SOMOAN NEWS.

Timaru Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 3521, 11 January 1886, Page 2

SOMOAN NEWS.

[By Telegraph.] Auokland, Jan. 9. By the arrival of the mail steamer Mari- . posa from San Krancisco via Samoa alarming intelligence was received of recent events m connection with the long standing dispute botvveen the German Trading Company and the native followers of King Malietoa. The news, which m derived from undoubted sources, ia to the effect that the King has been driven from his reai dence at Mulmuri. Point by a strong armed force from a German chip. He, m pursuance of his usual policy of non-re-istance, only averting bloodshed by withdrawing. o"he English and American Consult: at Apia hay c strongly protested agaim-t the action of the GVermans, and tlie nativeß have mado an urgent appeal for British protection. Two Samoan native* (Opohi and Sowmann) have arrived by the Mariposa, and are the bearers of letters to the Government and tho Hon. the Atlorr.'ey-General, which they intend to present m person at Wellington. One of tho above gentlemen is a representative chief, and the other, who speaks English with fluency and correctness, is bis adviser. From a gentleman who has just arrived from Samoa we have gleaned the followingparticulars of affairs : — On the 31st of December last Webber, head of tho German firm, warned the natives that as they had faileri to pay the rent demanded by him for their occupation of land at Mulmuri they would_have to lj»vye, "tSlMlnvuri is a~p"lbt wliereTi.ing Malietoa's settlement ib. and where on account of the land claimed by tho German firm the Imperial flag of Germany has been floating for more tlian a year past.) 'Ihe natives offered two years' rent, but Webber deWinorl it. They further offered to purchase the land, and said that they had ■ money read.? to pay for it, but Webber l *efur>ed any terms and ii'sisted on them leavi ng. In order to avoid bloodshed King 1 ialiistoa resolred to leave the disputed land, and accordingly the natives, with their cl lalbel*, removed to land belonging to one of the chiefs, nearer to Apia, where the King's flag was hoiated. 'Ibis eeomed only to make the; Gisrmahis more aggressive. The German Consul call ed and asked the King to haul the flag down, which the latter refused to do. Thereupon the Consul ordered . ashore a crew of the German warship Albatross, some tlirei > or four hundred m number, and ordered them to haul the flag down. To this the natives offered no resistance, acting on the advice of Lieutenant Powell, th c British Consul, who foresaw that the sole result of the opposition would be tho massacre of the natives by the German sailorsand marines. Along with the United StatesConsul, Lieutenant Powell lodged a strong protest against the arbitrary proceedings of i She G-ennans, and it is believed they will i nake urgent representations on the subject t< ■> their respective Governments. 'Xhe native d, Jlegation to New Zealand have been sent by ■ King Malietoa to press upon the Governme nt of the colony the necessity for protectioi > against German aggression, and they will , it is understood, urge that a British war -chip be at once despatched to the spot. H ugh H. Lusk, who left for Samoa about a mon. th ago, m company with Sinclair and Tißd; *le, m order to enforce Mr Cornwall's claim to certain land m possession of Me Ai "thur and Co., returned by the M&riposa, and L'aisk very readily gave the following state- meT.it concerning the results of hi* tnissi on :— I landed at Tutinila, and a* Corn wall's land lies m the other two ieknds, I went ,on to Apia. At the first opportunity my i ntention was to take formal possession of the land claimed by Cornwall, and now held by I tfcArthur and Co., but the consuls begged me to abstain from doing anything of the sort , as tbo feeling among the natives was so higl ily strung m consequence of tho intrigues of tl ie Germans that a row was Bure to be tho resu It, and even a little row might lead to disas itrous consequences. I mado enquiries on tl \e subject, and having ascertained that bis rt ipresentations were perfectly correct, I thou( ;ht it better to take other slep3. I recon imended proceedings against McArthnr and C V>. for the recovery of £21 000 damages, being at the rate of £7000 per annum for three rears, during which they have held more t 'ban 100,000 acres, the property of my client. A writ was served a few days before the ma il left. They have got to plead here, and thi > case will either bo heard at Samoa or m the 3igh Commissioner's Court of Fiji. It will mo »t probably bo held at tho latter place before t he Deputy-Commissioner himself, and w'.ll coi no on for hearing m about three months' time. As for the islands of Upolo, ■ffutuilo. and Sabnii, which form part of the Parnoan i froup, they transcend m fertility all that Ih id imagined. Sir Julius Yogel is undoubte dly right, for Samoa would bo tho greatest : ioquUition this colony could make. Instead oi' making a loss by governing it we> should miiVc a profit. Although Fiji is productive ena ugh, it is not a patch upon Samoa. At present everything is m a most unsettle! suite owiu/{ to the efforts of the Germans. Land is hold on most uncertain tenure ia consequent; c, and everyone is m hourly dread of a row bi eakiug out ; ia fact I believe that one is now going on, and m it tho Germans will be swept at ray. They are a curse to tlio Islands, and I believe they could easily be bought out. Their so called plantations have been conspicuous failures through wantof management. During my month's stay m Samoa I lived with'the American Consul, and was m constant communication with the English Consul. I studiously acquired as much information as possible about the group. An important chief of Samoa who arrived by the mail steamer describes the proceedings at Samoa by Cornwall's party as follows s— ' In consequence of information received by ' the mail, Fletcher, McArthur and Co.'s agent appealed to the King for assistance io resisting any attempt that might be made to land at | rulanala or ifasatootuikitea. The Ki>g apI pointed, ne a» chief constable and two

officers, to prevent a boat's party from land- [ ing. The party consisted of Captain Sinclair, H. H. Lusk and another. They came on from Apia to Falanala m a waterman's boat, and attempted to land. I hunted them off, and they went back into f'oir boat quietly. Had they resisted we should have followed out our instructions, which were to use force if necessary, and we wore well armed. The party then leftin the boat for Fosatootaikitea, and we proceeded thither also on horseback. We arrived before they did, and ugain ordered them off. They landed, but did not come inside of the fence, and then went ttway quietly. We had no further trouble then.