THE PREMIER ON ANNEXATION.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume V, Issue 1503, 1 April 1885, Page 2

THE PREMIER ON ANNEXATION.

The Hon Mr Stout has addressed to the Agent-General a Jong letter in reference to the annexation of Samoa, from which we take the following. After re-

citing matter that has already been made public, Mr Stout writes:—“l think you have been informed that on November

19th, being strongly impressed with the urgent nec -asity for the Imperial Government taking steps to preserve its power in the central Pacific and to annex Samoa, we advised Bis Excellency to despatch the following telegram to the Secretary of State for the Colonies :—“ My Ministers urge the annexation of Samoa and Tonga, and are prepared to propose to Parliament that New Zealand shall bear the expense." The reply to this message, which did not reach Mimisters until the 28th December, was, in substance, as follows :—“ Representation will be fully considered, but foreign interests there present difficulties.” We therefore had this reply before us when the Executive Council was considering what steps should be taken regarding the despatch of the Hinemoa, and it was afterwardsdetermined that the Hinemoa should

leave for Auckland conveying the Hen Sir Julias Vogel to Waiwera, and that

the steamer should remain at Auckland with the Hon the Colonial Secretary till his Excellency received a reply from the Colonial office. Lord Derby’s reply, dated 31st January, was received by his Excellency on the 4h. In substance it was “ With reference to your telegram of the 31st ultimo Her Majesty’s Government regret that they are unable to meet the wishes of the New Zealand Government. My telegram of the 24th instant reminded (?) that foreign interests in Samoa and Tonga prevent British annexation. Within the last few days the German Government have given and received renewed assurance that the independence of the islands shall be maintained. If, therefore, the Government of New Zealand should unfortunately send the Colonial Secretary to Samoa the German Government will have strong justification for annexing these islands. - Her Majesty’s Government hope, therefore, that the New Zealand Government will not preclude the internationalisation of the islands, which la obviously the best course at the present juncture far British interests.” Having referred at length to the visit of H.M. S. Miranda to Samoa, Mr Stout adds: After the Miranda left the information received there shows that various articles of the treaties were ignored by the German Consul. To give an example, a correspondent writes 1 ‘The other day the King wrote to the 1 three ConauL, stating that some of his 1 scouts had brought in word that the rebels were ab nit to attack the Government, and > in consequence he wished to be relieved i from that clause of the convention which prohibits all assemblages of armed men within the neutral boundaries. The houses were the King and Government live are ■ within these, hence the necessity for permission to assemble a protective farce. There is also a supplementary note to the convention, which gives the King power I under certain circumstances of dispensing - with the prohibitory clause. Both the ■ American and British Consuls considered , that under existing circumstances the I King would be perfectly justified in col. e lecting a sufficient num' ec of armed men - to protect himself and Government; but I the German Consul, pursuing his usual e tactics, thought differently, and told the King if he assembled an armed force he i would disperse them by force if necessary, end he is the only Consul who has the e services of war at his command. He ; can and does do very much as he likes.’ f The last letter we have received from Samoa is doted February 24th. We are of course not aware what has hap* j peued there since then,- but from what we know it is perfectly clear that the treaties ot conventions made in 1869 have not been respected by the Acting German f Consul, that the power and authority of the King of Samoa have been weakened, * and that the Samoans are living in dread . that their beautiful islands will become German possessions. From the, information forwarded to us from the Colonial Office aud by yourself, it seems useless for us to press upon the Impe ial Government the desirableness of yielding to the 3 prayer of the petition from the King and ! people of Samoa. I may. however, point 1 out, in order that you may, should cir--3 cumstances warrant you in so doing, urge ‘ thi* view upon the Colonial Office, that this request for the annexation of Samoa ’ differs entirely from almost every other b request made to the Colonial Office from other parts of the Pacific. There has J been recognised in Samoa by Groat r Britain, by Germany, and by the United States a King and Parliament, for there is j provision in article 5 of the German : treaty, dated December 23rd, 1879, for | the creation of what may be termed two ! Houses of Parliament. Each province is to appoint two chiefs called 1 Taimua, and also to appoint Faipule, the one answering to our second Chamber and the other to our first. If 1 then a State,.at all events somewhat civilised, and with a Government recognised by two European Powers aud by the United States of America, desires to cede ’ its territory to Great Britain, what obj ’otion can fairly be raised to such a proceeding ? If the treaty or convention with Germany provided that Samoa was to remain neutral territory, and that the King and Government should not be at .liberty to cede its sovereignty to any foreigq Power, no doubt Germany nffght have reason for objecting to any such cession, though there is not wanting authority to show that such a treaty or Convention might be deemed transient in its character. The position taken by Count Cavor respecting the annexation of Savoy is strongly to the point. There is nothing in any treaty wiih Germany which limits in the slightest degree the power of the King aud people of Samoa to make treaties with other nations or to interfere with their right to yield up if they please the sovereignty of their islands. But can it as a ground for Germany’s contention, be pretended that there is any possibility of the German empire, as concerns defence or otherwise, being affected by the annexation of Samoa. If it should be argued that the king has no power to enter into arrangements with or cade any rights of sovereignty to grert Britain, I apprehend that the same contention would be valid as against the right to make the treaty or convention made with Germany oh the 10th of November, 1834. It is e’ear from this treaty that the King of Samoa did cede to Germany soma of the rights of sovereignity he possessed, and that be ceded them in such a way as to interfere with the rights of the subjects of Great Britain and of 'the United States under existing treaties with those powers. Moreover, this last treaty or convention with Germany was made by the King without consulting the Parliament of Samoa or the leading chiefs. In fact, it was extorted from the King under pressure, and is in opposition to the general feeling of the Samoan people. The request for annexation to Great Britain, on the other hand, comes spontaneously from the King chiefs, and people. Having given soma exhaustive statements of the trade of Samoa, Mr Stout concludes—We are nof yet aware what is likely to be done with respect to Samoa. If, from 1 foreign relationships or from quest ions of expediency or relating to thb policy of the British Empire, it is pot deemed desirable to annex the group, we dope that sonje treaty or ' ponyeptipp yill oe agreed to between )3reat Britain, prelarva Samoa as neutral territory. ’lt |s lerfectly clear to us that Germany ibtaiued an ascendency theie during the ast two or three months, apd that shonlcji he King's authority be consequently

weakened there will be danger of civil w»* in Samoa. Should such h ppen, a dno treaty or convention of the kind I d'c» ad have be in come to, Ger many may claim the right to further interfere, nominally for the protection of its m-te-eate in the group, but it would really m an that Samoa was to become a Germm possession. We look to the British Govemm nt to prevent this. We have offered, as you are aware, to pay the full tost md to undertake the full responsibility of managing Samoa. We ask nothing from the British Government except that she will yield to the join! representation of the Sarr can King and the people and of ourselves, and proclaim that Samoa is part of the British Empire. If this cannot be obtained because of diplomatic engagements, we again ur ß® upon you to represent to the Colonial Office the absolute necessity of some such treaty or convention between the three Powers, as I have indicated, and the urgent need there is of keeping one or two men-of-war in the Central Pacific continually, cruising amongst the islands and visiting them occasionally. Germany la* dona this, and has thereby in some respects succieied in overawing the people. We do not think it creditable to the British nation that the islands of the Pacific should be taught that Germany is the more powerful, and that Grett Britain is unable to help them in their difficulty. I desire to say, in ccnclusi >n, that no decision has yet been communicated to us as lo whether the Confederation and Annexation Bill passed by the New Zealand Parliament of is to be assented to by Her Majesty, The reason sta*ed by Lord Derby for not tendering advice o;i the subject was that ho desired to wait until the question of Australian federation was settled. We cannot understand what the Bill has to do with such federa- ' tion, seeing that if it were completed to- ( morrow the Federal Council would certainly not interfere with Samoan affairs, , but we do urge more strongly than we T have before done that the group ought to become part of the British Empire. * 1