THE PARTITION OF SAMOA.
[TO THE EDITOR OP THE "SPECTATOR."] SIR,—You advocate the partition of the Samoan islands as the only solution of the international difficulty. I think if you realised more definitely the conditions of the locality you would see that such division would greatly increase the chances of serious trouble between Great Britain and Ger- many. Were such a partition to take place, there is no doubt how it would be made. Upolu, the central island, would go to the Germans, who have sunk most of their capital there. Tutuila, the more remote eastern island, would be claimed by America, which has special treaty rights over the harbour of Pagopago, the only good haven in the group. There remains Savaii in the west, the largest, barrenest, and least civilised of the islands, with little but a rockbound coast, and scarcely any protecting barrier-reef. It possesses no better harbour than an open roadstead at Matautu, exposed to the full force of the trade wind, and it would be quite impossible to keep even a gunboat on the spot throughout the year, however necessary it might be. Savaii is thus the ass's share ; but I have no wish for England to be greedy in the matter. What I do wish to point out is that the natives of the islands of Upolu and Savaii are closely intermarried, are frequently visiting one another's villages, are connected by the closest friendships, associations, and ties, and separated by endless animosities. The favourite recreation of the Samoan is the vnalaga, the wholesale visit of a village to some other village or villages, to play cricket, to hear speeches, to see dances, and to feast. The two islands are separated only by a dozen miles, and even in that narrow strait lie two smaller islands, one being Manono, the most turbulent spot in Samoa, which was sacked no longer ago than 1893. The endless inter- course between Upolu and Savaii would certainly lead to constant quarrels, offences, complaints, extraditions, et hoc genus omne, if the natives were arbitrarily converted into the subjects of two different kingdoms. I have known personally many Germans in the Pacific, and for some of them I have had a genuine liking and admiration. But the number of them who were really fitted to administer the government of a native race was very small indeed, while the proportion of those notoriously unsuited for any such trust was very con- siderable. If we owned Savaii, we should certainly govern it largely by the aid of a Polynesian police, natives of Samoa, Fiji, Tonga, or elsewhere, with one or, at the most, two white officers. I can see the demeanour of the petty German official towards any member of such a force, and I can promise you two very angry men, speedily embroiled in an international misunderstanding I will only mention the name of tariffs, port of entry, import of arms and spirits, and extradition of blackboys, to show you how many difficulties are in the way of any such arrangement. I see the latest proposal is to reintroduce the King of Sweden as an arbiter. Have diplomatists already forgotten their Blue-books, which fully confirmed every detail of Stevenson's "Footnote to History" and his letters to the Times? It was his Majesty of Sweden who once foisted upon Samoa the incredible Cedercrantz.— I am, Sir, &c., 151 Woodstock Road, Oxford. GRAHAM BALF017R.
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