und-Pl antagens |
der Sued See Inseln zu Ham, |
burg Hauptagentur in Apia.''
The German Firm, since it has assumed /
he long name. has never declared a divi-
lend. Its balances are secret and conf
iential, but those most cOuverSant with /
he conditions of its trade are satisfied
hat it is conducted year by year at a
oss- So long as present conditions en-
lure in Samoa. that is, so long as Great
Britain and the United States oppose the
resent obstacle To German schemes of
there is no prospect that the !
BUSINESS of the firm will show profit bal
nee. An unknown amount of its stock
5 controlled by the imperial will of the
;erman ruler. either standing in his own
anne or in that of members of his house.
old. 1t receives an unknown subsidy
very year from the German government
4 some obscure item of the extension of
ne colonial empire. 1t has nterfeIed with
he settlement of the troubles of the Sa-
lOan state in a long series of years: it
; not by any means free from suspicion
hat it is manipulating in these present
avs the succession TO the throne left va
ant by the death of Maletoa LauDeDa. (
/ brought Germany and the United
tateS so close TO the edge of war that I
othing but ruin 20 the fleets in the mem
rable gale of 1889 kept the peace. And
all this it has lost money. Worst of all |
is an Ishmaelite on the beach. its hnad |
against every man, every man is
The reason lies in the simple fact that {
ne business was created by a stipend
US genius, it is continued by a set of :
lere clerks. TheOdOr Weber who
ras2ed the trade of the whole South .
eas and loaded IL into argcsies sailing
round the world for the free state of
was wise and far-sseing; he
dead. Those who live are courteous l
hen il is necessary; they can stand G
rect and bring the heels Of their shoes '
,gether with that inGeScribable click $
nich is Germany all over. These young :
len can speak to you in good English. :
nd can understand all the varieties of l
erman which are attempted upon them. q
1t they never learn Samoan. TheOdOr [
eber could speak the soft rich speech
Samoa as 1t is given to few men, even 7
nonS the native born, to speak il. This :.
only one of a long line of differences.
:. Weber had his hand always in l
lmoan politics, and the world never (
sard it; let these young men enter
TO some sort of a petty agreement with h
marauding party of malcontents and 7
e world knows il promptly. Now there =
a consular board and international !
implications. Those seldom happened in +
e old days. Mr.. Weber usually owned s
e British and American cOnsuls, and v
ere was seldom any trouble. Mr.. II
cher was q man, every inch of him. =
Weber. a trader and much more, pos ,
ssor of a broad insight and u long y
uge outsieht, If that term be as per- {
iSSible as it ought to be. saw the b
9 house at Apia as a tributary of the
rma Godeffroy of Hamburg. merchant
inces Of the rec state such as were
Und only in the most nouriShing DAYS -
Venice. In the name and for the adj 1
ntage Of John and Caesar Godeffroy.
leOdor Weber created a market among
wages who had no need of anything at
beyond what they found in nature: he -
ide them customers of the manufacture O.
5 he made them producers as well of p.
iterals which would yield profit in =,
lrope. No. TO take a South sea is Vi
lder who has not a single want in life. "
d has never done a fair days work Vi
his life nor his fathers and fathers bi
Tiers before him-to take such a being II
that and to work him for a profit both -,
the import and the export trade, the -
IN who can do that is as near as posi- :,
q genius. s.
t is quite matter of general history pl
10 the Firma GOdeffroy of Hamburg III
led for millions: IL vas such a crash nj
is rarely known. What is less COM -,
My known is that the South sea house dl
the Godeffroy firm, directed by Theodor CT
aber. never failed. 1t was not only w
vent. but paying glorious dividends at ri
! fFfn.a of ha rnfI