UNKNOWN

Samoa Times and South Sea Advertiser, Volume I, Issue 23, 23 March 1889, Page 3

UNKNOWN

( Prmm fArA<» U*. •-•.»,i.i, „jij 'lath, Ihs'j.) Though to many of the poople of tho Mother Country, the Samoan crnbroglio may have seemed hut a little thing, it has certainly moved the people of these colonies deeply, and the effects which it has produced on the public mind will not speedily pass away. It has unhop- j pily presented British policy in a very unattractive light, and "proba- j bly mora than anything that has i occurred. |n ( ColpriiaJ "relations in j tpwa,* it has produced a | Reeling to the iugenu- , character , uf tha|s lings of the imperial < iGovertßq 9pfc with the interests of' Be will be felt In elsewhere, for j pro fikveoonceived that we had a j Species of proprietary, albeit but a j sentimental, in tercet in tho Sumoan I group; .and tho insolent U-ariug of' Germany, Tfinlc'ed at seemingly by j . the Imperial Government, came to : us as a sort of personal affront. Besides, thoro has been in the proceed-1 ings such an apparent dnpKcifcy, such a diplomatic Overreaching, if' jnot treachery, and all crowned by j such an insolent and high-handed : Wealing with the legitimate KingH iwho suffered only for his faithful! loyalty to these colonies and their. Interests and thoso of England fchaf j |t is not in the genius of colonial : life to look with equanimity on the j Indifferent part played in the whole j transaction by the Government of lEngland. It is quite apparent to j fus n.ow, or at least it is universally ! believed, that England basely bar- I tered Samoa and other Pacific interests for the favor of Prince Bis- j marck, as that might be made to bear on British interests in the great European intrigue ; and the duplicity with which America was treated by the two European conspirators, has come out in all the darker color, from tho firm action taken by ! our great, Relations, of the Anglo- i Saxon American nation, in (compelling Germany to recede from [the position which .she had in- '. ■soTehtty taken in virtue of the un-, Iholy compact. j .Thedipfomaticand political st->ry ! of Samoa has been a mean one ; j jand colonists are sorry to be (breed j to feel that England piuyed the | meanest part in it. The people of jpese colonies are disposed to make ' ■ll allowance for the necessities of j the European position, and to bear i kith much patience whatever inci- ' Bpntal evils may bo entailed to ■hem as pott ions of the Empire, &*>m England being mixed up in | jpese wretched eiitpngleniunts in , the old world. But such evils we , Jfkc to come to us above-hoard and ■More the eyes of all and bo there Hjustcd. Put in this case the ■acih'c became the Rceho of diploHitic trickery, such as has been Kminon enough in the European Kmc of nations, but which may Ke Gods forfend that it ever be-■ome-characteristic of Anglo-Saxon •Mninion in the Pacific. The rca ■Riable and just desires of the: Bmoan King and people to connect Bfemselvcs with New Zealand and : Bd our colonial system had been! Rocked by treaty agreements be- j Been England and Germany, securBr the independence of Samoa, to ■hich agreement America, though Indirectly, was a party. With that IhesH colonies had brought theinlelves to rest satisfied, and the Sa-; ■oans ware content in being at Bst assured against annexation. Bit while we wero resting in this Buritv, and America was engnged Bth England and Germany in conBering tho more satisfactorily as-1 Bring of tho existing basis, Ger■any, with the secret connivance ■ England, simply assumed the Bereignty dsf.ictn, and dealt with R'Samoans accordingly. Tho ab- : Btion of King Malietoa was an ' ■■rage on justico and humanity,. B the violent action of the GcrI forces toWard* . Mitautfa, the. Bgation to bloodshed, the encourB»nt of pitiless mutual slaughBf these unhappy islaudors, to B incited aawa now know th«o Bps WBwby thodi^rartrfulcom-; Beproduced an indignant tease i Btfcaa dealt aaharp Xto* to«sort BOgt of loyUty Jtd

, liuui <ji tne ( nilcd Stat -.i has stood out in .-tartling contrast, and we I venture to assei t that the act ion of that Power in compelling Gur nany to let go her grip on Samoa has. oxjciteil a feeling of euthasiasth) admiration for the Great Republic,] warmer and more pronounced than ever existed' amongst us before. The incident seemed to many like the abnegation of England of her leadership of Anglo-Saxon civilisation in these seta, and the handing over the right to the kindred nation —equally our kith and kin— , of the (Jutted States. Wo way not regard the occurrence in so pronounced a character, but such incidents, if it wcre'possit.le for them to again occur, would have a tendency to lead these colonies to think ; that possibly in the coming time our interests may run more in the ; same lines with those of our cousins of the United States, than with

those of tho Power from which equally with them we derive onr origin, but which is so fettered and entangled by the intrigues of ages, that justice and humanity must be sacrificed by it to expediency. The Samoau business has been a shame to Lngland, while the spirited action of America has won golden worts in these seas for the Government ami nation of the United States.