THE Samoa Weekly Herald.

Samoa Weekly Herald, Volume 1, Issue 2, 3 December 1892, Page 3

THE Samoa Weekly Herald.

For t-ie c»n>e that bteks assistance. For the wrong that needs resistance, (be t A..:, in tho uUlante, And the goo.! that w„ can do.

SATURDAY\ DECEMBER 3. It is really pitiful to sue to what desperate straits tho Municipality of Apia lias been reduced in the space of a few months. Bat yesterday everything .was progressing satisfactorily. Good roads wore being laid out and formed, , and other necessary and important pub--1; works were projected. The Municipal revenue was being collected without dillieulty, and the taxpayers rendered their tribute promptly and cheerfully. The Municipal Magistrate’s Court was in full operation, and there was an efficient police force under the charge of a zealous and able officer. The Council had on its books a surplus to >ts credit of upwards of §20,000, which - it was proposed to expend on works of permanent utility. Jjt is quite true Hint sometimes there was a regrettable amount of friction between some of the Councillors and the President. It Is also true that occasionally there was •friction oven, of an aeuto and sensational nature, between some of tho Councillors themselves. Sometimes the actions of the Councillors wore •uch as to call for criticism of a severe nature, and tho eoll was responded to with an alacrity and heartiness which d id not fail to produce a wholesome ffoct. But still, on tho whole, matters .v ore managed satisfactorily, a result .or which tho Consular Board aro no doubt entitled to some credit, as in 'not a few instances they proved a salutary check «u the hasty or injudicious action of tho Council. Now all is changed. Probably in no other port of tho world has a Municipal Corporation ever beeu reduced to such a painfully humiliating position, a position for which, in bare justice to the Councillors themselves, wo must state they arc in no wise responsible. Tho property which was purchased for municipal purposes, and upon which it was proposed to erect suitable and commodious buildings, lies subject to a mortgage beyond tho power of the Council to redeem or oven reduce. Not a cept of tho purchase money has boon paid, while tho Council has been compelled to appeal —and not in vain—to the clemency of the mortgagee for an extension of time within which to pay tho first instalment on tho purchase. Tho Magistrate has boon stripped of the most important portion of Ids jurisdiction, with tho result that many offences committed within the Municipality gb unpunished, and in other cases the citizens take tho law into their own (lands, and however much we mny oi l inclined to excuse, if not to tlfy, theirconduci,nll lovers of good order will deplore theneciwity for such rougii and ready methods of administering punishment to evildoers. For throe successive mouths the police and other officials of the Municipality have applied in vain for the payment of their salaries. Even the lamplighter plods his rounds night by night, but his toil is unrewarded by the pittance which is his due. Thojoiortgnge of £l6O ou.

tho pilot station is overdue. The mortgagees are pressing for payment, and there are no means wherewith to meet their just demand. Small debts whichhave been incurred for occasional work and other matters remain unpaid. The Council is indebted to the benevolence of an individual Councillor, who has advanced the money to pay for a small bridge erected across a creek at tho back of tho unpaid-for Municipal property; but-the bridge stands desolate and useless, a melancholy monument of things gono wrong; an indubitable and mournfully emphatic evidence of the Council's impeeuniosity, for there is no money to pay for the tilling in of the approaches to the bridge. Nor is this all. Only this week the police boat, the Magistrate's desk, the chairs in which the Councillors sit at their meetings, and other articles belonging to tho Municipality ' were placed in pawn to raise the means of satisfying a judgment for the paltry sum of less than £35. In addition to all this it is claimed that tho Municipality is indebted to the Samoan Government for §17,000 or S18.00" There is no exaggeration here. It is a plain statement of tho bald, bare, brutal facts. We challenge contradiction, for refutation is impossible. It may be said that tho Councillors ought to proceed with the collection of C 5 Tax. Perhaps they ought. Wo are not at all sure it is not their duty to do so: but would that improve matters? Tho tax would realise S'-0° n . a mere drop in the bucket. How far would it go in reducing the total indebtedness J Would it go in that direction at all ? Would it not be absorbed in payment of tho President's salary? This SSOOO salary is tho vampire which is sucking tho life blood out of the Municipality. It is the incubus which is crushing it out of existence. It is absolutely necessary that we should bo relieved from this intolerable burden. How long are we to wait and suffer? Relieved from this burden, Municipal Government would be possible, even without tho Customs revenue, though its usefulness would be very restricted, and public works practically impossible But while this nightmare is upon us wo lio strangled and helpless. What wonder that the mutterings of discontent grow louder and stronger ! What wonder that the Councillors refuso to require us to pay moro taxes when there is not even a shadow of return for tho money in any shape ! What wondor that there is something like a growing unanimity in tho determination of our residonts not to pay any taxes at all next year unless relief comes. All thoso who desire tho welfare of Samoa will deeply regret tho necessity for such oxtromo measures, but when we recall tho fact that tho President's action was tho immediate, if not tho primary cause of our financial distress, and that his salary at present absorbs tho whole of tho Municipal revenue, and does not then satisfy his claim, no one will bo surprised if tho Council next year should adopt 'old established precedents, and ''refuse supplies."

he need not havo gono out of his house, for ho could havo delivered tho document to the Secretary of State, who has his official abiding place under the same sacred roof which shelters the Baron. We feel quite sure that it would be perfectly regular for him to leave Samoa immediately after the King has accepted his resignation. Wo have no doubt that on the President oxpressing to His Majesty his desire to leave tho country as soon as possible, the King would, promptly and graciously—porhaps oven cordially—accede to his request, and relieve him —and us. The experiment is at least worth trying. Ono thing is certain—the hand which appointed him is the only proper hand in which his resignation should be placed. Perhaps, however, the President may feel some delicacy and reluctance in voluntarily offering to deprive the King of his services, though this supposition scarcely accords with the report of his resignation. However, this difficulty, if it exists, can be easily overcome by tho Municipal Council. Let the Council pass a resolution requesting tho King to ask the President to resign, and all difficulties vanish, for no doubt His Majesty would at onco comply with tho Council's request. We are rather surprised that the Council has' not adopted this course before. It sooms to us to be strictly regular and proper. It may be asked, What would bo the position if this were done and the President after all refused to resign on being asked to do B0 ? Wo reply, first, that such a course would bo almost without parallel. It will be objected to, this that in Samoa we establish precedents—somewhat remarkable ones—but very seldom follow them. But, in the second place, it would then be quite competent for tho King to at once dismiss the official he had appointed. It would not only be competent for him to do so, but it would be tho only course he could adopt with any respect for himself or his Government. Tho dernier resort would bo for tho Secretary of State to communicato the King's request and the President's refusal to the Three Powers, and there can bo no doubt ns to what the reply would be.