732 



SAMOAN ISLANDS. 



SANTO DOMINGO. 



mail steamers making it a port for coaling, it 

 would necessarily become the controlling com- 

 mercial place in that part of Polynesia. 



The American interests at Samoa are proba- 

 bly larger than is generally believed. Ten 

 years ago the Germans were all-powerful in 

 Samoa. They controlled all the trade and had 

 numerous large plantations in working order. 

 About this time a few Americans and English- 

 men were attracted to the country, and finding 

 openings, commenced business. From small 

 beginnings they grew strong, until to-day it 

 is stated that the bulk of the trade is in their 

 hands. The American Land Company pur- 

 chased lands in Samoa amounting in all to 

 two hundred thousand acres. Subjects of 

 Great Britain were also not only purchasers of 

 large tracts of land, but started and maintained 

 several large plantations, so that although the 

 investments of the Germans slightly exceed in 

 value the investments of either the citizens of 

 the United States or those of Great Britain, 

 still, when the investments of these two nations 

 are combined, they vastly exceed tho?e of the 

 subjects of Germany. The trade of the 

 United States with Samoa has been steadily 

 increasing for the past ten years, at which 

 time one small schooner visited the islands but 

 three times a year. At present six or seven 

 large vessels are required in the trade, and 

 considerable quantities of American goods 

 are purchased in the Australian markets and 

 shipped to Apia either direct or via New Zea- 

 land, whose government subsidizes a steamer 

 to visit the islands ten times yearly. 



Although, as stated, the situation at the Sa- 

 moan Islands at the time when the latest 

 news came from there was that all was quiet, 

 there was nevertheless a feeling of insecurity 

 in Apia, which boded ill for the future. It 

 was feared that a fierce and bloody war might 

 be inaugurated, in which old and young would 

 be indiscriminately massacred, much property 

 destroyed, and the American trade ruined. 

 Among the British and American residents the 

 following conditions had been agreed upon as in 

 their judgment offering the best plan on which 

 to effect a settlement of the existing difficulty : 



1. That the Governments of the United 

 States and Great Britain demand that Germany 

 instantly withdraw her troops and her squadron 

 and depart from Samoan waters, leaving one 

 vessel only to protect her subjects, who have 

 rendered themselves obnoxious to the natives. 



2. That the United States and Great Britain 

 at once dispatch each a war-ship to Samoa to 

 protect the lives and property of their subjects 

 there. 



3. That arrangements be made in Samoa, 

 under the auspices of the consuls and the com- 

 manders of the war-ships, for a popular vote 

 to be taken in Samoa as to who shall be the 

 future ruler, and that the person so selected 

 shall be maintained in his position. 



4. That a scheme of government be formu- 

 lated by the contracting powers which shall 



guarantee the independence of Samoa, that an 

 impartial land court shall be established, and 

 that three or four offices of importance in the 

 government be filled by white men of mixed 

 nationalities, who shall be paid fair salaries 

 from the public fund. 



5. That a war-ship belonging to at least 

 two of the contracting parties be kept in Sa- 

 moan waters continuously for the next twelve 

 months, or until the new government is es- 

 tablished and in good working order. 



Although these conclusions were sent for- 

 ward from Apia to the United States, and 

 there published, no attention was paid to them, 

 nor was anything done by the American or 

 British governments, at least to which publicity 

 was given, in the way of any interference with 

 the proceedings of the German Government at 

 Samoa. For map of the Samoan Islands, see 

 "Annual Cyclopaedia" for 1886, page 793. 



SANTO DOMINGO. A republic, occupying the 

 eastern portion of the West Indian island of 

 ttiat name, the western portion being Hayti. 

 The population of the republic is 350,000; 

 that of the capital, Santo Domingo, 20,000. A 

 current of immigration has set in during late 

 years from Cuba, Jamaica, Porto Rico, and 

 the United States. 



Government. The President is Gen. Ulysses 

 Heureaux. whose term of office will expire on 

 Sept. 1, 1888. His Cabinet was composed of 

 the following ministers : Interior and Police, 

 Gen. Wenceslao Figuereo ; Foreign Affairs, 

 Don Manuel Maria Gautier ; War and Navy, 

 Gen. Miguel A. Pichardo ; Finance and Com- 

 merce, Don Julio Julia ; Justice, Public Works, 

 and Instruction, Don Juan Tomas Mejia. The 

 Dominican Consul at New York is Don Car- 

 los Julien. The American Minister at Santo 

 Domingo and Hayti, resident at Port-au- 

 Prince, is John E. W. Thompson. 



Finances. On Jan. 1, 1886, the public in- 

 debtedness stood as follows : home debt, 

 (gradually being canceled through the opera- 

 tions of a sinking fund, which consists of 15 

 per cent, of the import duties) $1,499,982; 

 foreign debt, consolidated in June, 1886, 

 357,150. The Government, in the autumn of 

 1887, sent to Paris a commissioner, to raise, if 

 possible, a small loan. Santo Domingo has 

 still a claim against Hayti for $824,378. A 

 decree appeared in October, 1887, abolishing 

 the two-per-cent. extra export duty. A de- 

 cree dated in March, 1886, prohibits the intro- 

 duction into the country of fractional South 

 American and Mexican coin. 



On June 22, 1886, Congress sanctioned the 

 new tariff. Simultaneously, the export duty 

 on sugar was fixed on the basis of 60 pounds 

 for every 100 pounds shipped, and on molasses 

 of 40 pounds for every 100 pounds. In March, 

 1887, Congress passed a bill admitting, duty 

 free, manures, both in a natural state and 

 chemically treated. 



Postal Service. The mail service of the re- 

 public, in 1885, was carried on through the 



