THE SAMOA TIMES. "Sworn to no Master. of no Sect am I." SATURDAY, APRIL 5, 1879.

Samoa Times and South Sea Gazette, Volume 2, Issue 79, 5 April 1879, Page 2

THE SAMOA TIMES. "Sworn to no Master. of no Sect am I." SATURDAY, APRIL 5, 1879.

Whenever a new country is brought.be- . fore the notice of the world there lis .elways » large quantity and variety of . newspaper correspondence and articles .written upon it Perhaps the most injurious, is that which paints it in the • blackest dye, or which sketches it in the most radiant -colours. Notwithstanding that these two pictures of the country are so widely different in colouring, they are closely allied in the effect they have upon retarding its progress. Of the two the one that .does the most damage is that which—for reasons best known to the writer—would have people believe that the country to which they refer is a regular £1 Dorado or Paradise, for it raises false hopes in the minds of, and often brings utter ruin upon, those who credit the account written. Again, we look upon this style of writing of a country as its worst enemy, because out of its ■ effects the detractors in most cases arise. The man who, in the hopes of living in a oountry..flowing with milk and honey, breaks .up his comfortable home, gives up his situation, and leaves a country where he was known and could live in comparatively easy circumstances, and finds that he has to wqrk equally as hard, if not harder, for his living than where he had pre viously resided; finds hi* hopes blasted, • bis airy castles shattered to pieces, and nothing but the baseless ftbrie of his bright, visions left, he takes a sweet revenge, if ,he can write, in writing an ac- , count, the very reverse of that which led .. him astray. . Instead of denouncing the , writer .of the bright picture, or his own . folly in allowing himself to be led away , by such.a glowing account without first , .waking inquiries as to how far it could ~ be. relied upon, he curses the country, and . thereby, in a greater or less degree, retardate progress. This has, to a great extent,, heen the. experience of Fiji. (From ,time to time there hare appeared, ija various newspapers, many . overdrawn sketches of Samoa. We . extract one of the latest, from the Alta < California, of January 3rd, which will be iiumt A ia. another column. Every paragraph inrit.contains s misstatement, and jpicaes that the writer is either woefully ignorant of Sajnoan affairs or he is deI Überatel/ .untruthful. We do not deem ,that it.is.at.jail necessary for us to go in , to * long refutation of that article, but .will Bt*te that were the matter not so old, .and..did it.not inquire too much space, we co.uld show, that Steinberger's removal fcom these islands could be directly traced to his. am, acta. The most glaring, false and Indicrous part 0 f the article is the last paragraph. We would liko to know when,tbe.taxes were paid in, " kind" 1 Then is. one thing we are certain of, and that is that the natives do not cheerfully acquiesce, in paying it, for there arc very few of; them who have paid any taxes .whatever for the past three years. We Ewepkesy that the bonds of the Samoan ■'• (ioverument" will never be quoted in the, Son Francisco stock lists at "par" and "in demand," whilst that "little band of chiefs " hold the reins of Government, unless our American cousins are i less .'cute in these matters than, they have got oredit for. We have no objection to - the Californian papers writing as many fabulous articles on Samoa as they like, .but we do objott,to people being brought

hen) uuder him pretence*. We have seen the effect of this oaee, afed we have uo wish to >e« it again. At the time when the Tieaty m signed in Washington, the American papers informed the world that Samoa was under the protection of the United State*, that there would be a stable Government formed, and that Samoa was the spot for people to go to if they wished to make a rapid fortune. This caused some fifteen mechanics to take their passages in the Storm Bird for this place, and the result was that the majority left as quickly as possible, and the few who have remained here are thoroughly disgusted with the state of affairs at present existing. That Samoa will be a thriving country some day there is no doubt, but that will never be while the present native " Government" exists.