Omaha daily bee., 1899-12-21
EXCITING EVENTS IN SAMOA
President Submits Personal Report o.
Bartlett Trip to Senate,
RECoUNTS DIsARAING OF THE NATIVES
chief Importance of the samoan Is-
lands Lies In Their Location In
the Great Future Pathway
of Commerce,

WASHINGTON, Dec. 2O.-In accordance
with request from the senate, the presi-
! dent today transmitted to that body the
! personal report OF Bartlett Trip of South
Dakota, the United States member of the
| Samoan commission to the secretary OF
| state.
Mr.. Trips report is quite apart from the
joint report of the committee and goes more
| into details of the exciting events in Samoa
which the commission dealt with.
! He says that when the commission arrived
in Samoa, seven war ships were anchored
in the quiet little harbor of Apia, but not
a single vessel of commerce was to be seen
about those beautiful islands. on land,
soldiers, white and native, we're patrolling
everywhere. A thousand natives armed
with British rifles paraded past. outside
the town thousands of natives We're in
arms The commanders of the war vessels,
believed, Mr.. Tripp said that but for the
enforced armistce under orders from the
great powers, the troops of Malietoa. with
the assistance of British and American
marines would have easily conquered the
forces of Mataafa. ended the contest and
established Maietoa firmly.
He then recounts the disarmng Of the
natives and the upholding by the commits
sion Of the validity of Chief Justice Cham
bers' decision favorable to Maletoa MIR.
Tripp refers to Judge Chambers as a good
lawyer and an honest man"
He says the Individual commissioners
were free to express in their separate re-
ports the conduct OF individuals growing
out of the controversy on Judge Chambers
decision, but he does not go at length into
the matter. He says both the Germans
Marquardt and Hufnagel-who were under
arrest were Immediately discharged by the
commission, there being no competent evil
dence against them. 1t might have been
in bad taste, he points out, for white men
to have espoused the cause of either can
didate for native king but no rule Of law
or ethics made it wrong.
Mataafa was the choice of an overwhelm-
ing majority of the Samoans, but in Samoa,
Mr.. Trip says. the select few and not the
people determine the election of chiefs and
kings"
AS to the course of Admiral Kautz, it is
admitted that general instructions of the
naval commanders Sutficed to authorize the
putting down of an armed rebellion against
the lawful government, and Tripp is of
the opinion that instructions were not vio-
lated by obeying the orders of a majority Of
the three conSuls.
Mr.. Trip then explains in detail the
abolition of the kngship and the new form
of tripartite government proposed by the
commission, which, however, is no longer
pertinent since the partition of Samoa.
He strongly urges the "dissolving of this
partnership Of nations, which has no pre-
cedent for it's creation nor reason for it's
continuance" ''-'
The chief Importance of the Samoan
islands, Mr. Trip points out, lies in their
tI,n ptt,,r q tby,n1 of
commerce. In particular, he details the
strength and general availability of Pago
Pago harbor, and says should not look
with favor on foreign efforts to share these
advantages Much documentary evidence
taken is also submitted by Mr.. Tripp.