Baron von Ketteler to Mr. Olney.
Washington, December 2, 1895.
Mr. Secretary of State: In your excellency’s esteemed note of October 7, 1895, No. 53, relative to the closing up of the work of the Samoan land commission, it was stated that the United States consul [Page 1149] general had been instructed to pay the third, which was the United States Government’s share, of the expense of the land surveys in Samoa, the original estimate of said expense having been increased by $300.
The Imperial Government thereupon issued suitable instructions to the consul of the Empire at Apia as regarded the increase of the original amount, and it assumes that the $2,300 which have been allowed will be sufficient to cover the cost of the surveys. If, however, contrary to expectation, this should not be the case, and if, on account of the land claim in Falealili, referred to in your excellency’s note of October 7, a further increase of the expense can not be avoided, it would, in the opinion of the Imperial Government, be well to authorize the consular representatives, without further delay, to pay the quotas of their respective Governments, provided the said quotas do not exceed reasonable limits.
I beg leave to remark that the Royal Government of Great Britain shares this view, and I have the honor, in pursuance of instructions received from the Imperial Government, to lay the foregoing proposition before your excellency, expressing at the same time the hope that your excellency will be pleased to instruct the American consul-general at Apia in the same sense and to invest him with the necessary authority.
I avail etc.,