THE SAMOA TIMES. "Sworn to no Master, of no Sect am I." SATURDAY, APRIL 6, 1889.
A telegram which appears in another column'states, that Prince Bismarck never authorised Dr. Knappe to. declare, war or martial law in the Samoan Islands. This information is astounding and somewhat contradictory. We cannot conceive it possible that a representative of any nation, unless under the most extreme circumstances, shouM dare to such a length as declaring war'and martial law without the sanction or- approval of his government, the ; other side we find that notwithstanding Prince Bismarck's expressed disapproval of Dr. Snappo's conduct the Chancellor some time ago admitted to the American Government that war was declared against Mataafa. No mention was then made ol Dr. ,: Knappe having exceeded his in- ; yVfe Will probably now be informed that all the Unndering
actions of German representatvea this last two years has been done on (heir own personal responsibility. will hot be iotprised td hear that the ridioulous •proclamation issued by. tho German Consul in January last, demanding in most extraordinary terras that Mataafa and his followers wopldcome quietly within forty-eight hoars and deliver all their arms nod ammunition to the Captain of the German squadron, and perhaps^Prihcp Bismarck will also, repudiate the action of a former German Consul who gavo ' orders to a German boat's crew to firo into an unarmed native: boat, the bullets flying across the main street and into foreign residents' houses, and it roayaJib be now con--1 venient. for Prince Biamajck to blame the Captain of the German man-of-war who abetted Mataafa's tillages, killing five men who were cooking, and then I aHowiilgvTioia- -; eeee's people to «ateMoW*h» ahel
representative*, which would not ; be very th« Qertnan Chancellor to ho gave instructions to perform. Probably when such impolitic and discreditproceedings were being enacted the German Consuls had no idea that their conduct would in so short a time have such a world-wide circulation, and pet haps they imagined that if such high-handed proceedings were successful in accomplishing the suppression of Mataafa the Imperial Government might not have remembered the precise nature of the instructions given to their representatives. Taking into consideration the manner in which Commodore Heusner was received at home after he had committed a far more discreditable action by removing the King of Samoa and replacing him by a-friendly chief to rule the country according to German instruction, and then forcing the chiefs by threats to sign a document purporting to be their allegiance to Tamasesc. It is only natural for our German Consuls to expect that even if they exceeded their instructions and were successful (which they fully believed they would be) instead of censure their conduct would be approved of and promotion follow in due course.
It appears to us strange that each and all of the German representatives in Samoa should follow the same high-handed course. The present Consul has only taken up the line his predecessors followed. This has been going on for years, and if it were not for the course of events brought about by the action of the United States we nn'rdit never have heard that the conduct of these German representatives were contrary to instructions from Berlin. As far as ourselves are concerned wc do know that Dr. Knappe had no authoriy from his Government to bring an action against the Samoa Times (for outaide of the loss which we sustained by the judgment of the Deputy High Commissioner.) This was another stupid blunder and impolitic proceeding. This action more than any other of Dr. Knappc's mistakes has done more to acquaint the world with German representatives' domineering conduct in Samoa than an action resulting iu much more serious consequences could effect
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Samoa Times and South Sea Advertiser, Volume I, Issue 25, 6 April 1889, Page 2
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619THE SAMOA TIMES. "Sworn to no Master, of no Sect am I." SATURDAY, APRIL 6, 1889. Samoa Times and South Sea Advertiser, Volume I, Issue 25, 6 April 1889, Page 2
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