AN EXPLANATION.

Samoa Times and South Sea Gazette, Volume 3, Issue 162, 4 September 1880, Page 2

AN EXPLANATION.

To rut KDiroit in-- Tin: svmua mux Silt, —In your issue of tho SKth ult. you gave (from the Auckland papers) an account of French movements in the Paoifio, referring more especially te Rniate.v I tannot understand how so many errors could get mixed up with eouie truth regarding the hoisting of the Fr*nch Protectorate flag on that iiland, and as some of these errors are certainly not rcry courteous to the German warship Bismarck, I think it only right to inform ! yon that although I happened to be there 1 at the tint*, and was in a position to 6bj tain reliable information, I did not hear of any such conduct as that attributed t<> tho onptA.il) cif the Bismarck; nor did i i hear of any attempt to hoist the German, I flag. It is truo that Captain Deinhardt diil propoie a Treaty of Friendship and l.'oinmerte with the King of Itaiatea which was not favourably received. It I is also true that the King and a majority of the chiefs asked for the French protectorate. It is true that Mr. Millar, 11.8.M. Consul at Tahiti, did protest againit tho action of the French Gov. eminent, so did the captain of H.B.M.S. Osproy, which visited llaiatca, but there was no German war-vessel there at the time. There can be little doubt that the steps taken by the Kiug of Kiiatea to got tho French (lag were battened, if thoy are not altcgether due to, threats made use of by two German subjects l resident on liaiatea concerning potty ■ grievances, but it is hardly fair to attribute any such conduct to the cap- i tain of tho Bismarck as is implied in tho article you quote, nor to tho German i Government oitlw. If such is to be the i rule, then, on the same principle, the i many threats of sending for shipx-of-war to avenge some real or imaginary wrong i made by liiitish subjects on some of the ' small islands I visit must be laid at the i door of Britain, But any one who has been long sailing in these seas has learnt I tfl listen to such things with indifference I < when thore is no real grievance. Oils i other point and I have done, Mr. Peaw, i tho missionary alluded to, did not a* interpreter for tho Bin ires and iilho for I the captain of tho Uiproy, and assisted i to «\plnin matter* for < 'splain Deiulinid when he was th*ie. In this way, no '

>' doubt, he assisted in bringing matters • to a conclusion, f am not aware that J | the captaiu of the Osprey took Mr. . > l'earse to task (as it is put). Why should he , Is it not a fact that I satires and foreigners alike, when they .• wish to have things fair and above-board, . are glad to get a missionary to interpret '. There must be a reason for such desire, i and it is not difficult to find. It is the i i opinion of those who only wish well to -! lUiatea that a wise step has been taken '.by the people. Under the French flag they will have a stable and paternal 9 ' government, and that is what cannot |J be hoped for among themselves. It ia becoming more apparent daily that no ' purely native government can compete I successfully with the many sharp-witted . rovers of all nations who are seeking to i benefit themselves at the expense of all, i or any, with whom they come in contact. i Tt would be a blessing if the (ireat Powers I of Europe would only of benevolence throw, ' as it were, a rinir fence round these Pacific Islands, and AW/),/''''/<'''''*'•, their prosperity. ' The French, Gel man, American, or British ' rule is certainly much more desirable than uo rule at all. I omitted to state (bat I was informed by the very best authority, that iu dcferenoe to the Treaty existing between England and France respecting Itaintea, that should the English Government still protest, the protectorate would be withdrawn, or, in other words, the flag was hoisted conditionally. However, unless the British are prepared to hoist thoir.s', ' they had bettor leave things as they are cm Raiatea.- 1 am, tec, Ot'IUX HOVKR.