WEDNESDAY, APRIL 12, 1899. THE WAR IN SAMOA.

Auckland Star, Volume XXX, Issue 85, 12 April 1899, Page 4

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 12, 1899. THE WAR IN SAMOA.

• The arrival of the mail -steamer Alameda With the latest news from Samoa has "-naturally been looked forward ; to with a great deal of interest in view of the critical state of affairs existent there when the dispatches previous to these received to-day left Apia. We regret to say that the information now to hand reveals even a worse condition, of things than obtained in the earlier period of the disturbance. Mataafa and his men still maintain , their hostile attitude with impunity. The warships have apparently been unable to reduce them to submission, or even to frighten "them with shot and shell; and worse still a land force, dispatched to punish the rebels in the only summary way that it seemed possible to strike effectually at them, has been ambuscaded, and seven officers and men of the party killed, while seven others were wounded. The story of this deplorable incident as it comes to us shows very clearly the .strength and temerity of the Mataafa warriors, and the enormous disadvantages which English and American troops labour.under in conflict with them. It is quite true that.by the jamming of the machine gun, the operations of the landing

force were very seriously hampered

Had the weapon not become useless the. rebels might have, been so effec-

tually dispersed and cowed as not to attempt the ambuscade a little later on. Rut even granting the accident to the gun had not occurred, it by no means follows that the method of warfare the European force pursued was the best under the circumstances. The damage such parties may inflict on the natives is. not worth the risk incurred of loss of life and loss of prestige. If the rebels can possibly avoid it they will not come out into the open to fight, and the only way to be sure of engaging them is to follow them into the bush. When once there, however, the white man stands very much on a level with the brown; or rather the latter has the big advantage. He is engaged in a species of warfare to which he has been' bred. He knows every turn in the bush, and is versed in all the devices by which his ancestors have been used to £teal unseen on their enemy; he is perfectly at home in. the undergrowth, and glides nimbly about, while the white man, cumbered with his weapons and his clothes, and totally unfamiliar with the locality, is exhausted and bewildered. The white man has little chance in such ,a position. . The original hope of the. English and Americans was to reduce the rebels by means of the shots from the war vessels; but that method has failed, as we have seen. There appears to be no record of the exact amount of material harm the shells have accomplished, but we are inclined to think that they cannot have killed many of the insurgents, and their moral effect does not seem to have been very great. Indeed, from the position occupied by Mataafa's men it would probably be impossible in some cases to get at them with shells without endangering the lives of the friendly ■ natives. One correspondent declares that the'rebels actually come into the streets of Apia at night,' and that in order to touch the enemy it would be necessary to shell the residences in the town. Without a clear local knowledge .of the situation one is apt to imagine that the guns of the warships could confine .the enenly to the bush and thus starve them out if they could not actually inflict much damage on them. The difficulty in the way of such a plan will, however, be appreciated in some measure from what we have explained; and in addition it has to be borne in mind that the rebels have friends among the natives who may seem to be friendly to Malietoa, and may too be aided by the Germans. So far as one .can judge the_ most apeeßy settlement* of the trouble by force of arms? —and both Americans and Ilhgiish Are now more committed to that method than ever-?-wiil be got by the- employment of a strong force of natives accustomed to bush warfare who will act in concert with the blue jackets and the American sailors. This we are given to understand will be the method pursued henceforth* and there is little doubt that it will prove successful. To be so in the best sense it is indispensable that the disturbance should be quelled immediately. While it drags on 'the rebels only gain a. foolish confidence for which they will to a certainty pay dearly in the end. In mercy to these poor savages the war should be brought as speedily to a close as possible.

The engagement in which the gallant officers and men of the British and Ameripan warships lost their lives was only an incident of the trouble, and should not affect in the least the disposition of the affairs it Samoa except to accelerate the action of the Powers in regard to the place. But it may happen that jt will have further effects. The fact that the manager of the German plantation . on which the fight took place is under arrest- for,. it is alleged; misleading! the landing party, lends- colour in the popular mind to the rumours that the Germans have L-een playing into the hands of Mataafa's party In a way for which there o.uu lip no excuse.. Should these suspicions not be found altogether untrue there will certainly jbe,a strong feeling against Germany which may easily tell against the interests of that Power- in Samoa when the settlement of the'group is under discussion again, it will be seen by.a -cable-g-ram from Washington, to-day that •the Americiiri Government is. not inclined to be ruled by the action of Germany in the matter. The latter liar- raised the question.'of the legality of events in Samoa since the middle of March, that is the commencement of the present hostilities. It is stated that:, if that course is insited on America will insist on the status quo existing at the beginning- of February when it was stated that Dr. Raffel was organising a regiment of 1000 men for Mataafa. These items of. .news indicate that the.work of the High Commission will not be alto-

gether an easy one,