[Inclosure 1 in No. 969.—From the
Times, Saturday, April 8, 1893.]
the situation in samoa.
The announcement that Herr von Cedercrantz, the chief justice of
Samoa, has handed in his resignation excites here neither
astonishment nor regret. Since his installation there have been a
series of petty dissensions, chiefly between him and the consuls,
which put peace and quiet out of the question, and the three
signatory powers have for some time past been agreed that such a
state of things could not he allowed to continue. Probahly Herr von
Cedercrantz has come to see this in the same [Page 743] light as Germany, England, and
America, and has done the wisest thing in resigning, thus rendering
it unnecessary for the signatory powers to take the initiative
against an official chosen by the King of Sweden. Herr von
Cedercrantz was right in applying the term “a comedy” to the Samoa
convention of 1889, hut the question forces itself upon us whether
the chief justice had done his best to put a better face on the
matter. This question must unfortunately be answered in the
negative. Herr von Cedercrantz had adopted as his motto “Samoa for
the Samoans,” and irrespective of the interests of foreign residents
formed his policy on these lines. It is true the native inhabitants
outnumber the foreigners in the proportion of 120 to 1, and this
numerical superiority may have induced the chief justice to overlook
the little band of settlers. The natives, however, have not been
slow to give proofs of their overbearing character in times past,
and Herr von Cedercrantz’s conduct has done nothing to lesson the
danger of revolution in the future.
Leaving out of count the fact that the Polynesians of Samoa are not a
very highly cultured race, the Germans, English, and Americans
certainly deserve the chief consideration. It is they who pay the
taxes which form the greater part of the income of Samoa, and it is
in their hands that the whole trade of the islands is concentrated.
Another point, though apparently insignificant, deserves mention.
Herr von Cedercrantz has always made it his custom to live in the
most simple style, and has therefore failed to make much impression
on the natives, who, like all uncultured people, are highly
susceptible to the influence of outward show. In a word, Herr von
Cedercrantz has failed to satisfy either the powers, the foreign
settlers, or the Samoans themselves, though probably acting with the
best intentions.
It would, perhaps, be unfair to cast all the blame on the shoulders
of the chief justice. No one will extol the Samoan treaty of 1889 as
a masterpiece of combined European and American policy in the
nineteenth century, and this unlucky agreement must be given its
full weight in judging of the conduct of Herr von Cedercrantz.
Probably the only sensible suggestion made at the Samoan conference
was the proposal of England that a cable should be laid to Samoa at
the common expense of the signatory powers. This plan was
disregarded, and its rejection has only served to make a difficult
task more difficult. In the present circumstances dispatches reach
Europe in four, five, or six weeks, and the necessary interchange of
diplomatic notes between the cabinets of England, Germany, and
Washington causes further delay. It can, therefore, easily happen
that the state of things in the islands, regarding which the
instructions of the powers were requested may, during this space of
time, have given place to a situation requiring renewed diplomatic
communication and fresh instructions. Again, one constant danger
lies in the fact that the native inhabitants, numerous as they are,
have provided themselves with arms and ammunition. In case of a
general revolution the ships stationed at Samoa would not be capable
of disarming the natives, a course that would probably require a
squadron of at least nine vessels.
These remarks, which do not make the slightest claim to novelty,
represent in substance the views held in Germany on Samoa. England
and America will not feel disposed to deny the anomalous and
intolerable condition of things in these unhappy islands, but
nowhere is this more fully recognized and nowhere is the desire for
a speedy amendment stronger than in Germany. In view of the
preponderating numbers and influence of the Germans in Samoa, the
Cologne Gazette goes so far as to advise an annexation of the
islands by the German Empire.
It is imperative that a remedy should be found, and for one power to
be supreme in Samoa seems to be the simplest way out of a difficulty
created by a treaty which may fitly be characterized by borrowing
the words used by Prince Bismarck, in a very different connection,
as “the most miserable of all treaties.”—(Our own
correspondent.)
[The Times, Saturday, April 8, 1893.]
Sydney, April 7.
Sir John Thurston, governor of Fiji, and high commissioner of the
western Pacific, denies that he is in any way hostile to Mr. Robert
Louis Stevenson. He considers, however, that peace and good order
are unattainable in Samoa, owing to the unnecessary interference of
meddlesome and irresponsible persons.—(Dalziel, The Times
special.)
