Sir Julian Pauncefote
to Mr. Gresham.
British
Embassy,
Washington, March 20,
1895.
Sir: I have the honor to inform you that I am
in receipt of a dispatch from Her Majesty’s principal secretary of state
for foreign affairs, in which his lordship informs me that the German
Government has agreed that the surveys still necessary to complete the
work of the Samoan land commission should be completed, at an estimated
cost of £400, under the supervision of the consuls of the three treaty
powers, and are ready to defray one-third of the expense.
The acting British consul at Apia has, therefore, been instructed to
proceed in the matter, in conjunction with his German and United States
colleagues, as soon as the latter receive the necessary instructions
from their respective Governments.
I am instructed to add that her Majesty’s Government would be much
obliged if similar orders were issued to the United States
representatives, and also to point out that the consent of Her Majesty’s
Government to defray one-third of the estimated cost is contingent upon
the agreement of the United States Government to pay a similar
share.
I have, etc.,
Memorandum from British Ambassador, March 26,
1895.
prohibition of sale of arms and
ammunition.
The Samoan Government desires that two ordinances should be passed to
restrain the sale of arms and ammunition, the one to apply to the
municipality of Apia and the other outside its limits. Accordingly,
an ordinance for that purpose, applicable within the municipality,
was issued in August last. Owing to attempts on the part of the
municipal council to defeat it by issuing supplemental regulations
limiting the right of search, that ordinance was modified and
finally revised by the chief justice (under Art. V, sec. 3, of the
general act of the Berlin conference), and in its present form it is
accepted by both the British and German Governments.
A further ordinance has been prepared by the chief justice and the
president of the municipal council, applicable outside of the limits
of the municipality. Her Majesty’s Government, sympathizing with the
objects which the Samoan Government have in view, are not disposed
to make objection to that ordinance, except as regards the provision
of Article IV, which confers on the president of the municipal
council the right of search. In view of that objection, the British
and German Governments think that the only course open is for the
representatives of the treaty Powers to issue separate regulations
for the control of this traffic which shall be binding on their
respective nationals, and which should be, as far as possible,
identical in terms with the extra municipal ordinance proposed by
the chief justice and President Schmidt. Her Majesty’s Government
have accordingly instructed the British representative in Samoa to
concert with his German and United States colleagues with the above
object, and I am
[Page 1151]
to
express the hope that if the United States Government concur in the
expediency of the course proposed, instructions may be sent to the
United States consul-general at Apia with as little delay as
possible.
