Sir Julian Pauncefote to Mr. Sherman.
Sir: With reference to my note of the 24th ultimo, and previous correspondence on the subject of the traveling allowance to Mr. Chambers, the new chief justice of Samoa, I have the honor to inform you, by direction of the Marquis of Salisbury, that a note has been received at Her Majesty’s embassy in Berlin from Baron Marschall, the German minister for foreign affairs, dated the 21st ultimo, stating that the Imperial Government have expressed their readiness to agree to a sum of $2,500 being granted for Mr. Chambers’s expenses, and to provide, on their part, for the payment of one third of this sum.
With regard to the question which has been raised, whether it would not be desirable in future only to grant the expenses of the return journey from Samoa (except in cases of illness) to the chief justices and [Page 456] municipal presidents of Apia in case they have held the appointment for at least five years, the German Government admits that it is highly desirable to avoid too frequent changes in these posts, and that, also, in granting compensation for the cost of the return journey, the length of time during which the appointment has been held and the reasons determining the retirement should be taken into consideration. Baron Marschall states that in view of the climatic conditions in Samoa a term of five years seems to be somewhat long. Cases might also arise in which the refusal to grant any portion of the expenses of the return journey, on the ground of short tenure of office or of absence of reasons of health, would involve undue hardship to the officials concerned, and the Imperial Government therefore submit for consideration whether it would not be better to abstain from regulating the matter on principle, and to continue, as heretofore, to decide each case upon its own merits.
I have, etc.,