The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1899-05-12

Rapidly I'm Germany-NO |
Effort Of the Official Press TO Counter
act This Feeling


Berlin, May 6.-The belief has taken
in Germany that German interests In
Samoa rave been brutality and ruth
lessly disregarded both by England and
the United States. Tt seems that this
view is steadily gaining strength with
nearly all classes. The press certain
~ rejects the sentiment with increas-
ing violence. The government haS done
nothing the past week, neither TO foTt-
fy or dispel this trend Of public opin-
ion. The government has been strange
~ silent upon the subject.
The agrarian newspapers n many
other journals have seized the occasion
Of the birthday anniversary of the i'm
perial minister for foreign affairs, Ba-
ron Won Buelow, TO severely attack
him for what they style his supine dis
regard Of Germans legitimate Interests
in Samoa n his alleged obseQuiouS-
ness toward Great Britain and the
United States. The matter Of claim for
damages, both in Samoa n the Phil
ippine Islands for German property de-
stroyed in recent engagements has also
been injected into the press discussion
with s%ingularly growing excitement.
the assertion being made that the
United States meant 70 disregard these
Just claims" The imperial foreign Of
fee, however, has done nothing TO Gre
ate or foster this condition of public
feeling.
In the course of an interview with
the correspondent here of the Asso-
ciated Press, the United States ambas-
sador to Germany, Mr.. Andrew D.
White. said:
The question of German claims for
damages for property destroyed in the
Philippine islands or in Samoa in con-
sequence of acts Of our naval or land
forces was never once mentioned dur
ing all the conferences which I have
had with the imperial minister for for
eign affairs. So far as l am aware,
10 such question has yet come up at
! the foreign office. At any rate it is
too early to discuss the subject, as no
evidence, pro or con a been adVanc-
ed on either side"
1t appears that the sole basis for the
wholesale charges in the newspaper
press with regard to these alleged
enormous damages is a few private
letters received from the Philippine is
lands and Samoa, in which the writers
seek to make out a case in advance.
The Vissiche Zeitung and other
{ journals a reproduced two Of these
letters, taking for granted all hat was
therein claimed, and arguing on the
lines presented by the writers of the
letters, who among a number OF al
| 1cStu IdcUS, assert ludl A1dJOI 1tIlCIdl
Otis, al Manila, had bluntly declined
to recognize any German claims for
damages. When United States AM
bassador White was asked about this
matter by the Associated Press CORE
| spOndent, he was very reticent, only
saying:
"Of course the reports OF General
Otis on any Of these cases would have
great weight with the state depart
ment, but in any event, the final ad-
justment of such claims must be made
at Washington, and not at Manila"
The Kreuz Zeitung, in the course Of
an editorial article that has attracted a
great deal of attention, said:
Despite the African agreement be-
tween England and Germany, and de-
spite the civilities interchanged, this
extraordinarily pereidious action in Sa-
moa was planned by the English, who
kept in the background and sent some
American hotspurs to the front in or
der to establish the fact of an Anglo
American brotherhood in arms and
embroil Germany and the United
States, to the extent that an under
standing was rendered next to impos-
sible. This much is certain, that the
friendly understanding between the
United States and Germany is a COM
bination that British state craft just
now relishes least of ALL"
The agrarian Deutsche Tages Zei-
tung, in the course of a severe review
of Germany's attitude towards the
United States during the past year,
blames the imperial foreign office with
"knuckling down to the Americans" in
every case, even recalling the instance
of Admiral Won Diederichs at Manila,
80 as not to hurt the feelings Of
Messieurs, the Americans" The article
concludes as follows:
only by now showing a bold and
unyielding front can the prestige Of
the empire, which has suffered so
seriously latterly, be re-established."
The same newspaper and a number
of others blame the emperor for show
ing too much friendliness toward
Americans and charge President Nc
Kinley with a gross want of tact in not
replying tt Emperor Williams tele-
gram of congratulatfon on the subject
of the new transatlantic cable to Ger
man, and thus outraging all inter-
: national courtesy"
On the other hand, The Berlin Tage-
blatt, The Cologne Gazette and the
greater part Of the liberal press take
between Germany and the United
States. abiding to the good will Of the
United States as recently shown on
several occasions in highly compli-
mentary terms.
The animosity Of the agrarians to-
wards Baron Won BueleW and the for
eign policy of Germany is doubles
largely due to the meat inspection bill,
the provisions of which, so far as can
be seen, are favorable to American in
t%erests, which condition of affairs is at
tributed to the influence of Baron Won
Buelew. The agrarian campaign
against h meat inspection bill con-
tinues in full force. The federation of
h~usbandry this week presented 3,056
petitions against the bill.
The agrarian Deutsche Tages Zei-
tung, which has had a series of arti-
cleS aiming to show that all Ameri-
a meat imported into Germany is
unfit for food, prints a letter from
Ernst Benninghoven, of Chicago, re-
garding the meat industry of that city.
Benninghoven, in this letter, claims to
know positively that all canned meat
intended for export to Germany is
from diseased and otherwise unfit ami
mails. Wagon loads of such meat, he
asserts, are delivered weekly at the
leading packing houses for "embalm-
ing purposes"
Inspection, the writer adds, is a howl
ing farce, owing to wholesale bribery.
l Tho yy-ritnr o510I %ho% r. $1,000 o.