Mr. Bayard to
Mr. Olney.
Embassy of the United States,
London, January 30, 1897. (Received ____
____.)
No. 857.]
Sir: Referring to your instruction, No.
1368, of the 22d of December last, relative to the arrest of two
sailors belonging to the German war ship Falke by the police at Matafele, Samoa, and their
subsequent release by direction of the German consul contrary to any
provision of law to that end, I have the honor to inform you that I
brought the [Page 457] circumstances
of the case to the attention of the Marquis of Salisbury by a note,
a copy of which is inclosed herewith, and that I have to-day
received a reply thereto from his lordship, a copy of which is also
herewith inclosed.
It would appear from his lordship’s note that a concerted mode of
procedure in cases of offenses committed by men from the American,
British, and German war vessels had been temporarily agreed upon by
the consuls of the three powers interested, and that Her Majesty’s
representatives at Washington and Berlin were instructed on the 10th
ultimo to ascertain the views of the United States and German
Governments, but that their replies have not yet been received. Her
Majesty’s Government have, therefore, deferred sending any
instructions to Mr. Cusack Smith, Her Britannic Majesty’s consul at
Apia.
I have, etc.,
[Inclosure 1 in No.
857.]
Mr. Bayard
to Lord Salisbury.
Embassy of the United States,
London, January 12, 1897.
My Lord: Under instructions of the
Secretary of State of the United States, I ask leave to draw
your lordship’s attention to an occurrence at Apia in June last,
in which the action of the Gorman consul-general, apparently
sustained by the president of the municipal council and the
commander of the German war ship Falke,
appears to have been invasive and subversive of the authority of
the municipal magistrate of Apia and in contravention of the
compiled ordinances for the regulation of the municipal
government of that community.
The facts constituting this infraction of the local laws have
been reported to the Department of State by Mr. Churchill, the
United States consul-general at Apia, and are believed to be
correctly set forth in the communication transmitted by him of
Mr. William Cooper, municipal magistrate at Apia, to the Apia
municipal council, a copy of which is herewith inclosed.
From this statement it would appear that the action of the German
consul in ordering the release of the alleged offenders of that
nationality, without trial or hearing, was arbitrary and in
violation of existing laws.
To preserve in good faith that local autonomy in the government
of Apia which was the declared intent and purpose of the general
regulations agreed upon by the three powers, the jurisdiction of
the municipal council should be carefully sustained, and
cooperative influence of the three treaty powers should be
faithfully exercised to that end.
The action of the German consul, sustained by the captain of the
Falke and the president of the
municipal council, has no discoverable warrant in law, and it is
therefore important that by the joint consent by the three
powers such orders may be made by the three powers to their
respective officials as will prevent in the future the
infringement of the essential right and power of the local
municipal magistrate to enforce the laws for the due
preservation of the peace of the district without interference
by the consuls of either of the treaty powers or of the naval
officers of either power.
The duty of the three powers to sustain the municipal government
in the exercise of its allotted functions seems very plain, and
any irregularity [Page 458]
should be met with their prompt and joint disapproval. An
identic instruction to this effect to the respective consuls of
the three treaty powers, that they should abstain from
interfering in any way with the municipal officers and police in
the execution of their duties in maintaining the public peace
would, it is believed, prevent the recurrence of such acts as I
have had the honor to represent to your lordship.
I have, etc.,
[Inclosure 2 in No.
857.]
Lord Salisbury to Mr. Bayard.
Foreign Office, January 28, 1897.
Your Excellency: I have the honor to
acknowledge the receipt of your note of the 12th instant,
relative to the action taken by the German consul in connection
with the arrest at Apia of two sailors belonging to the German
man-of-war Falke.
This matter has already been under the consideration of Her
Majesty’s Government.
Mr. Cusack-Smith, Her Majesty’s consul in Samoa, reported in
September last that, owing to the incident in question and to
others of a similar nature, the municipal council of Apia had
passed an ordinance intended to deal with the arrest and
imprisonment of seamen belonging to foreign men of-war in Samoan
waters.
Her Majesty’s consul and the consuls of the United States and
Germany were of opinion that the provisions of the ordinance
were too cumbersome, and decided to refer the matter to their
Governments for consideration.
In communicating this decision to the municipal council they made
the following suggestions:
Meanwhile the consuls unanimously request that in the
case of an arrest of a man-of-war’s man the president of
the municipal council will at once notify the captain of
the man-of-war concerned, and inform him that if he
sends the necessary guard the prisoner will be handed
over.
The council agreed to this request.
The consuls were also unanimous in thinking that under all the
peculiar circumstances relating to Samoa it would avoid friction
in future if the powers would instruct the president in the
sense of the consul’s request, leaving the commander of the
man-of-war concerned to punish all minor infractions of
municipal regulations as he may see fit.
Mr. Cusack-Smith presumes that in serious criminal offenses
committed on shore in Samoa a British man-of-war’s man would be
subject to the jurisdiction of Her Britannic Majesty’s high
commissioner’s court, and that, similarly, German and American
men-of-war’s men would be under the criminal jurisdiction of
their respective consulates.
The lords commissioners of the Admiralty, to whom Mr. Cusack
Smith’s dispatch was referred, have expressed their concurrence
in the course suggested, and Her Majesty’s representatives at
Washington and Berlin were instructed on the 10th ultimo to
ascertain the views of the United States and German
Governments.
Sir Julian Pauncefote and Sir F. Lascelles have not yet reported
the result of their inquiries, and until their replies are
received Her Majesty’s Government propose to defer sending any
instructions in the matter to Mr. Cusack-Smith.
I have, etc.,
