The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1899-12-06

OF Mexico to visit Chicago in October, on
! the occasion of laying the cornerstone of
/ the United States government building in
that city, was cordially accepted by him,
/ with the necessary consent of the MeXi-
| can congress, but the illness Of member
of his family prevented his attendance.
! ever, came as the personal representative
of President Diaz. and in that high char
acter was duly honored.
Claims growing out of the seizure of
American sealing vessels In Boring sea
have been under
Bering Sea discussion with the
D;enute government of Rus
| STA for several
q Disposed of. years, with the re-
cent happy result of
| an agreement to submit them to the de-
clslon of single arbitrator. BY this act
russia affords proof of her adherence to
me benehcent principle of arbitration,
Wilch her plenipotentiaries eonspicuOusly
favored at the Hague disarmament con-
terence. when 1t was advocated by the
representatives of the United States.
I "A suggestion for a permanent EXPOSE
! 1on of our products and manufactures in
russia, although not yet fully shaped
mas been SO cordially welcomed by the
imperial government that 1t may not in
aptly take fitting place III whatever
/ ieS1slation the congress may adopt look
/ ing to enlargement OF, our commercial OBJ
| portunities abroad
important events have occurred in the
! samoan islands. The election, accord
! ing to the laws and
] Samoan ISLANDS
/ The late Kint SIo,te 70 Fairly
| tOa Laupepa, deVel- PartitiOned.
! oped contest as
to the validity of the result. which is
sue, by the terms of the general act, was
TO be decided by the chief justice Upon
his rendering Judgment in favor of Ma
l1etoa Tanu, the rival chief, Mataafa
took up arms. The active intervention
OF American and British warships be-
came imperative to restore order, at the
cost of sanguinary encounters. In this
emergency a Joint commission of repre-
sentatives of the United States, Ger
| many and Great Britain was sent to
Samoa to investigate the situation and
provide a temporary remedy. BY its
efforts peaceful solution was reached
| for the time being, the kinship being
abolished and a provisional government
established. Recommended tons unani-
mously made by the commission for a
permanent adjustment of the Samoan
question were taken under consideration
by the three powers parties to the gen
eral act. But the more they were ex-
amined the more evident 1t became that
a radical change was necessary in the
relations of the powers to Samoa.
The inconvenience and possible perils
| of the tripartite scheme of supervision
| and control in the Samoan group by pow
| ers having little interest in common in
! that quarter beyond commercial rivalry
has been once more emphasized by the
recent events. The suggested remedy or
the joint commission, like the scheme it
aimed to replace, amounted to what has
been styled a tri-dominium, being the eX-
ercise of the functions of sovereignty by
a unanimous agreement of three powers
The situation had become far more III
tricate and embarrassing from every
point of view than it was when my pre-
decessor, in 1894 summed up Its per
pleXities and condemned the participation
in it of the United States. The ar
rangement, under which Samoa was ad-
ministered. had proved impractlcable ana
hi la 70 oil he
ed. To withdraw from the agreement
and abandon the islands to Germany and
Great Britain would not be compatible
with our interests in the archipelago. TO
relinquish our rights in the harbor of
Page Page, the best anchorage in the
Pacific. the occupancy OF which had
been leased to the United States in 1873
by the first foreign treaty. ever CON
cluded by Samoa, was not to be thought
Of either as regards the needs of our
navy or the interests of our growing
commerce with the East. We could not
have considered any proposition for the
abrogation of the triparute control Whlch
did not confirm US in all our rights and
safeguard all our national interests IN
Our views commended themselves to
the otheE powers. A satisfactory ar
rangemeIit was concluded between the
governments of Germany and of England
by virtue CT which England retired from
Samoa In view of compensations In other
directions, and both powers renounced
in favor of the United States all their
rights and claims over and IN respect
to that portion of the group lying to
the east Of the one hundred and seventy
first degree of west longitude, embracing
the islands of Tutuila O1oo: olesens 20
and Mauna. I transmit to the senate
for its constitutional action thereon,
convention which, besides the provisions
above mentioned, 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, ,sCffsr.t--
Claims have been preferred by White
residents of Samoa on account or INJURIES
alleged to have been suffered through
the acts of the treaty governments IN
putting down the late dlsturpances- a
convention has been made between the
three mowers for the investigation @i4d
settlement of thesa claims by raj
arbitrator, to which the attention or the
senate will be invited.
NV annual message of last year was
necessarily devoted In great part TO
consideration of the Spanish war, ana OF
the results it wrought and the condltlonS
it imposed for the future. | am grained
to announce that the treaty OF peace
has restored friendly relations between
the two powers. Effect has been given
to its most important provisions. Inc
evacuation of Porto Rico having already
been accomplished on the 18th of Octo-
Der. 1898, nothing remained necessary
there but to continue the provisional mill
tarv control of the island until congress
should enact a suitable government for
the coded territory. OF the character and
scope of the measure to that end | shall
treat in another part of this message.
The withdrawal of the authority OF
Spain from the island of Cuba was eff
fected by the LIST of
Future CT Cuba January. so that the
0 full re-eStablishment
of peace found the
Important. relinquished terri l.
tory 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 pro-
ductiVe conditions of peace so long dis
turbed by the instability and disorder
which prevailed for the greater part of
| the preceding three decades, and build
up that tranquil development of the do
nestle state whereby alone can be real
| lied the high purpose, as proclaimed in
| the joint resolution adopted by congress
! on the 18th of April, 1898, by which the
! United States disclaimed any disposition
| or intention to exercise sovereignty, juris-
! diction or control over Cuba, except for
| the pacification thereof, and asserted its
determination, when that was accom-
plished. to leave the government and con-
/ troll of the island to its people. The
! pledge contained in this resolution is Of
! the highest honorable obligation, and
must be saCrediy kept
I believe that substantial progress has
I been made in this direction. All the ad-
mlniStrat1Ve measures adopted in Cuba
have aimed to fit it for a regenerated ex-
! tstence by enforcing the supremacy of
law and Justice: by placing Wherever
! practicable the machinery of adrninistr a-
! ton in the hands of the inhabitants; by
! inStituung needed sanitary reforms: bv
! spreading education: by fostering indus
! try and trade: by improving public mo-
! raltty; and, in short, by taking every
rational step to aid the Cuban people to
! attain to that plane of self-conScious re-
spect and self-reliant unity which fits an
iCl 1Ip1if al