CORRESPONDENCE

Samoa Times and South Sea Gazette, Issue 7, 17 November 1877, Page 2

CORRESPONDENCE

\\\> are always willing to give insoi 'ten to luttors of explanation or intero<t, > at ' w > wish it to be distinctly umlnrstooa that wo <li nit midorao the opinions i-xpr.i s xl, or laag tag? tu;l, by our ujrrospiaii ttt. <l ir i lo.is of pasjiag oventi wid oj to', ul i;i our local or editorial column*. ; TO TllF. EDITOR OF TIIE SAM )A TIMES. Sir, —I notico in voir cilunns of i October 23th, a letter, with its translation, an answer to a letter from : Maugi to mo. How comes this lett tto I be known t-> foreigners '. For wh it ! j reasons has it been pablisheJ ; an 1 wh i iis the translator ( It clearly so tws th it, not only half-castes, bat foreigisrs, English or A ,1 -ricaus are Lnterferiu ; in this war 0:1 l\ituila, an 1 to all iiuatits : and purposes are assisting Mauga; if nit as fighting men, as his IVivy ' Couaeil, aiu. agents for publishing his: diploaiatic correspondence.

. I lii your editorial column of the same .date, yoa make suggestions tj tliu p various Consuls regavaing half-castes. ,' Why not inlcudo foreign ; iv in general; t miny of w!>...u nuke tin-lulleU for tho ' I natives to lire, causing those fratricidal , I wars, so frci |uent of late yean on these i : Islands I j Tho tenor of my first lotter to M 1i ;a, i I was to have peace, if not, that foreign i property at lemt, should n it he desI tr >ved by his war party; wh •*, in ; reply, I recoivod a hj utghty, nay, insolent > letter from him, ignoring ma ii my 1 official capacity, .111 thr lateuin.j nyn •!• on i >; 1 ■■■.. w tli Br ish and \ a ri«n

Let the public judge if than be d itive eaa. There are aoute people In these dands, assume that, they of all : ireigners, have the ri—lit to advise the ntives, an I to interfere in thai • m terns, whether f>r peaoe or war. A ithers must be silent, or be made so, l • 11 ■ b ... or ! tgaJL I am. yours, &&, T. ttEBEDirU. [lf we were inclined to treat our correspondent as he deserves, we should tell him to mini his business as Amcri-ean-Enjlish-O rman-French Vice-consul, an ! not inter.', r i with ours as journalists, but as we are desirous of giving every information t,i inquiring frieuds, we reply to his anything, but civil .|iiesii>,ns. i'ae Si no in letter referred to was sent to us by Mauga for publication, by the bands of a captain of one of the vessels trading in these Islands. Nit b.-iag a.- |'i lintel with the Saraoan language sufficiently t> understand its eon n i, -•■'■• refused to insert it, uul -s, aeeompanie Iby a trunsl ition. The doeum mt wis then translated by Messrs. Alvoid,l and John Aull. The reason we publish id it was, so that the public might have a eh in -e of knowing w!i it the C is a ip >li-

tin Vice-consul wis doing on th ir b •!< ilf atTutiih. If thetre. wis anyt'iin' in [ to it letter that Mr. Mere litli di 1 n it like the public t> know, then, we say, he should not have written it, Or,'if he considers that we should have published' the previous correspondence, we will be nnst happy to do so, if he can send us verified copies of them, or the origin lis, which would be preferable. With regard to oar remarks concerning the pirt half-castes take in Samoan wars, we consider they affect foreigners of every n ition, eju illy as much as they do hj ilfcastes, if u>t more. We decidedly object to foreign j.;f ' Serun. e or am k< id iv .'• .. ever in these native wars, an 1 if foreigners assist either .side, they do n it deserve to have their property respected, or protected from the ravages of such wars. In every respect, we consider our

correspondents letter is like a two e lge.l s vord, it cuts both ways, himself as well as his neighbor.—Ej>. '"S. T.'J