Washington sentinel., 1899-11-18
The samoan settlement.

ficant that it is not separately re
ported, but included in the genera
item OF "all others" than thos
specially mentioned, For a loni
time one German firm did nearly
all the trade, and while that may
not be the case now il is doubtful
If the conditions have essentially
changed. There is little reason tC
suppose that GermanY's Samoan
trade has yielded a profit to offsei
the expenditures which the empire
has made to protect it. The ma
tives are intractable and capricious
They desire autonomy without the
capacity to govern. They are in'
clined to fight among themselves
over the claims of petty guerilla
leaders. the highest OF whom are
absurdly called kings.
Why the United States, Ger
many and Great Britain united in
the ridiculous tripartite treaty OF
1889 for the government Of Samoa
is hard to explain except upon the
hypothesis that none was willing
to Weld to the pretensions Of the
others. An experience Of ten years
has brought some wisdom. Our
Government has decided to with
draw with what practically be-
longed to il before 1889. namely,
the island OF Tetuila, including the
harbor OF Psngo Pango, as it is
pronounced, though many write
it Pago Pago. That is really all
there was in Samoa that we
wanted, and we owned the harbor
independent Of the treaty OF 1889.
Great Britain retires entirely, but
gets compensation by the cession
OF important German islands.
What is lett Of Samoa goes to Ger
many.
Undoubtedly the treaty is pop
ular because it moves a source OF
friction between Germany and
Great Britain and Germany AMI
the United States. Still it is in
conceivable tha. the three Powers
would have gone to war over a
lew rocky islets. If they were al
ready inclined to go to war any
pretext might have served. but they
were not so inclined and no pre-
text was sought. The islands were
the source OF some expense, but
not enough to cause any great en-
barrassment. The settlement,
therefore, could not be considered
in itself an event Of particular i'm
portance to any OF the three coun-
tries concerned.
On the other hand a better un-
d rstanding between Germany and
the other two nations interested is
a matter Of considerable import
ance. GermanY's relations with
Great Britain have been strained
for number of years. The Kaiser's
despatch to Dom Paul after the
Jameson raid made the matter
worse. In spite Of this episode it
has been the desire OF Germany to
promote better relations with
Great Britain from the days Of Bis
marck to the present. What is
put into a treaty is often OF less
importance than the understanding
outside it. There is reason to be-
lieve that the pour parlers that led
up to this treaty gave assurances
Of better understanding between
Germany and Great Britain. There
is, of course, no alliance, but it is
sufficient that a disposition has
been developed to work in concert
as to some troublesome questions
in the future.
The same remarks probably ap.
oily to the United States. The
feeling against Germany provoked
last year is dying out among the
people. Possibly the negotiations
have developed the fact that there
will be better understanding with
reference to important matters that
will b a subject OF future discus
sion between the two governments.
However this may be, it can not
be doubted that the German Gov.
ernment desires friendly relations
with the United States.
There is no doubt, however, that
the exclusive possession Of Samoa
(exceD Tutuila) fits in with Ger
many's aspirations as a world
power. II gives her a valuable
Pacific station on the way to Aus
tralia, and convenient to other
lines of travel She can build tor
tihcations there and establish ex-
tensive coalIng stations that might
be OF great value in time OF war,
especially to a country aspiring to
be naval power Of the first class.