Mr. Olney to Baron von Thielmann.
Washington, April 3, 1896.
Excellency: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your note of the 23d ultimo, touching the insufficiency of the Samoan revenues and the dissatisfaction expressed by the foreign settlers with the present system of taxation.
You accordingly solicit a statement of the intentions of the Government of the United States with reference to the adoption of any measures that may afford relief.
In reply I have to say that this Government has formed no plan, and therefore has at present no suggestions to offer as a remedy for the state of affairs said to exist in the Samoan Islands in relation to the subject of native taxation.
Accept, etc.,