THE Grey River Argus PUBLISHED DAILY. FRIDAY, APRIL 21, 1899.

Grey River Argus, Volume LVII, Issue 10264, 21 April 1899, Page 2

THE Grey River Argus PUBLISHED DAILY. FRIDAY, APRIL 21, 1899.

The recent ; develtipntents ■•*: San|oa point to necessity of the. group being placed un^ler tlie control^ b£>j a single power. $He triple cbnfer<oi -bias proved a failure in every respecik The want of unanimity between; the three counsels has had the effect bl, encouraging; |Ke if&ieli td resiiajt^thjevvelection. of jyiaiietba as King an^ Ib dQhiaad that Mataafa be appointed "in.; his place. As a matter of fact the majority of the Sampans wanted to be appbinted, hence the; Ctro^Jjle. ItS^is^ pro^afele Howiyer^ |i|at|f ad Mataafa not received, a cert dn amount of encouragement front the- : Gerinan residents he would not have ftakeftihe extremQrsteps he did. > i^ga|e^ix^jsly waitiiig for^further-develoriments in|he"grojip^:<l^%eein^]b||t Mpaafa wiiFnbt Be S'ubjecled Wi*y 5: easier. It is highly probate that a cable service; would have prevented the whole trouble^ for had it been known to Mataafa that: the three powers would stand together; for law and order he would never have •brought about such a crisis. The very fact that a German war vessel lay silent and aloof while the British and j Americans were shelling Apia encouiaged Mataafa and probably led him to- believe .that^he. would be; assisted by Germany. Of course a rupture with Germany over such a small matter is out of the ques iori-i though the group is likely tp be of great importance in the future. As far tis events have gone there seems to have been a mighty deal of shooting tp very little purpose. The special correspondent of the" Australasian writes rapturpus,l^"pf;>the fine -markin^nahip he"lias r witn'cssed. J One of the* -tMngSthat astonished experts and laymen alike duting the Cuban campaign was the accurate hitting of the American gunners. " New York/ "Oregon," «'lowa," etc., lodged shot and shell in every target pointed put to them. Their hitting has been outdone at Apia by Rpyalist, : the Porpois^,and the Philadelphia-i—vesselsoh. which^ there were presumably gunners longing for an opportunity to show what they could do in Pacific waters. But, excepting where a shell burst prematurely, and nearly blew- up a consulate, most of the ammunition appears m have gone harmlessly into Jungle

a'ong the- seashore and up the hill-j siclie. : ' |i; ' What^Lifeuienant Hpb^dn^.sk|s; of the Americaii- firing Santfego? forts is apparentljy; { tr-ue, ;j 9^, Anglo-| ii^^(^i^o^rT\ the ..«p,6t. !ahne<i . ■ a&.-IS./iLit, -, t;ujb,'np. Qftel-ip] killed. Poly nesians like the; Solomon Islanders, who are still in a state of [ dense Sfiyagerj, may be; scared intogood behaviour by the iij^wiiig^p^ their; village home to pieces, but it is doubtf\x\, if t^e 1 enlightened and much-travel- : ledMataaf a can be so easilyjrightened. : argue that ;so long ash|ican;! k^^his fightii|j^?ben out o^i|^itj; (boncb^ardment is hpl likely to doyphT damagei| s.. He can put up with.ftbje. loss ; ofitw6!^ioj*j6hree<native. waß^anpes^fpji .^hich)^He^ eaiihave ncTtpres'eht use.; True, it takes but a haadfuljof sailors; %6 fcold but s : while^ffiat -'■ j^i^is ■ nierely s held, all; Ira&f « lC!£'ft^!a,fs*a,hdstill, and so must government' and! <|he; of ■tapcesbe^ too v ?xEill forces 1 rare iianded*; strong; enoughvtto^drive^ Mataafa into' a: corner Ithe 'situation iriust be ;re ; gaMed.--a8 : ""orie il - ! '#lficb'- J th f ei Samoahs will find both agreeable -"anidi entertaining, after years of mpnptonoiis peace! With Apia in cdmmunipatibh] .Australia (and consepjiently^Jton-; don and Washington) - v by cable,) theaction taken by therpowers would bearj • xiropSrtioh to 'thfr 1 TeSuli^ .^tS be! ;;e^p|^|eji'frdm-";l!b?' lid thii idstiince^i; if jJOsslbis the main object ;^y ha^ei been to show the.:'Sa'ino' ans ; Ko w liitto the? JEfJcitiah: ■< vcare!fot! German ;.stolidijby*;\^ol' eyettiso^ the firing ; w6uldy^iio4een¥liia,havJe been more theatrical than . effective.