The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1903-11-19
THE ISLANDS
BOUGHTER SEIZED
GREAT BRITAIN CLAIMS THEM
OK THE GROUND OF TWENTY
YEARS OCCUPATION AND pos
SESSION.

has the following regarding the alleged
seizure by America of islands near
Borneo belonging to Great Britain:
We have refrained hitherto from
commenting upon the recent action of
the American Government I'm the Phil
ippines with regard to the Islands OF
TaganaC, Beguan, Bakungan, Laugka-
yam, Boan, Sibaung. Lihiman, Pulo
Gaya and Dinawan in order to avoid
any semblance of rushing into print.
Now that the subject has been referred
to by the Court of Directors at the half
yearly meeting of the Company held
on the 21st July, the position of affairs
need no longer be withheld from our
readers. In the first place it may be
as well to state that such expressions
as Yankee Grab" American Annex
ation," American Seizure" which we
have read with regret are as far from
describing the situation asour con-
temporares are wanting in tact and
circumspection The Press, we notice,
is inclined to take ain exaggerated
view of the matter and to place undue
Importance upon the action of the AM
erican authorities. We may state at
once that all that has taken place is
that Lieutenant Francis Boughter, l.,
L. N, commanding the L. S. $. Quros,
visited III May a number OF lSldlluS
which he thought to be and describes
az belonging to the United States. In
his letter to the Officer-in- Charge, San
dakan, he reports that on his visit to
one of the islands, Great Pakungaan to
be precise, he found the Chartered
Company's flag flying over a house
there. This circumstance Lieut.. Bough-
ter took to be due to a misapprehen-
sion and he accordingly went to the
trouble of initiating Panglima Dukling
the paid Chief there, into the doctrine
of the three marine league limit gave
him a flag of the United States and
posted a tablet on the island recording
the visit of the ship.
Lieutenant Daughters action which
was quite i'm order, has now given rise
to the question of the ownership of the
islands mentioned in the above para
graph The purchase of Cagyan Sulu
by the American Government nullifies
the three marine league contention as
to right of ownership. The history of
the two islands most remote from the
mainland of British North Borneo, viz
Taganac and Beguan, affects the situa-
ton i'm no small degree and may be
taken as an example for all the others.
The chief argument employed by the
Chartered Company which is not ana
ious, for strategical reasons, to sur
render it's claim to the islands is that
they have been administered as portion
of the Company's Territory, without
protest from the Sultan of Sulu, ever
since the original concession was grant
ed to the Chartered Company by His
Highness, which is matter of some
twenty years. In 1900 the Sultan, anx-
ious to raise loan, quite Indifferent as
to the ownership of a few small dere-
lict islands over a hundred and eighty
miles away from his country and quite
at sea as to the illegality of his claim
to them after all these years of abso-
lutte abandonment sought an interview
with the Governor of Singapore and
attempted to establish his right to
them as part of his possessions which
he had never alienated to the Company.
The claim was vera properly referred
by the Court to the Foreign Office
which suggested that the Company
should open negotiation with view
to the surrender of the islands by the
latter outright to the Company. His
HighneSs could not, however, be
brought ITO look upon the matter in
sensible light About two years after
these events had taken place the Sui
tan of Sulu applied for an advance Of
his Cession Money and in granting his
request in part the opportunity was
taken again refer to the question of
the surrender of the islands to the
Company as a quid pro quo for the
cash advance. His Highness's reply
was both tardy and accommodating
the most of Cession Money asked for
the two islands being ridiculously
large sum per annum.
The matter was allowed to drop, at
the wish of the Court of Directors who
preferred not to raise any question as
to the ownership of the islands. This
brings us up to February of this year.
In April last His Highness the Sultan
on his way through to Singapore eX-
; pressed his willingness to settle once
for all the Island question and His Ex-
cellency the Governor who was absent
at Jesselton authorized Mr.. Cook, FL
, nance Commissioner, to make the best
arrangements possible. Accordingly
Mr.. Cook drafted an agreement which
= His Highness signed in which all the
islands were specified by name. The
agreement is a ratification of the view
, OF the matter always held by the Char
tered Company that the islands from
Banguy to Sibuco do belong to them by
virtue of the exercise of twenty years
, undisturbed Jurisdiction over them and
that it may be understood that they
were included in the original Treaty
= The terms of the agreement are emin-
entity satisfactory to the Chartered
Company.
; For the present the question Is one
for diplomacy and negotiation 1t is
doubtful whether America wants the
, islands. They are only valuable TO us
from strategical point of view ana
, so long as Great Britain possesses then
by right of occupation confirmed by III,
original owner the Sultan of Suu
| A IN 4
In the times of keen competition To-
the occupancy OF positions of strategy
= cal advantage all over the world it is
we'll to make certain OF the legal own
ership of these ''derelict" islands az
{ Mr.. Crowie aptly describes them. Tn,
I occupation of Taganac for instance, b!
a foreign power other than America
with whom, thank God, We are OF
Y terms of international good will anC
friendship would be extremely undesir
able and II is highly regretable that tn,
whole question with which we hav,