THE SAMOA TIMES. "Sworn to no Master„ of no Sect am I." SATURDAY, MARCH 29, 1879.

Samoa Times and South Sea Gazette, Volume 2, Issue 78, 29 March 1879, Page 2

THE SAMOA TIMES. "Sworn to no Master„ of no Sect am I." SATURDAY, MARCH 29, 1879.

Is the Auckland Evening Star, of January 14th, ap|)i'nrn a communication from . tliat jimnnilVcmiii-iirrcs|)iiinli'ii| in Samoa. JTrom thin wo extract the following:— " Some time siiKo the three Consuls .were invited to meet an equal number of .representatives of the Samoa Uorernment, and frame laws suitable for adoption by .the Government to prevent tho.taleof iu-

toxieatiug liquors to the natives. Hut after accepting the invitation, at the last moment Wore the meeting, the British Consul, who is very fund of his " nips,' declined to act, and thus prevented a laudable endeavour."

The tone of this extract b»ars upon the face of it the proof that it Ims beeu writ-1 ten iu a vindictive spirit. No man with a spark of honour iu his composition would attack a man for his public acts, iu the manner this one has done. The correspondence itself will condemn the writer as one of those mean, cowardly individuals who always prefer to deliver tho blow from behind. We do not deem that any further comment upon this portion of the Communication is necessary from us; and we will pass un to notice a few deliberate false statements which moro immediately concern ourselvM, While still writing upon the .same subject as that mentioned iu the above extract, the Star's correspondent says: "The thing was tried a year ago, and tho American Consul, who was then bore, interfered in the same way , but while our local newspaper here then condemned the American and railed on all foreigners to unite in petitioning the other Consuls to act without hiin ; this time tho editor, an Englishman, upheld his countryman, but soon desisted, when his inconsistency was pointed out, and it was made to appear that he was controlled by personal feelings instead of principles." This is simply a tissue of falsehoods. The thing was not tried a year ago, and the American Consul who was then here did Mof interfere in the same way. Our local newspaper did nut then condemn the American and call upon all foreigners to unite in petitioning the other Consuls to act without him. This time the editor an Englishman, did not uphold his countryman only iu so far as it was just so to do. The editor's inconsistency was not pointed out, and it was not made to appear that he was controlled by personal feelings instead of principles. Now, having informed this untruthful, and very unreliable correspondent what we did not do, we will proceed to tell him what we hare done. On the 10th of February, 1878, Sir Arthur Gordon arrived here to deliver the Queen's message to the natives in answer to a petition they sent her. and to assist them in forming a stable Government. Before Sir Arthur took any action in the matter he asked the German and American Consuls to join him. To this invitation the German Consul willingly responded, whilst the American Consul not only refused to take part fnj the conference, but positively obstructed, by his advice to the natives, the good that Sir Arthur and Mr. Weber may have been able to effect. This dog in the manger business we condemned in no measured terms. In our issue of June 15th, we, in writing about drunkenness amongst the natives, said, "Therefore we urge upon the foreign residents Jo unite in this matter and petition the Consuls to put some restrictions upon the supply of intoxicants to natives." In our issue of October 19th, having beeu called upon by " Sumn Cniqun " to explain why we did not censure tho British Consul for objecting to take part in the proposed meeting of Consuls, wo stated that it was not the duty of the British Consul to make laws for the Government i of Samoa. Now, mark tho difference; in June we called upon the foreigner* to petition the Consuls ; iu October, had it not been for the objection of the British Consul, tho Consuls would have taken the matter in hand without any reference ichatecerto tlu foreigner* Now, our argument is this, that the Consuls have no power whatever to make laws for the government of either foreigners or natives in this country. Our object, therefore, in urging the foreigners to unite in petitioning the Consuls was, that, although it would not give them any more power, legally, to make the regulation, it would give the'foreign combination a kind of moral binding that they would be more likely to respect than if they simply resolved amongst themselves not to supply natives with intoxicating liquors. These , combinations even have been tried before; • the Consuls have joined in the same manner as we have suggested, and they have failed. Notwithstanding that the people, whose trade would, to a certain extent, bo injured by tho restriction, petitioned for, and the Consuls agreed to, a liquor law, it had no legal force, and hence, as soon as anyone saw fit to break it, ho could do so with impunity; therefore how is it possible that tho Consuls alone could enforce their regulation. We are desir-1 ous of seeing restrictions put upon the supply of intoxicating liquor (o natives, but we are not going to mi limit to any arbitrary or illegal measures iu order that it may be brought about. If it were lawful for a Consul, or all tho Consuls combined, to restrict the Rale of intoxicating liquors, it would bo equally as lawful for them to make tho hotel-keepers pay a license, and to impose a duty upon the importation of the liquor; thispower.they decidedly ha'o not got. # Our duty hi to watoh the interests of the people, and wo I

will not quietly submit to laws mail* by anyone, who La* not received tie- saoe'iou of the people no to Jo. In conclusion, we certainly fail to see where we liave shown any inconsistency, or whe e wh have shown that we were controlled l>y personal feelings instead of principles We would advise these newspaper scribblers to read well the lu\"k number* of the Samoa Timk.s before they publish to the world their utter ignorance of fact*, and charge us with improper motives In this particular instance we have reason to believe that the writer is a high official in Samoa ; if this is so we would advise hiui not to touch upon political matters in his newspaper correspondence, as it is prohibited by his instructions. Verb, sap.