THE SAMOA TIMES. "Sworn to no Master of no Sect am I." SATURDAY. AUGUST 10, 1878.

Samoa Times and South Sea Gazette, Issue 45, 10 August 1878, Page 2

THE SAMOA TIMES. "Sworn to no Master of no Sect am I." SATURDAY. AUGUST 10, 1878.

As the Constitution was publicly referred to at the meeting at Kulmuu, on Monday week lust, it may nut* be out of place at the present time to n view a few of its eections and aee 'how the treat}' between Samoa and the United States stands affected when looked at in a constitutional light] The Constitution, which was adopted by Samoa in the month of April, 1875, has never been repealed, and is the one presumedly m force at the present time. It contains six articles, and by it Samoa -v;as resolved into a kingdom, having a House of JJobles (Xaimua) and a House of Representatives (Faipuiej. With regard to the manner in which tht Faipule are to be elf-ted, Section 2 u. Article I. says : —" i'uj J.ouse of Repre sentatives shall be composed of member chosen every second year to sit in Council with the Nobles and establish laws for the nation. . . . Such representatives

shall be elected by ballot by tho people of each district." According to this a new election of Faipule should have been hjld in April of last year, even providing they had aot violated the Constitution in other ways. But this was not done, hence they were holding the reins of Government illegally when thoy commissioned Mamea to go to America to make the Treaty which he has done. Independently of this ueitlier the Taimua, nor the Faipule, nor both combined, had nny power to grant such authority to Mamea nor to anyone else, for Section 5 of Article 1., speaking of the King's prerogative, says, "It shall be his duty to execute the laws of the land, also all decrees and treaties with other countries. It shall bo his prerogative to form treaties, receive ministers, and confirm a^iueutoiiUa with men. j.ne torsi <uiu only King under the Constitution was Malietoa, who was summarily dethroned by the Taimua and Faipule, in February, 1876, -and from that time to the present the Taimua and Faipule have been, aim still are, an unconstitutional body, and r. \y Treaties made with them are not worth the paper they are written on. It may be argued that the Samoans had a rj'>rff"-f runit to dethrone the King and turn the kingdom into a republio if they c.ioae, but such is Hot the case. The Sauioan nation has had nothing to say in th<- 'T't er. It was the Taimua and Faipule, men who took solemn oaths to supl.v..i me Constitution, wno were the whole head and front of the transformation. According to the Constitution it was nothing short of treason to attempt, to change the order of things under seven years. Section 3of Article VI. says, "It is solemnly decreed that after the expiration of seven years, when the people arc a customed to the ballot, and realise urn sanctity of election, to give the people of Samoa the right to resolve the monarchy into a republic," and Secticjn 4 of the same Article provides that " This Constitution may be amended by a twothirds vote of Parliament, but such amendment must be ratified by the people." Now supposing that the Taimua and Faipule had acted up to the letter of the Constitution in every other particular, supposing also two-thirds of them had agreed to amend tho Constitution by removing Section .'1 of Article VI., and introduce another providing that the kingdom be made a republic, still they are illegally holding the reins of Goverumnut from the foot that the people have had nothing to say upon the matter. The party who call themselves tho Government are no Government at all, but ■ i number of moil taking advantage of the position thoy held before the illegal deposition of thu King. We cannot seo how the Treaty with America can be railed one with somen whin Samoa bs ■

d doUi I ■- -;:^' r r. In iiis; | a.t lI.v? uiiiauooof M inea to the United States was not known to anv of the BBBUHtIMI except the Taimua and Faipule till after his departure. He was sent to America by the United States Consul as American mail agent lon board the schooner Isabella. Then j when tiu< Treaty is made and signed the people have nothing to say in tho matter. It is first ratified in a holeand-eor-uor way by the Taitnua and Faipule, and subsequently when the people camo together for the purpose of knowing what this Treaty is, what they aro to gain from it, to what by it they are pledged, and whether it ought to be accepted, they are told by Mamea they must not go too fast, but leave pvorything to "the Government " and all will be right! After roadiug the Constitution we can come to no other conclusion thuu that a Treaty j made by the United States, cr any other Government, with tho present so-called " Government" of Samoa, without the voice of the people, is worth absolutely nothing. Tho United States Government have, we feci certain, been swindled into making this Troatj under the impression that a stable Government exists here. There never was a greater official blunder made. In proof of this let any unbiassed person who haa a fair share of common sense read over the Constitution, and then answer by what authority the Taimua and Faipule are holding office, and enacting troaths. They will find that our remarks are true. The United States Government haa evidently been misled by reports from its own officials heretofore. Wo hup those 1 whose duty it is to report at tho present time will give a true and faithful account 1 of the real state of affairs, and uot be afraid to tell their Government that they : kave been fooled. It may be asked, if what we say be true, why does tho Bai moan nation allow these men to stop on ■ Mulinuu and call themselves the Govern- ' meat. We answer, simply because the • Samoans aro an easy-going, nothing-me-ca're sort of race that are content to take . things easily, and allow these chiefs to play at being rulers, so long as thoy are uot particularly affected by the game. But there is a limit oven to this forbearance. Lot tho Taimua and Faipule attempt to enforce the payment of taxes or meddle with certain other questions and the whole fabric will tumble about their ears.

Lot US bring the question to a plain issue. Are the United States Government officials prepared to advise the present Samoa" Government" to commence afresh on the strength of this Treaty,— to elect a King in place of Malietoa, to have a new election of Faipnle, and in all particulars to put their Constitution and Govermnont in order, so that it may he stable and respected ? We challenge them to adopt suoh a course ere the Adams leaves our port. If they do they will see that the Samoan nation is not asleep,—the present apathy is only the forerunner of a devastating storm which will sweep the islands, and overwhelm the Mulinuu clique.