A.—2.

of Secretary Bayard, and quotes the correspondence exchanged between himself and the State Department from the time of his arrival in this country, to show that the British Consul has been acting with the Germans for three years past. In the course of his testimony he expressed an opinion t,h.at there was an arrangement between the two Governments by which Great Britain was to keep " hands off" in this fight. His understanding of the matter, he said, had always been that the German Government, under this arrangement, was to take possession of Samoa and the British Government of Tonga Island, and that eventually Great Britain was to come into possession of Hawaii. He believed that if those operations were not checked they would soon extend to Hawaii, which was to be the northern resting-place of the cable between Vancouver and New Zealand. When asked by the Committee what effect the recent action of the Government in sending another war-vessel to Samoa would have on the Germans, Mr. Sewell replied that the instructions of this Government to Admiral Kimberley were the ordinary instructions, that the Germans knew what limited authority they gave, and that under those instructions the representatives of the United States could not reach the real cause of the trouble. The Committee to-day reported certain amendments to the Diplomatic Appropriation Bill, intended to protect American interests in Samoa, and including $500,000 for the execution of the obligations and the protection of the interests of the United States under treaty with Samoa, and $100,000 for the survey, occupation, and improvement of Pagopago Bay, in Qutuila Island, as a coaling-station. Washington, 23rd January. The United States Government have received a telegram from their Consul at Apia confirming the intelligence that a great fire recently occurred there, in which the German Consulate was destroyed. The telegram adds that it is believed that the fire was accidental. Mr. Sherman made no statement as to the views of the Committee respecting the proposed amendments to the Appropriation Bill, but it has transpired that the Committee is of opinion that under the terms of the treaty with Samoa it is the duty of the United States to intervene by force if necessary to protect the autonomy of the islands against the aggression of any Power. A member of the Committee states that the amendments mean that the President is to send a fleet of war-ships or any other force which he may deem necessary to protect the Samoan Government and relieve the people from the danger of war. There is no foundation for the statement published yesterday by a London morning paper that the British and United States Governments have been acting in accord in regard to the Samoan question. Up to the present the British Foreign Office has expressed no opinion to the Washington Government concerning recent events in Samoa. Berlin, 23rd January. The colonial policy of Germany is discussed to-day by the National Zeitung, which takes occasion to declare that the independence neither of Zanzibar nor of Samoa is in danger from the Germans. All that is contended for in those places is the preservation of the rights acquired by the subjects of the Empire, while at Samoa the intrigues of Americans in violation of treaties have to be guarded against. Bremerhaven, 23rd January. The Norddeutscher Lloyd steamer " Niirnberg" sailed for Samoa this afternoon with reliefs for the German war-vessels at Apia. Cologne, 23rd January. The Cologne Gazette to-day publishes a telegram from Berlin stating on reliable authority that Germany and England are treating the Samoa question in a spirit of mutual understanding, and that statements to the contrary made in the English Press are incorrect. Sydney, 23rd January. According to information received here the German gunboat " Olga " has conveyed Malietoa, the ex-King of Samoa, from Aden to Marshall Islands, where he will remain.

[Extract from the Times, Friday, 25th January, 1889.] The Samoan Question. Berlin, 24th January. A late London telegram to a Berlin journal asserted that a note had been sent from both Washington and London to Berlin, to the effect that England had resolved to uphold the treaty in virtue of which no European Power might acquire or seek to acquire a predominating influence in Samoa, and that England and the United States were agreed that the action of the Germans in Samoa not only infringed the letter and spirit of the said treaty, but was also contrary to diplomatic etiquette. Eeferring to this statement, a Foreign Office communique in the North German Gazette remarks : " Such a treaty, in virtue of which no European Power might acquire or seek to acquire a predominating influence in Samoa, does not exist. In the agreement between England and Germany as to the delimitation of the German and English spheres of interest in the West Pacific, it is laid dow7n that Tonga, Samoa, and the Nine Islands shall continue to form neutral territory— that is, neither be included in the English nor in the German sphere of interest. No such agreement was concluded with the United States, or with any other European Power. In the treaties of friendship and commerce concluded by Samoa with Germany, England, and the United States there is a clause in nearly identical terms, to the effect that the Government of Samoa promises to concede to every treaty Power the same rights as it grants to the Government or subjects of any other nation: Thus, for example, it runs in the American treaty: ' The Government of Samoa agrees to allow to the Government and citizens o^the United States free and equal participation in any privileges that may have been, or may hereafter be, granted to the Government, citizens, or subjects of any other nation.' Treaty arrangements between Germany.and the United States concerning the neutrality and independence of Samoa do not exist, so that the London telegram above referred to is an invention. Nor have notes of the kind asserted about Samoa ever come to Berlin from London.

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