SAMOA. 



733 



tive Government, which would make them as 

 free as possible t'roin the control of the Gov- 

 ernments to which they owed their original 

 appointment. In a dispatch to Minister Pen- 

 dleton at Berlin, the Secretary of State after- 

 ward explained that his opposition to the Ger- 

 man plan was not due to the fact that under 

 it the appointment of the actual governor of 

 the islands would be given to Germany, but to 

 the union of complete political control with 

 commercial preponderance supplanting instead 

 of aiding the native Government, and tending 

 to diminish rather than to develop the capacity 

 of the natives to manage their own affairs. 



In ISsG the British Government, following 

 Prince Bismarck's principle of quid pro quo, 

 which had previously led to the clandestine 

 surrender of the best shores of Papua behind 

 the backs of the Australians, and which in- 

 volved the Samoan question in combinations 

 affecting European politics and "the British 

 position in Egypt, in South Africa, on the 

 Niger, in Zanzibar, and in other parts of the 

 world, had entered into a secret bargain with 

 the German Government to give it practically 

 a free hand in its dealings with Samoa. The 

 United States Government has for a long period 

 regarded Samoa, as well as Hawaii, as a coun- 

 try possessing a frame of government admit- 

 ting of permanent treaty relations, and in 

 whose independence the United States have 

 for military reasons a supreme interest. In 

 ^erretary Evarts declared that the desire 

 of the United States in respect to Samoa was 

 to see a stable, independent native Govern- 

 ment established. In 1880 President Hayes, 

 in his annual message, spoke of the diplomatic 

 agreement subsisting between the three treaty 

 powers as the best security for harmony in 

 tbeir relations to the native Government. 

 When the rumor was circulated that in May, 

 1886, Germany intended to annex Samoa, as 

 well as the Marshall and Gilbert Islands. Secre- 

 tary Bayard, in communicating his views of 

 the policy of the United States in the Pacific 

 for the guidance of the ministers at London 

 and Berlin, said that the concern of the United 

 States Government in Samoa differs from that 

 in regard to distant groups of islands, and that 

 we have established treaty relations with Samoa, 

 with which relations Germany disclaims any 

 intention to interfere. 



Mr. Bayard refused to consent to the Ger- 

 man proposals, and, when it became evident 

 that the English minister had entered the con- 

 ference instructed to support the scheme of 

 the German Government implicitly, he broke 

 off the negotiations. The conference was not 

 concluded, but suspended. The question passed 

 out of the diplomatic stage when, ten days 

 after the adjournment, the German fleet sailed 

 anoa to carry out the purposes to which 

 the American Government had refused its 

 consent. The correspondence with the Ger- 

 man Government was closed by a letter from 

 Mr. Bayard in January, 1888, in which he 



declares that, while willing to accept the ex- 

 planation that the action of the German Gov- 

 ernment in Samoa was influenced by a desire 

 to protect the people, he can not bring himself 

 to believe that its course has been proper. 



Tamasese's Government. No sooner had the 

 German forces overthrown the legitimate King 

 than they began to compel the puppet whom 

 they had placed on the throne to carry out the 

 scheme of transferring into German possession 

 all the productive resources of the islands. 

 Through land titles and mortgages the German 

 speculators, with the aid of the new Govern- 

 ment, held the natives entirely under their 

 control. Herr Brandeis, who had been con- 

 nected with the German consulate, was made 

 the chief adviser of Tamasese, and practically 

 directed all acts of government. The German 

 squadron, which consisted of the flagship 

 " Bismarck." the " Olga," the " Carola," and 

 the " Sophie," sailed away as soon as the new 

 Government seemed to be established. Yet. 

 when the war-vesseis left, the position of the 

 usurper at once became precarious. He deeply 

 offended the people when, at the suggestion 

 of his German Prime Minister, he assumed 

 the hereditary name of Malietoa. When he 

 was further misled into imposing a poll-tax, 

 his followers dwindled to a mere handful of 

 men, and the country openly rebelled against 

 the tax, which he was unable to collect. In- 

 fluential chiefs called the people together and 

 urged them to resist the tax ; and, when Tama- 

 sese was induced by the German agent to pro- 

 pose the suppression of these assemblages, 

 chiefs of his own party grew angry and threat- 

 ening. Many of the influential men of the 

 islands remained away from the Legislature 

 when it met, and many who attended were 

 hostile to the Government. The Germans in- 

 troduced the registration of title-deeds and 

 mortgages, an elaborate judicial system, and 

 regulations for village councils and assemblies 

 of chieftains. The authority of the Govern- 

 ment was recognized in parts of the districts 

 of Aana and Atua at the western and eastern 

 extremities of Upolu. while the middle district 

 of Tuamasanga, the birthplace of the Malietoas, 

 as well as the other islands, were hostile. The 

 American gunboat "Adams" arrived at Apia 

 on Oct. 19, 1887, before the departure of the 

 German squadron. The German cruiser "Ad- 

 ler" and the gunboat ''Eber" were subse- 

 quently stationed in Samoa. An English war- 

 vessel, the ''Lizard," was also sent to observe. 

 Mr. Sewall, the American consul, returned to 

 the United States on leave, a deputy, Mr. 

 Blacklock, being left to look after American 

 interests. The Germans in Apia subjected 

 Americans to injustice and hostility, and 

 American and British trade suffered greatly. 

 The American residents, and some of the Eng- 

 lish, encouraged the spirit of resistance, which 

 became so strong and determined that the en- 

 tire country, except his own clan and political 

 dependents, was ready to rise against Tamasese. 



