732 



SAMOA. 



mail - steamers had left, the German consul 

 made a demand on the King for the immediate 

 payment of $12,000 as damages for cocoanuts 

 that had been stolen during the previous four 

 years and $1,000 for an injury sustained by a 

 German in a street fight. King Malietoa asked 

 for three days to consult with his chiefs ; but 

 on the next morning a detachment of marines 

 seized the Government House, affixed a decla- 

 ration of war signed by Heusner, the German 

 commodore, raised the German flag, and 

 searched the town for Malietoa, who had es- 

 caped to his residence at Afanga, eight miles 

 distant, from which he fled just before the 

 arrival of a German man-of-war. On the 25th 

 the Germans proclaimed as King the rebel 

 chief, Tamasese, who took possession of the 

 Government House and hoisted his flag. Once 

 before the Germans had raised the rebel flag 

 of their protege, but had been obliged to take 

 it down again. The American consul-gen- 

 eral, Harold M. Sewall, who had succeeded 

 Greenebaum when the latter was recalled for 

 proclaiming on his own authority an American 

 protectorate over Samoa on the occasion of 

 the former German attempt to depose Malie- 

 toa, now was joined by the British pro-consul 

 in a declaration that the American and British 

 Governments would not recognize Taauisese, 

 but would continue as heretofore to recognize 

 Malietoa as King. Malietoa was hunted by the 

 Germans until he finally gave himself up, on 

 the promise that his life would be spared, and 

 was taken as a state prisoner first to German 

 New Guinea, then to Oameroons, and in Au- 

 gust, 1888, to Hamburg. A large number of 

 his chiefs and principal followers were like- 

 wise banished to distant islands. When the 

 German squadron was sent to carry out this 

 intention, Malietoa was disposed to resist, and 

 was only deterred by the proclamation of the 

 British and American consuls advising submis- 

 sion to the inevitable, and declaring that their 

 Governments would never acknowledge Tama- 

 sese as King. 



The Germans, on landing from their war- 

 vessels, endeavored to provoke disturbances 

 that would afford a pretext for carrying out 

 the warlike intentions that Germany had noti- 

 fied to the other interested powers through 

 diplomatic channels. They first set up a target 

 for rifle-practice, and fired through the princi- 

 pal street of Apia. When this arrogant pro- 

 ceeding led to no result, they regaled the na- 

 tives with intoxicants, which was a breach of 

 the law, and bullied them into a fight in which 

 a German's nose was broken. This also led to 

 nothing, because the German magistrate be- 

 fore whom the matter was taken refused to 

 hold the accused persons, for lack of evidence. 

 It was only then that they fell back upon the 

 thefts of cocoanuts, for which the courts cre- 

 ated under German auspicies had failed to 

 bring the guilty parties to justice, and, proceed- 

 ing on the novel theory that the King was 

 responsible for the pilferings of his subjects, 



made a sudden demand for a money indemnity, 

 which Malietoa could not at once satisfy, or 

 would not without a decent interval for con- 

 sideration. 



The German naval authorities declared and 

 enforced martial law. Some natives tore down 

 the proclamations to this effect, whereupon 

 the village of Sapapaha was bombarded and 

 burned. The German consul refused to rec- 

 ognize the municipality of Apia, which, under 

 the convention of 1879, had been administered 

 by the foreign consuls. The American consul 

 protested. The British consul issued a procla- 

 mation to British residents saying that he had 

 received no instructions to recognize the ex- 

 isting Government, and that British subjects 

 would be under the jurisdiction and protection 

 of the consulate. The British Government 

 took no action until Feb. 24, 1888, when or- 

 ders were sent to the acting British consul that 

 since the continuance of the municipal board 

 had been found impracticable, the convention 

 should be considered as suspended and the dis- 

 trict as having passed under the control of the 

 de facto Samoan Government as provided by 

 the terms of the convention in case of its ter- 

 mination. The Government of the United 

 States refrained from any official communica- 

 tions with Tamasese's Government, and would 

 not recognize him. The English Government, 

 however, in spite of the pledges made to Ma- 

 lietoa by the Britsh consul, recognized Tama- 

 sese as the King de facto, and entered into 

 diplomatic relations with his Government. 



The Samoan Conference. The convention of 

 1879, the renewal of it in 1883, and the pre- 

 vious acts of the three foreign powers in rela- 

 tion to Samoa, were based on a definite under- 

 standing and express assurances of a mutual 

 guarantee of its neutrality and independence. 

 In 1884 a treaty was entered into between 

 Germany and Great Britain to respect the in- 

 dependence of Samoa. The action of the 

 German consul in forcing Malietoa in Novem- 

 ber of that year to sign a treaty giving Ger- 

 many a virtual protectorate, and the events of 

 1886", made it desirable for the United States 

 Government to have the diplomatic under- 

 standing attested in a solemn treaty. The 

 powers were therefore invited to a conference, 

 which was held at Washington in the summer 

 of 1887. At the conference the German min- 

 ister proposed to commit the actual control of 

 the islands for a term of five years to a foreign 

 adviser of the King, who should be appointed 

 by the power having the preponderant com- 

 mercial interests in the islands, the other pow- 

 ers having the right to approve or disapprove 

 the nominee. At the end of the quinquennial 

 term the control should be renewed on the 

 same conditions. Mr. Bayard proposed, in- 

 stead, to place the executive authority in the 

 hands of a council composed of the King and 

 Vice-King of Samoa and three foreigners desig- 

 nated respectively by the three treaty powers, 

 but under the commission and pay of the na- 





