ELECTION OF MUNICIPAL OFFICERS.

Samoa Times and South Sea Gazette, Volume 3, Issue 117, 27 December 1879, Page 2

ELECTION OF MUNICIPAL OFFICERS.

e \ public meeting of thefoieign residents uf (he town anrl district nf Apia was hold ' in tlie Karotoga Chinch, Mntftfele, on ; Tuesday overling last, for the purpose of electing three Supervisors, to work with the throe Consuls on the Municipal Board, an Assessor, a Collector, and a Treasurer. Tito meeting was convened by 'ai including Coiikuls Zcmbsch and Dawson. Shortly after the appointed hour of meeting, 7. HO p.m., it was proposed by Mr. W. E. Agar, seconded by Mr. It. lietherington and carried unanimously that Mr. J. E. V. Alvoid siiuuld occupy the Chair for the evening. The Chairman, on taking liis seat, thanked the meeting for the honour they had conferred upon him, and after asking permission to remain seated owing to indisposition, gave the following suceint arid interesting account of the position of affairs since 'May last. Ho said ; lientlomeu, On the 291h of May last the three Consuls representing the three great nations of the United .States, tiermany and Groat Britain in Samoa, met, by invitation, four delegates from tin! then do facto Government of Samoii, and, after due deliberation bet ween the Consuls and the Delegates a certain portion of the territory of .Samoa, including Apia, was net apait with well defined boundaries, to bo recognised ns Noutral Territory pending (he threatened hostilities between tho acting Government and thoopposi. lion. Two days later, mi May :!!u„ a similar mooting ocourrcd between the Consuls and lour Delegates from the Tuamao.iga party. *lhi.i meeting like v. he approved ol the establishment of tno Neutral Territory within tho boundaries already dviinij and .ujicod upon by the

other party. On the same day that tbi- s : last meeting was held, the old Govern- i meut quitted Mulinuu and removed to | Falesin and Fasitoouta in Anna, leaving j Malietoa and his people in possession of i the Capital of Samoa. A week later, on j the 7th of June, the old Government mode a written request of the three i foreign Consuls, Mossrs. Th. Weber, Robt. S. Swauston, and Thomas M. Dawson, to assume control of, and issue regulations for tho proper government of the Neutral Territory until the final settlement of the difficulties which had then sprung up among the Samoans. Two days later, on tho 9th of June, a similar request to the Consuls came from Malietoa and his party. And this course was a most natural one. In a new community, when the de facto Government had ceased to excercise governmental functions nothing could have been more proper that so much of the Legislative and executive power as was absolutely necessary to preserve peace and order should at first bo given to responsible men who possessed certain well-known authority. Those men were tho Consuls. Accordingly, on the 13th of June, the three Consuls above named accepted the trust committed to them, and established a place of refuge for the security of the lives and property of tho foreign residents of Samoa, and of those natives who saw proper to avail themselves of the protection thus afforded. Such was tho beginning of the Consular Government of the Neutral Territory. And the Consuls at once set themselves lo work to carry out the object for which it was established, and on the very next day, June 14th, they published a proclamation and notices requesting and warning their respective countrymen not to participate with either si.le i: the pending conflict. At the sr.tnc- time, ■'.-:' the ! ■ f'ei pr •tecsprang out ef c'.is >s. Tie- people, felt a protecting power abebt them, and our little town soon began to feel the magic touch of civilization, which has since been manifested in the improvements going on about us in the way of house building, the erection of new stores, and iu tho clearing up of grounds about residences, and to some extent in road improvements. To fully appreciate the change we have only to compare the now order of things with the old; this December with last. Then night was made hideous with the bowlings of drunken natives. Heads were broken, pickets were torn from fences, and even life was endangered and taken. Nov,- order reigns in the place of confusion, and we feel safe. After the good work of establishing law and order bad been initiated by the throe Consuls already named it was not long till Great Britain had a new representative here in the person of J. Hicks Graves, Esqr., H.B.M. Consul. It may well be imagined that the other two Consuls at first felt a tremor lest the new comer might hold adverse opinions and thus mar the work begun. But it was soon discovered that he a true Briton, who believed in law and order, and who heartily joined in the movement already inaugurated. Again, four months ago, all at once, three mighty men-of-war, tho Lack wanna, Bismarck and Cormorant, representing the three groat nations of the United States, Germany and Great Britain, woro found in Apia harbour. And with the Cormorant came his Excellency, Sir Arthur Gordon, and Mr. Maudslay was already here. Surely hero was an opportunity for a division among so many nationalities. But instead ; of this it, was immediately ascertained that his Excellency the Governor of Fiji, . the Acting High Commissioner, the three Consuls, and the three Captains, Chandler, Deinhardt and Bruce were all of one mind in regard lo maintaining tho Neutral Territory intact, and preserving law and order in Apia. And. to further this purpose, on the 2nd of September all these 1 foreign representatives of the civil and • naval service entered into a Convention ; with Malietoa, within who?* province the Neutral Territory lay, and established 1 the town and district, of Apia, forming - the same into a Municipality for tho purpose of securing permanent law and order, and protection to tho lives and ...•.meHv r.f Foreign residents (vithiu its «etl.de ine-i i.miU. ~.„„,„ tl , o M „ mcipality, or town ami district of *ihad it 3 inception in, ivnd >o ti„, putgrowlh of the Neutral Territory. But after the good work begun bad got.ft oi nearly five month-:, we -■.,-, ,„, hlenly left wit'nout a thip-o/'-wai So; our protection, any the Neutral Territory wasoudaugored by the erection of fortifications on it by the old parly. The Consuls, however, were neither daunted nor discouraged and warned the trespassers away. About this time occurred another change in the Consular Board, and along came Captain Zcmbsch, H.I.C.M. Consul-General. Of course anxiety was again felt by the other Consuls to know what position lie would take, ami whether he would approve or oppose tho existing order of things, He soon manifested Ins approval however, and gave bis hearty co-opera-tion to the Consuls already here. Now how is it, if there is anything wrong about this natter that so tunny of these foreign gentlemen and representatives did not find it out ? Lot us look Jit tho roll of names: His Excellency Sir Arthur Cordon; 1i.8.M. Acting High Comuiinilonoi'i Mr. Mnudslay ; tho flvo Consuls, Messrs. Weber, Swtuutou, Dawson, Graves, Zembscli; and six uava) com- ' mauderi, three of them German'.—Cap■tftun DoiDhnrdt. Menring ami Chuden, two Englishmen— Captains Drum and i Mawu'll, utid Captain Chandler, of the 1

U, is. Navy. Hera are thirteen repreBontativcft of three groat nations, more tha>> Were ever in Samoa before iu so short a time, and not one of thi'iu dissenting or opposin'T, but all approving of and doing their best to maintain the older of tilings initiated for tho security of tho lives and property of the handful of foreign residents in this remote and iso-! luted Island. What greater sanction can j we, outside of the great Governments, i possibly have P And, so far as I have heard, tho United States Government has approved the action of its Consul, and there can hardly be a doubt about the other two. But to remove any objection to going on with the Municipality, on the 18th of November, when Sir A. Gordon paid his second visit to Samoa, a Protocol was made with Malietoa giving effect to the Municipal Convention from the dato of its signature; and to place the authority of the Consuls beyond a question again on the loth inst., through tho careful regard of Captain Deinhardt, in their Treaty of Peace, both parties of the Samoans ratified the Municipal Convention from the date of its signature. Thus the foreign representatives ami Samoans have done all that could be done here to give validity to this action. What more do we want? Now the Consuls, who have served the people seven months without remuneration, come to tho people and ask them for help in two ways. They want men and money to aid in maintaining law and order in Apia, and to make this as secure and desirable a town to live in as in any civilized country. The present income of the Consular Government consists solely of the tines imposed on olr'einlers against the regulations of the place, and of the license money received, from public houses. This has proved insufficient to meet the expenses. Mid there will he n deficit at tiie close of the year about >2oo. Of this there will due !.:e Police 87" ; to the GodctTrOV i ;■:.-• foi prison mending, io,-. SU2; '.• .'■'■■■ P:\tehnrd for service on the boundary u. I'..'.- Neutral Territory and making Charts of the town, v ;l!7: incidental expenses, 823: Total $250. Now. gentlemen, thanking you for your kind attention, we will now proceed to 11nbusiness before tho meeting. . (Applause) The following gentlemen were elected as Supervisors:—Mr. Williamson, propose,! by Mr. S. Dean and seconded by Mr. J. Davis; Mr. Volkmann, proposed bv Mr. Willis and seconded bvMr. R. lletherington; and Mr. J. Davis, proposed by Mr. Parkinson and seconded bv Mr. 0. Netzler. Mr. J. E. V. Alrorcl was unanimously elected as Assessor, on the motion of -Mr. A. Godeii'roy and seconded by Mr. Decker. Mr. T. Young was unanimously elected as Collector, on tho motion of Mr. Willis and seconded by Mr. C. 11. Rawson. Mr. A. Godoffroy was unanimously elected as Treasurer, on the motion of Mr. Volkmann and seconded bv Mr. \*. E. Agar. The elections being concluded Mr. It. Hetheringtou paid a well deserved tribute to the Consuls in a higi.lv eulogist ic terms, for the spirit and economy in which they had arranged and carried out the Neutral Territory Government, and afterwards the Municipal Board, lie hoped that all those who had hitherto been opposed lo these matters would now sec the benefit to the community that has so far been effected bv them, and that they would all bury the hatchet, smoke the calumet of peace, and lot by-gones bo by-gone*. The fact of the union of the representatives of these large powers proved that there was nothing to cavil at, and he was perfectly satisfied with the present state of things, which all ought to feed joyful about. The hearty thanks of all foreign residents were due to the Consuls, especially as we could now clearly sec, as the outcome of the work of the Consuls, a Municipality rising fr-m under our feet, in tho paiticipation of the of the government of which they had so kindly allowed tho foreign residents, at such an early stage of the pro.-o-dings to take a part. He thanked them for that privilege and for calling this meeting, and proposed that a cordial vote of thanks bo given to the Consuls for what they have done. (Applause.) Mr. S. Dean seconded the motion which was carried by acclamation, Captain Zemhsch returned thanks on behalf of himself and colleagues and called for three cheers for the Mu-iiei-wdilV of Apia, whieh was heartily responded to. A unanimous vol- of thanks having oceii presented to Mr. Alvord for the very otfecieut manner in which he had carried out the duties of tho Chair, whieh was suitably responded to by that gentleman, the meeting,—which was of a most orderly and pleasant character,—was concluded shortly before 9 o'clock.