The Chickasha daily express. (Chickasha, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1899-current, 1901-08-13

commander Tllley Of the United
states navy has been the frst 10 show
g the world that Uncle sam can gov
ern a colony wisely and well. For the
space q more than q year he has been
ansoiute ruler over the people of Tu-
iuiia, subject only to the control Of
ne tar-away administration IN wash
'nEton. There are dre islands under
ne control Of the Omitted States. Tu-
taiia the largest. has a population of
some 1900. and is Of the greatest inn
portance. because it possesses the mag
nifcent harbor Of Paeo Pago. the I'M
est haven IN the south seas. Here all
the war ships belonging % Uncle sam
could ride Ia safety without the slight
est crowding. and here We are con-
structing a magnificent coaIing station
and pier AT a cost Of over $500 900. In
deed. Il y safe 10 say that If it were
not Tor this harhor the United States
would never have dreamed Of acquiring
an Interest in the Samoan group. Ma
nua, with population Of 5000. comes
next. and then there are the smaller
islets Of Tau. Olesanga and Ou.
OF the Islands and their inhabitants
Commander Iilley writes.
The natives Of Tutuila are naturally
a kindly. gentle. simple-mind race
and It was only due 70 the lack Of good
government that they developed war
like tendencies The first thing I did
was 70 diaarm the natives They gave
np their guns readily enough without
compensation. considered that the
best way TO govern these people was
70 let them govern themselves The
samoans are still in the patriarchal
state; the head Of each household Is
supreme ruler Of his own little fam
ily, and these chiefs, ln turn, form a
council which governs each village
Each town Is practically Independent
Of the other, though there is a parlia-
ment or fono. for every district
which. however. used 70 do little more
than talk. My aim was to modify this
system ~ as TO adopt the plan which
has proved so successful In Fiji, OF ap-
pointing native chiefs as local magis-
tratesi or governors. IN each district
TIE great trouble was the super
abundance Of material available Near
ly every ether man was a chief. and
naturally they an sought the coveted
positions There was no question about
the head chief. Manga He was un-
doubtedly the man OF highest rank in
Iutuila. but the minor chiefs all
seemed to have equal claims to prece.
dence. However, after an exhaustive
genealogical research. we got the right
men selected. and the natives them
selves elected them magistrates. Then
we held a general council and very
senslhly the natives began 70 insti-
tute their own reforms
There were many injurious customs.
which had existed from time immemo-
rial, which could only be abolished by
general consent Chief among these
was the practice Of going on malangas,
or large picnic parties A whole VIII
lage would suddenly make up its mind
TO take wandering holiday. All work
would be dropped and the merry party
would start on its travels. With the
samoans the virtue OF hospitality Is
developed 20 an excessive degree, and
# was the bounden duty OF each VIII
loge 20 iavlshly entertain the visitors
Dances were held. an the pigs were
killed and fun and foastlng were the
order OF the day This went on az long