The condition of affairs in Samoa is reported to be
exceed- ingly bad. The tripartite control exercised there by England, Germany, and the United States has paralysed native authority without appeasing native quarrels ; the factions are always fighting ; and there is practically no Govern- ment left. The people, it is alleged, tare sick of the disorder and willing to be governed from New Zealand ; and the New Zealand Ministry, which, under '`-Sir Vogel, once proposed to annex all Polynesia, is ready, indeed eager, to govern Samoa. The proposal, however, is sure to irritate the Americans, who consider they have " interests " in Samoa, and has already irritated the Germans, who say that if anybody is to govern the group the first right rests with them, as they are the principal traders and planters. They even accuse us of graspingness, as if anybody in England wanted Samoa. We certainly are not going to absorb it without German and American consent ; and we suppose there will be another Conference to decide on a plan of administra- tion. The best would be to establish a Raja Brooke as Administrator for life with absolute powers, and a guarantee from the three protecting States against insurrection. A man of the Gerald Portal type would be a real blessing to the people.
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