Kamerun
Kamerun, on the Gulf of Guinea, south of Togoland, and bounded on the north by British Nigeria and on the south by the French Gaboon (Rio Campo), comprises 291,000 square miles, including 100,000 square miles ceded to Germany out of French Equatorial Africa as the price of the Moroccan Settlement, under the Franco-German agreement of 1911.
The physical features are very similar to Togoland, but much of the interior is mountainous—the foothills and fertile slopes being covered with dense vegetation.
There is the usual German population of officials and merchants—1,871 in number; and a native population of 2,500,000.
While not so prosperous as Togoland, Kamerun has nevertheless been developed on the usual German plan of officialism; but the natives have not proved so tractable. It is possible that the Dualla tribes still feel the disappointment at having their petitions for protection by Great Britain ignored; one German writer, indeed, speaks of the Dualla natives as a hindrance to progress.
Kamerun was administered by an Imperial Governor, a Chancellor and two secretaries, with a local council of three merchants. Professor Bönn pointed out that there are ample signs of the growing strength of the administration, and gives as an instance that there is a yearly increase in the number of native criminals brought to justice. The ever-increasing returns of the hut tax, too, which in the Kamerun has nearly doubled in the last four years, is pointed to as proof of increased administrative efficiency.
Kamerun stretches into the interior to Lake Tchad, in the direction of which a railway has been built for 400 miles.
The trade of the Colony in 1912 amounted to £1,629,895 imports and £1,102,803 exports, the latter being the usual tropical products.
Cotton is known to have been grown and cultivated round about Lake Tchad for centuries, and agricultural experimental stations have been established in the lake districts. As in Togoland, the agriculture is all in native hands.
Kamerun has been held back by transport difficulties which it was hoped to overcome by building railways, and railway projects were propagated energetically which it was hoped to carry into effect shortly.
The usual means of transport, as in other parts of the coast, is by native carrier; and the villages are therefore grouped within a reasonable distance of the main trade routes, paths which the chiefs and people are responsible for keeping in order.
Palm-oil and copra are, as in the other West African Colonies, the chief articles of export; and palm kernels are daily coming more and more into use in Europe as a substitute for butter, and for the manufacture of cattle-food, etc. Two-thirds of the copra exported from Kamerun, amounting to £300,000 worth in 1912, went to Germany and one-third to England.
In the Colony itself five oil works have been established, but owing to lack of transport it is calculated that three-fourths of the yield of the oil palm trees is left to rot on the ground unused.
The forests of Kamerun hold an immense quantity of trees bearing timber of excellent quality, and this to the value of £35,000 was exported in 1912.
Round the Kamerun mountains exist large tracts under cultivation of cocoa, of which 4,550 tons, valued at £212,500, were exported in 1912. The natives have been urged to extend this industry, and travelling instructors were appointed by the Government to train them in the best methods of cultivation. More and more fresh as well as dried bananas, too, have been exported from Kamerun, and this trade offers a promising field of enterprise.
Ten per cent of the exports of the Colony go to England, while nearly 15 per cent of the imports are of British origin.
The native policy is in the Kamerun worse, if possible, than in Togoland, and the natives have been systematically sweated. While the revenue is principally obtained from customs dues and a general ad valorem duty on imported goods (with preference in favour of Germany of course), a poll tax is levied upon natives, together with a toll upon those using Government roads. There is every reason to believe that the Dualla natives will hail with delight deliverance from the German yoke.
The British West African Frontier Force on 25th August, 1914, crossed the Anglo-German frontier from Nigeria, and after considerable opposition and suffering appreciable losses, advanced on Dualla.
H.M.S. Cumberland and Dwarf had, while these events were taking place on land, reconnoitred the mouth of the Kamerun River and the approaches to Dualla, at the same time capturing a number of German merchant liners.
On 24th September French troops from Libreville attacked Ukoko in Corisco Bay, attended by the French warship Surprise. The French and British forces combined on 27th September in an attack on the towns of Dualla and Bonaberi, following upon a bombardment by the British ships; and the towns surrendered unconditionally to the allied force, after destroying the wireless station.
Although some 1,500 prisoners were taken, a large portion of the garrisons, some 2,000 (whites) in number, managed to escape to concentrate in the interior. Of the prisoners 500 were handed over to the French and the remainder, owing to the difficulty of feeding them, sent to England.
[CHAPTER V]
THE PACIFIC ISLANDS
Of the islands in the southern seas where the Indian and Pacific Oceans meet, and amongst which Australia forms a fifth continent, some are mere vaults in which repose the relics of ill-advised and vainly attempted ventures, whilst others are fruitful gardens wherein flourish the trees whose sturdy growth testifies to the good seed from which they sprang and the skill of the gardeners who planted them.
The Archipelagos lying south of the China Seas were first explored from the west by the Portuguese and Dutch in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, but the steel glove upon which the mailed fist seems afterwards to have been modelled failed to retain a hold upon the territory which it grasped.
The Portuguese, indeed, abandoned their enterprises in the southern seas in favour of developing their trade between Goa and the east coast of Africa. They excelled as navigators and explorers, but the whole of their history shows that they have never formed any conception of the principles of administration.
GERMAN COLONIES IN THE PACIFIC, 1914.
(Reproduced by permission of The Times.)
The Dutch concentrated on Java, Sumatra and Borneo, and ever since have waged war with the natives.
It seems strange that both these nations should have decentralised Colonial interests away from their home countries, in striking contrast to our own country which has pursued a policy binding her oversea dominions closer and closer to the motherland—a policy which has eventuated in the formation of a comity of nations firmly united by the bonds of sentimental tradition and common commercial interest.
The Portuguese made Goa the centre of their East African and Eastern enterprises,[G] and the Dutch placed the Cape of Good Hope (while it was in their possession) under the administration of Batavia in the Island of Java.
The spice trade attracted adventurers of all the pioneering nations. Spain made extensive voyages of discovery and plunder in the South Seas, and their galleons for many years provided the excitement of the chase as well as profit in "double pieces of eight" for British sea rovers; but the Spanish acquired but a tentative hold upon territory, and this was finally released by the Spanish-American War of 1901.
The legacy of Spain to the South Seas was the romantic occupation of searching for wrecks bearing cargoes of doubloons and the abandoned booty of pirates, which they seem to have collected for the specific purpose of burying in brass-clamped chests on uninhabited islands for the benefit of the adventurous spirit who might in future years display sufficient enterprise and determination to find his way through the maze which surrounded the prizes.
The latter part of the seventeenth century saw one of the greatest periods of British activities in venturing trade abroad, albeit it often-times took the form of preying upon the rich cargoes collected by the Dutch, Spanish, and Portuguese marauders. This, however, was then the most approved and recognised form of commerce.
Direct trade in Borneo and Sumatra by the British was commenced in about 1685, and "factories" were established to develop the spice trade which was then the richest of the East, a cargo of pepper-corns being regarded as one of the most valuable that could avoid a meddlesome buccaneer and be safely brought to port.
The voyages of Captain Cook, whose name ranks high amongst the pioneers of our Empire, and who discovered and named many of the island groups as well as the east coast of Australia, where he hoisted the British flag, really firmly established British interests in the South Seas, after strenuous struggles with the Dutch who regarded the area as most particularly their "sphere of influence."
Through the last decades of the eighteenth century British influence and prestige grew, and the apathy of the statesmen at home was not allowed by their sons on the spot to interfere with energetic development and settlement which proceeded apace.
Coming rather late in the day, France was, through private British enterprise, forestalled in her principal designs which were centred on New Zealand, and her "protection" was only extended to some small island groups such as New Caledonia, lying between Australia and Fiji, and for which she found use as penal establishments.
The big prizes of the Pacific—Australia, Tasmania, and New Zealand—had fallen to the heritage of Great Britain, and development rather concentrated on these magnificent offshoots of British oak.
There were other important groups of islands, however, which, although locally regarded as natural adjuncts of the Australian Settlements, were not definitely taken possession of. The most important of these were New Guinea and the Samoan group.
New Guinea is divided from the Queensland province of Australia by the shoal-dotted Torres Straits, about 90 miles wide; while the Samoan Islands lie east of Fiji.
The Portuguese Magellan was the first discoverer in the sixteenth century of New Guinea (also known as Papua), while the new name appears to have been given to the island by Ortiz de Retez, who laid down certain points.
During the centuries succeeding, New Guinea received frequent visitors representing European nations, amongst them Captain Cook and Tasman, whose name is perpetuated in Tasmania though the island for many years bore the name of his lieutenant, Van Diemen, and was known as "Van Diemen's Land."
New Guinea was also frequently visited by Chinese fishing junks in search of bêche-de-mer, or trepang.
The Dutch from their adjacent settlements in Java and Borneo were supreme in the north of New Guinea without exercising any effective jurisdiction, and relied upon the difficult navigation of New Guinea waters for a continuance of their exclusiveness.
Towards the end of the eighteenth century they (the Dutch) had practically a monopoly of the spice trade, and were extremely jealous of any other nations obtaining a footing in spice islands, where their monopoly might be jeopardised. They obstinately refused all access to New Guinea; but the Dutch barrier was broken down by emissaries of the British East India Company in search of spice islands, and in 1793 New Guinea was annexed by two commanders in the service of the company, and the territory was thereafter regarded as an adjunct of Queensland, although no steps were taken for an administrative occupation.
In 1828 the Dutch erected a fortress to protect the rights they claimed in New Guinea, but this they abandoned in 1835.
While Samoa and numerous other groups of islands were not incorporated in the dominions of the countries whose explorers "discovered" them, and their savage inhabitants were allowed to continue their own administration, a brisk British trade sprang up between Australasia and the islanders.
The necessity for bringing either New Guinea or the Samoan group under direct rule was not an expediency that presented itself as an urgent one to either the Imperial British or Australian Governments as long as fair trading conditions prevailed on harmonious lines and the lives and private property of British traders were safeguarded, until in about 1880 the tips of the tentacles of the German octopus delicately spread out to seek the spots whereon to plant the suckers of trading stations, behind them the unlidded eyes of Imperial Protection watching to gauge the value of the prize and the parrot-beaked maw ready to grasp for the satisfaction of Prussian greed.
A flourishing inter-coastal and island trade had long been established by the United States of America, but until 1898, when they annexed Hawaii and occupied Samoa, the United States adhered to their doctrine of not attempting territorial acquisition outside their own continental borders.
By 1883 the Germans had firmly established themselves commercially, and their influence began to be most markedly denoted in disaffection amongst the natives and in inter-tribal wars—notably in Samoa.
In this year the British New Guinea Colonising Society proposed an expedition to Lord Carnarvon, who was then Colonial Secretary, but the minister declined to lend his support to an enterprise which he considered entailed too much risk.
The enterprise was imagined in collaboration with supporters of Imperial extension in Australasia, and, acting on their own initiative, the Government of Queensland, with the approval of the whole of Australia, annexed a portion of New Guinea to her dominions; but this act was disavowed by the British Government and declared to be "null in point of law and not to be admitted in point of policy."
Queensland most determinedly represented to the Government of Australia and our Imperial minister the danger to her commerce if New Guinea were to fall into the hands of a foreign Power by annexation.
The prospect did not appear alarming to the home statesmen, nor did further annexation of the South Sea Islands enter into their scheme of practical politics; and, therefore, when the proclamation of a Protectorate over the whole of New Guinea and the adjacent islands (including the New Britain Archipelago, the Solomon, Caroline, Palau, Marshall, and Ladrone Islands) under a High Commissioner was determined on at a conference held by the Australian Colonies at Sydney in 1883 and recommended to the Imperial Government, our Colonial Office met the proposal with discouragement.
In November, 1884, however, the Home Government was persuaded to proclaim in New Guinea a Protectorate over the region lying "between the 141st meridian eastward as far as East Cape, with the adjacent islands as far as Kosman Island."
This brought under the British flag the southern portion of New Guinea, known as Papua, only; but in other parts of the islands there were British settlements originating in Australia which were left under no effective jurisdiction.
In December, 1884, the Germans, having firmly established themselves commercially in the Samoan Islands, began to definitely and formally annex territory; the German flag was hoisted in the northern part of New Guinea and on several of the adjacent islands, and the German "Colony" received the unpromising name of "Kaiser Wilhelm's Land."
The Australian Colonies immediately lodged an indignant protest; but arrogance, overglossed with suavity, carried the day, and a friendly agreement in regard to New Guinea was made between Great Britain and Germany in 1885, whereby the latter assumed administration over the northern portion of the island, to subjection of the jurisdiction of which were later added the Caroline, Palau and Marianne Islands.
"New Britain" undertook the responsibility of the name "Bismarck Archipelago"; and the principal island of the group was renamed New-Pommern, with its capital at Herbertshöhe.
In 1888 British New Guinea was constituted a separate Colony, but the administration was, in 1902, placed in the hands of the Commonwealth of Australia.
Up to 1884 affairs in the islands comprising the kingdom of Samoa had proceeded along the lines of progress, and the three nations chiefly concerned in the Samoan trade (Great Britain, Germany, and the United States of America) were conducting commerce without friction until the Germans felt strong enough to assume an aggressive attitude, not only towards their trade rivals but also the native Samoans whose property they coveted.
The German influence began to be most markedly denoted in disaffection amongst the natives and in inter-tribal wars. It was in 1884, indeed, that the German pretensions to a say in the administrative control of Samoa began to be recognised by Great Britain and the United States as the German faculty for instigating disputes amongst the islanders made desirable the institution of some European control over the native administration.
The affairs of State in Samoa were conducted under the rule of native kings (two) and chiefs, but constant feuds and bickerings disturbed the tranquillity of the islands.
It was really German influence that was the disturbing element, for inter-tribal strife was fomented in order that "repressive measures for the establishment of law and order" on the part of the Imperial Government might elevate German prestige.
Apia, the chief town on the principal island of the Samoan group, Upolu, became the centre of trade of the eastern South Sea Islands, though its chief importance to the outside world exists in its incentive to a distinguished memory. Agreements were made by the Samoan kings at various dates with Great Britain, the United States and Germany. Each of the treaty agreements contained a "most-favoured-nation" clause, and empowered the foreign state to form naval stations and coaling depots at various parts of the island group.
In April, 1885, it was deemed advisable by the British Government to appoint a Commissioner to confer with a nominee of the German Government upon the subject of British and German interests respectively in such parts of the Western Pacific Ocean as might be placed by either Government under its special protection, with a view to recommending the adoption by both Governments of such principles as, in the opinion of the Commissioners, might be applied to better regulate and protect the interests of their respective subjects, each within the other's region of jurisdiction.
The movement was inaugurated by the German Government and was the old game successfully played by Luderitz in South West Africa of applying to the Imperial German Government for its "powerful protection" as soon as commercial interests were well established.
The British Commissioner was Mr Thurston, who seems to have throughout been altogether dominated by the German nominee and to have cheerfully acquiesced in and recommended to our Government the adoption of every suggestion put forward by the German Representative.
The Commission, which dealt exclusively with the position of the three treaty nations in Samoa, submitted that the existing unsettled state of affairs in Samoa under the native kings and chiefs was incompatible with the maintenance of peace and order and destructive of the best interests both of the Samoans themselves and of the foreign residents in the islands, and did not see any hope of improvement owing to the long-standing feuds and divisions of the natives.
They recommended, therefore, that a real and immediate improvement in the social and economical conditions of Samoa would be best secured if the administration of the native Government was assumed by one of the treaty Powers; the sovereignty of the King of Samoa and the independence of the islands continuing to be recognised, and due care being taken by pre-arrangement to secure all rights justly acquired.
As an alternative, another scheme was submitted for reconstructing the native Government upon the general lines of a Crown Colony Government.
It was agreed that the sovereignty of Samoa was to be permanently confirmed upon King Malietoa and his heirs, and that a Council of Chiefs (called the King's Council) should be created to advise and assist the King in the administration of government.
Here the German Commissioner showed the cloven hoof by suggesting that the Council should consist of eight members: four native Samoans and four Europeans, of which latter two were to be nominated by Germany, one by Great Britain, and one by America.
By virtue of their treaty the Germans set up a sort of Germano-Samoan Council for the special control of the two principal harbours, Apia and Saluafata; but the establishment of similar Anglo-Samoan and Americo-Samoan Councils was hardly an expedient measure if friction were to be avoided.
The principal object of the Commission was, so far as Great Britain was concerned, the suppression of inter-tribal feuds and warfare, to maintain which the Samoans were bartering away their land and all other possessions in order to obtain rifles and ammunition. Dr Krauel, the German Commissioner, in making the recommendation that the administration of the native government should be assumed by one of the treaty Powers, suavely proposed that "having regard to the great preponderance of German commercial interests in Samoa, the task of forming a better administration should be entrusted, in the first instance, to the German Government."
On the alternative proposal, Dr Krauel thought that this commercial preponderance of Germany should meet recognition by the nomination of two German representatives as against one each of the other treaty Powers on the proposed King's Council.
Mr Thurston, the British Commissioner, was sufficiently impressed with the representations of his German colleague to suggest to his Government the adoption of the suggestions, which meant German control over the whole administration.
Before any action was taken upon the recommendations of the Commission, the Germans took matters into their own hands; and on 31st December, 1885, King Malietoa was driven by a German force from his seat of Government, and the Samoan flag hauled down by German forces from a man-o'-war.
Inquiries elicited the fact that "the object of the German Representative was not to abolish the Samoan Government by force, but only to take reprisals against King Malietoa."
The foundation for the first act of direct aggression on the part of the Germans seems to have arisen in the sale of a portion of Apia to an American, who transferred the deeds to a German—the purchase price being only five hundred dollars. The land was looked on by the Samoans as the centre of the seat of their Government; and very rightly, too, as it covered the whole harbour of Apia.
The King, Malietoa, offered five thousand dollars to the German holder to rescind the sale, but was met with a curt refusal of his offer; following upon which a German proclamation was immediately issued, drawing attention to alleged grievances of Germany, more especially in respect of the violations of treaty agreements, and declaring the intention of the German Government to take, in reparation, "possession of the lands of the village and district of Apia, in which is included Malinuu (the seat of Government) and the harbour of Apia, to hold possession under the supreme control that was under the Government of Malietoa, for the Government of Germany."
The Samoans were informed in the proclamation that it was only the "municipality" that was being taken possession of, and the document concludes with a characteristic Hohenzollern touch: "I beseech you to be at peace and to have confidence in the Government of Germany and myself. Then will Samoa indeed be happy!"
An impartial inquiry into the arbitrary action of the Germans was suggested, but the German Imperial Government temporised the while a movement was set on foot by Germans in Samoa to upset the rule of Malietoa and replace him by one of their own creatures who had been plentifully bribed with the two things dearest to the native—spirits and firearms.
King Malietoa was informed by the British Consul that an inquiry was to be held, and that his kingship could not be jeopardised, the three Powers, Great Britain, Germany, and America, having jointly agreed to recognise and maintain his authority.
To subdue the ardour of the more impetuous amongst his people, Malietoa issued the following proclamation to the Chiefs of Samoa:
"Chiefs,—I call upon you to keep quiet, and not to entertain foolish fears, for the English Consul, W. Powell, has assured me that in a short time Samoa will be once more united under the Government of Malietoa, for England does not undertake anything which she does not carry through; and all that England undertakes she does carry through. What Germany does, on the other hand, is merely commenced, and is not concluded. Let us place confidence in these words, which will be fulfilled."
The German Ambassador in London, in discussing the Samoan question with our own Foreign Minister, the Earl of Iddlesleigh, referred rather bitterly to King Malietoa's proclamation, and Lord Iddlesleigh readily agreed that it was very offensive.
A further joint Commission was held on the affairs of Samoa late in the year 1886, in the early months of which Malietoa had offered to place Samoa under the protection of the United States—which offer was accepted by the American Consul, but his action immediately repudiated by his Government.
No workable form of administration could, however, be agreed upon by the three Powers—the reason being that the Germans were determined to pursue their fixed aim of acquiring the absolute control of Samoa.
The rule of Malietoa, who had been recognised in authority by treaty agreements, was irksome to them; and towards the end of 1887 they demanded satisfaction from Malietoa for alleged robbery and insults to German subjects, whom they declared had been attacked when returning from celebrating the birthday of the German Emperor.
The required redress not being forthcoming, Malietoa was declared deposed by the Germans, and one Tamasese was set up in his place. The English and American Consuls did not participate in the recognition of Tamasese.
A state of anarchy now prevailed for a time; and inter-tribal combats took place all over the islands, centring about Apia. An insurrection was engineered by the Germans which was headed by Matiafa, who was attacked by Malietoa; and the opportunity having, as the Germans considered, arrived for the action of the mailed fist, Germany declared war on Malietoa.
In March, 1889, relations between the three Powers became extremely strained in regard to Samoa, and warships of all the nations concerned appeared off Apia.
The story of the hurricane that swept the harbour on the 16th March, in the teeth of which the British Calliope alone pounded her way out to sea and safety to the ringing cheers of the American sailors, is stirringly told in Robert Louis Stevenson's "A Footnote to History."
The Calliope, fighting the tempest and making less than a knot an hour, upheld the traditions of British seamanship; while the ribs of the German flagship Adler serve the purpose of providing a mournful monument to the death of German ambitions in Samoa.
Until Samoan administrative affairs were finally settled, her history consists of no more than a record of squabbles and intrigues.
Every fresh effort only demonstrated more clearly the futility of control by the three Powers, one of which was fixed in her determination to be supreme.
A convention was, indeed, signed at Berlin in 1889 under which the Samoan Islands were declared to be independent neutral territory, Great Britain, Germany, and the United States to have equal rights, and the King Malietoa, who was a strong opponent of German claims, was again recognised as King.
Matiafa, who had been stirred into insurrection for their own purposes by the Germans, now supported Malietoa, who received a vociferous welcome from the Samoans on his return to Apia in his regal capacity.
Shortly after his reinstatement, however, Malietoa wearied of his office and resigned his throne, which was no sinecure, in favour of his friend Matiafa. The latter's election by the people was necessary; but having duly gone through the formula, he assumed the sceptre with Malietoa as "vice-King."
The subordinate position, however, was unsatisfactory to Malietoa, and by concert of the Powers he was reinstated in his former position—a proceeding which Matiafa strongly disapproved of, and he attacked Malietoa with a strong force.
The Powers again intervened conjointly, and Matiafa was subdued and deported.
A further rebellion against Malietoa's rule was suppressed, and the affairs of Samoa began to present some appearance of law and order when Mr Henry Ide, an American, was appointed Chief Justice—a position of great responsibility. He seems, however, to have been over-strenuous in his dispensation of justice, for in less than a year his repressive measures created a state of Civil War.
In November, 1894, the unsatisfactory condition of affairs induced the Government of New Zealand to come forward with a proposal to establish a Protectorate over Samoa, and an expressed desire to undertake the administration of the islands.
The proposal was not entertained by our Home Government; and while it is probable that such an arrangement would have met with the approval of the United States, it is certain that Germany would have strenuously objected.
Further insurrections in 1894 brought about joint intervention by Great Britain and Germany, and the bombardment by ships of the two countries; while the death of Malietoa in 1898 necessitated another naval demonstration.
A serious dispute, which might have had far reaching consequences but for the tact displayed by our Consular Service, arose over the election of a king to succeed Malietoa. The claimants to the throne were Tanu, son of Malietoa, and Matiafa.
In January, 1899, Chief Justice Chambers, an American, in whose hands the final decision lay, decided in favour of Tanu in accordance with the international agreement whereby the throne was secured to Malietoa and his heirs.
The decision, however, met with the strong disapproval of the Germans, who instigated Matiafa to rebel; and a serious outbreak occurred, in the course of which the greater part of Apia was burned.
A force of British marines was landed from H.M.S. Porpoise, on which Mr Chambers and other Europeans took refuge.
A provisional Government was now formed by Dr Raffel, a German, and President of the Municipal Court of Apia; and he proclaimed himself Chief Justice in spite of the protests of the British and American Consuls.
The Consuls appealed to Captain Sturdee of the Porpoise to assist in the reinstatement of Mr Chambers, and he sent ashore a threat to bombard the town if any resistance were offered to Mr Chambers in resuming his seat as Chief Justice.
Mr Chambers was opposed by the German faction, but Dr Raffel's action did not meet with the approval of the Government at Berlin, and he was recalled in February, 1899.
In the meantime, Admiral Kantz of the American navy arrived on the United States cruiser, Philadelphia, and a proclamation was issued under which Matiafa's Government was declared to be illegal under the terms of the Berlin Treaty.
A counter-proclamation was immediately issued by the German Consul, Herr Rose, the immediate result of which was that Apia was surrounded by a strong force of rebels, and riots occurred—in the course of which R. L. Stevenson's house was looted.
The British and American warships opened fire and landed forces of bluejackets, who, after some severe fighting and losses, repulsed the rebels.
On the 23rd March, 1899, Tanu was crowned King of the Samoan Islands in the presence of the Foreign Consuls, with the exception of the Representative of the German Government.
Matiafa, with German moral support, continued in rebellion, and several Anglo-American parties of bluejackets and marines were ambuscaded, though the chief rebels' posts were captured.
A state of anarchy now prevailed, and another international Commission was appointed in May, 1899, Mr Bartlett Tripp (President) representing the United States, Mr Eliot Great Britain, and Baron Sternburg Germany.
Mr Chambers' decision was confirmed by the Commission, but Tanu had wearied of his kingship and voluntarily abdicated.
Further fighting now occurred, but an agreement was signed in August, 1899, by the three Powers, under which the kingship was abolished and the Government of Samoa placed in the hands of an Administrator with a Council of the Consuls of Great Britain, Germany, and the United States, assisted by a native assembly and a High Court of Justice.
The German, Dr Solf, Municipal President, was nominated as Administrator, and Mr Osborne, the United States Consul, was appointed to act as Chief Justice in the place of Mr Chambers who had resigned.
Samoa remained under this triple administration until the 1st March, 1900, when by the Anglo-German Convention, embodied in the Samoa Treaty, the principal Samoan Islands were annexed by Germany, the Tonga, Savage, and Solomon Islands came under the rule of Great Britain, while Tutuila and the adjacent islands became the property of the United States.
On the 1st March, 1900, the German flag was hoisted over Apia.
Claims for compensation were presented for the destruction of property during the Matiafa rebellion; and these, having been submitted to the arbitration of the King of Sweden, were, in 1902, adjudged to be payable by Great Britain and the United States of America!
The surrender of Samoa to Germany was a bitter pill to New Zealand, and the Imperialist Premier, the late "Dick" Seddon, expressed himself forcibly on the subject.
In reply to the letter from the Imperial Colonial Secretary announcing British withdrawal from Samoa, Seddon, who had looked to the realisation of the dream of a federation of the Pacific Islands under the hegemony of New Zealand, wrote:
"This surrender of Samoa will in future be a source of anxiety and entail expense on Great Britain and the Colonies in preparing for and providing against eventualities. However, now that it has been done, it is necessary that immediately opportune steps should be taken to put the islands admitted to be British on a satisfactory footing. Some definite action of a forward character is required in the Pacific at the earliest opportune moment, for the surrender of Samoa has disheartened the natives in the islands, disappointed the people of Australasia, and lowered the prestige of Great Britain in this part of the world."