THE PACIFIC ISLANDS
Of the islands in the southern seas where the Indian and Pacific
Oceans meet, and amongst which Australia forms a fifth continent, some
are mere vaults in which repose the relics of ill-advised and vainly
attempted ventures, whilst others are fruitful gardens wherein flourish
the trees whose sturdy growth testifies to the good seed from which
they sprang and the skill of the gardeners who planted them.
The Archipelagos lying south of the China Seas were first explored from
the west by the Portuguese and Dutch in the sixteenth and seventeenth
centuries, but the steel glove upon which the mailed fist seems
afterwards to have been modelled failed to retain a hold upon the
territory which it grasped.
The Portuguese, indeed, abandoned their enterprises in the southern
seas in favour of developing their trade between Goa and the east coast
of Africa. They excelled as navigators and explorers, but the whole of
their history shows that they have never formed any conception of the
principles of administration.
[Illustration: GERMAN COLONIES IN THE PACIFIC, 1914.
(Reproduced by permission of _The Times_.)]
The Dutch concentrated on Java, Sumatra and Borneo, and ever since have
waged war with the natives.
It seems strange that both these nations should have decentralised
Colonial interests away from their home countries, in striking contrast
to our own country which has pursued a policy binding her oversea
dominions closer and closer to the motherland--a policy which has
eventuated in the formation of a comity of nations firmly united by the
bonds of sentimental tradition and common commercial interest.
The Portuguese made Goa the centre of their East African and Eastern
enterprises,[G] and the Dutch placed the Cape of Good Hope (while it
was in their possession) under the administration of Batavia in the
Island of Java.
The spice trade attracted adventurers of all the pioneering nations.
Spain made extensive voyages of discovery and plunder in the South
Seas, and their galleons for many years provided the excitement of the
chase as well as profit in "double pieces of eight" for British sea
rovers; but the Spanish acquired but a tentative hold upon territory,
and this was finally released by the Spanish-American War of 1901.
The legacy of Spain to the South Seas was the romantic occupation of
searching for wrecks bearing cargoes of doubloons and the abandoned
booty of pirates, which they seem to have collected for the specific
purpose of burying in brass-clamped chests on uninhabited islands for
the benefit of the adventurous spirit who might in future years display
sufficient enterprise and determination to find his way through the
maze which surrounded the prizes.
The latter part of the seventeenth century saw one of the greatest
periods of British activities in venturing trade abroad, albeit it
often-times took the form of preying upon the rich cargoes collected by
the Dutch, Spanish, and Portuguese marauders. This, however, was then
the most approved and recognised form of commerce.
Direct trade in Borneo and Sumatra by the British was commenced in
about 1685, and "factories" were established to develop the spice trade
which was then the richest of the East, a cargo of pepper-corns being
regarded as one of the most valuable that could avoid a meddlesome
buccaneer and be safely brought to port.
The voyages of Captain Cook, whose name ranks high amongst the pioneers
of our Empire, and who discovered and named many of the island groups
as well as the east coast of Australia, where he hoisted the British
flag, really firmly established British interests in the South Seas,
after strenuous struggles with the Dutch who regarded the area as most
particularly their "sphere of influence."
Through the last decades of the eighteenth century British influence
and prestige grew, and the apathy of the statesmen at home was
not allowed by their sons on the spot to interfere with energetic
development and settlement which proceeded apace.
Coming rather late in the day, France was, through private British
enterprise, forestalled in her principal designs which were centred
on New Zealand, and her "protection" was only extended to some small
island groups such as New Caledonia, lying between Australia and Fiji,
and for which she found use as penal establishments.
The big prizes of the Pacific--Australia, Tasmania, and New
Zealand--had fallen to the heritage of Great Britain, and development
rather concentrated on these magnificent offshoots of British oak.
There were other important groups of islands, however, which, although
locally regarded as natural adjuncts of the Australian Settlements,
were not definitely taken possession of. The most important of these
were New Guinea and the Samoan group.
New Guinea is divided from the Queensland province of Australia by the
shoal-dotted Torres Straits, about 90 miles wide; while the Samoan
Islands lie east of Fiji.
The Portuguese Magellan was the first discoverer in the sixteenth
century of New Guinea (also known as Papua), while the new name appears
to have been given to the island by Ortiz de Retez, who laid down
certain points.
During the centuries succeeding, New Guinea received frequent visitors
representing European nations, amongst them Captain Cook and Tasman,
whose name is perpetuated in Tasmania though the island for many years
bore the name of his lieutenant, Van Diemen, and was known as "Van
Diemen's Land."
New Guinea was also frequently visited by Chinese fishing junks in
search of bêche-de-mer, or trepang.
The Dutch from their adjacent settlements in Java and Borneo were
supreme in the north of New Guinea without exercising any effective
jurisdiction, and relied upon the difficult navigation of New Guinea
waters for a continuance of their exclusiveness.
Towards the end of the eighteenth century they (the Dutch) had
practically a monopoly of the spice trade, and were extremely jealous
of any other nations obtaining a footing in spice islands, where their
monopoly might be jeopardised. They obstinately refused all access to
New Guinea; but the Dutch barrier was broken down by emissaries of the
British East India Company in search of spice islands, and in 1793 New
Guinea was annexed by two commanders in the service of the company,
and the territory was thereafter regarded as an adjunct of Queensland,
although no steps were taken for an administrative occupation.
In 1828 the Dutch erected a fortress to protect the rights they claimed
in New Guinea, but this they abandoned in 1835.
While Samoa and numerous other groups of islands were not incorporated
in the dominions of the countries whose explorers "discovered" them,
and their savage inhabitants were allowed to continue their own
administration, a brisk British trade sprang up between Australasia and
the islanders.
The necessity for bringing either New Guinea or the Samoan group under
direct rule was not an expediency that presented itself as an urgent
one to either the Imperial British or Australian Governments as long as
fair trading conditions prevailed on harmonious lines and the lives and
private property of British traders were safeguarded, until in about
1880 the tips of the tentacles of the German octopus delicately spread
out to seek the spots whereon to plant the suckers of trading stations,
behind them the unlidded eyes of Imperial Protection watching to gauge
the value of the prize and the parrot-beaked maw ready to grasp for the
satisfaction of Prussian greed.
A flourishing inter-coastal and island trade had long been established
by the United States of America, but until 1898, when they annexed
Hawaii and occupied Samoa, the United States adhered to their doctrine
of not attempting territorial acquisition outside their own continental
borders.
By 1883 the Germans had firmly established themselves commercially,
and their influence began to be most markedly denoted in disaffection
amongst the natives and in inter-tribal wars--notably in Samoa.
In this year the British New Guinea Colonising Society proposed an
expedition to Lord Carnarvon, who was then Colonial Secretary, but
the minister declined to lend his support to an enterprise which he
considered entailed too much risk.
The enterprise was imagined in collaboration with supporters of
Imperial extension in Australasia, and, acting on their own initiative,
the Government of Queensland, with the approval of the whole of
Australia, annexed a portion of New Guinea to her dominions; but this
act was disavowed by the British Government and declared to be "null in
point of law and not to be admitted in point of policy."
Queensland most determinedly represented to the Government of Australia
and our Imperial minister the danger to her commerce if New Guinea
were to fall into the hands of a foreign Power by annexation.
The prospect did not appear alarming to the home statesmen, nor did
further annexation of the South Sea Islands enter into their scheme
of practical politics; and, therefore, when the proclamation of a
Protectorate over the whole of New Guinea and the adjacent islands
(including the New Britain Archipelago, the Solomon, Caroline, Palau,
Marshall, and Ladrone Islands) under a High Commissioner was determined
on at a conference held by the Australian Colonies at Sydney in 1883
and recommended to the Imperial Government, our Colonial Office met the
proposal with discouragement.
In November, 1884, however, the Home Government was persuaded to
proclaim in New Guinea a Protectorate over the region lying "between
the 141st meridian eastward as far as East Cape, with the adjacent
islands as far as Kosman Island."
This brought under the British flag the southern portion of New Guinea,
known as Papua, only; but in other parts of the islands there were
British settlements originating in Australia which were left under no
effective jurisdiction.
In December, 1884, the Germans, having firmly established themselves
commercially in the Samoan Islands, began to definitely and formally
annex territory; the German flag was hoisted in the northern part
of New Guinea and on several of the adjacent islands, and the German
"Colony" received the unpromising name of "Kaiser Wilhelm's Land."
The Australian Colonies immediately lodged an indignant protest; but
arrogance, overglossed with suavity, carried the day, and a friendly
agreement in regard to New Guinea was made between Great Britain and
Germany in 1885, whereby the latter assumed administration over the
northern portion of the island, to subjection of the jurisdiction of
which were later added the Caroline, Palau and Marianne Islands.
"New Britain" undertook the responsibility of the name "Bismarck
Archipelago"; and the principal island of the group was renamed
New-Pommern, with its capital at Herbertshöhe.
In 1888 British New Guinea was constituted a separate Colony, but the
administration was, in 1902, placed in the hands of the Commonwealth of
Australia.
Up to 1884 affairs in the islands comprising the kingdom of Samoa had
proceeded along the lines of progress, and the three nations chiefly
concerned in the Samoan trade (Great Britain, Germany, and the United
States of America) were conducting commerce without friction until the
Germans felt strong enough to assume an aggressive attitude, not only
towards their trade rivals but also the native Samoans whose property
they coveted.
The German influence began to be most markedly denoted in disaffection
amongst the natives and in inter-tribal wars. It was in 1884, indeed,
that the German pretensions to a say in the administrative control of
Samoa began to be recognised by Great Britain and the United States
as the German faculty for instigating disputes amongst the islanders
made desirable the institution of some European control over the native
administration.
The affairs of State in Samoa were conducted under the rule of native
kings (two) and chiefs, but constant feuds and bickerings disturbed the
tranquillity of the islands.
It was really German influence that was the disturbing element, for
inter-tribal strife was fomented in order that "repressive measures
for the establishment of law and order" on the part of the Imperial
Government might elevate German prestige.
Apia, the chief town on the principal island of the Samoan group,
Upolu, became the centre of trade of the eastern South Sea Islands,
though its chief importance to the outside world exists in its
incentive to a distinguished memory. Agreements were made by the
Samoan kings at various dates with Great Britain, the United
States and Germany. Each of the treaty agreements contained a
"most-favoured-nation" clause, and empowered the foreign state to form
naval stations and coaling depots at various parts of the island group.
In April, 1885, it was deemed advisable by the British Government
to appoint a Commissioner to confer with a nominee of the German
Government upon the subject of British and German interests
respectively in such parts of the Western Pacific Ocean as might be
placed by either Government under its special protection, with a view
to recommending the adoption by both Governments of such principles
as, in the opinion of the Commissioners, might be applied to better
regulate and protect the interests of their respective subjects, each
within the other's region of jurisdiction.
The movement was inaugurated by the German Government and was the old
game successfully played by Luderitz in South West Africa of applying
to the Imperial German Government for its "powerful protection" as soon
as commercial interests were well established.
The British Commissioner was Mr Thurston, who seems to have throughout
been altogether dominated by the German nominee and to have cheerfully
acquiesced in and recommended to our Government the adoption of every
suggestion put forward by the German Representative.
The Commission, which dealt exclusively with the position of the three
treaty nations in Samoa, submitted that the existing unsettled state
of affairs in Samoa under the native kings and chiefs was incompatible
with the maintenance of peace and order and destructive of the best
interests both of the Samoans themselves and of the foreign residents
in the islands, and did not see any hope of improvement owing to the
long-standing feuds and divisions of the natives.
They recommended, therefore, that a real and immediate improvement in
the social and economical conditions of Samoa would be best secured
if the administration of the native Government was assumed by _one_
of the treaty Powers; the sovereignty of the King of Samoa and the
independence of the islands continuing to be recognised, and due care
being taken by pre-arrangement to secure all rights justly acquired.
As an alternative, another scheme was submitted for reconstructing the
native Government upon the general lines of a Crown Colony Government.
It was agreed that the sovereignty of Samoa was to be permanently
confirmed upon King Malietoa and his heirs, and that a Council of
Chiefs (called the King's Council) should be created to advise and
assist the King in the administration of government.
Here the German Commissioner showed the cloven hoof by suggesting that
the Council should consist of eight members: four native Samoans and
four Europeans, of which latter two were to be nominated by Germany,
one by Great Britain, and one by America.
By virtue of their treaty the Germans set up a sort of Germano-Samoan
Council for the special control of the two principal harbours, Apia
and Saluafata; but the establishment of similar Anglo-Samoan and
Americo-Samoan Councils was hardly an expedient measure if friction
were to be avoided.
The principal object of the Commission was, so far as Great Britain
was concerned, the suppression of inter-tribal feuds and warfare,
to maintain which the Samoans were bartering away their land and
all other possessions in order to obtain rifles and ammunition. Dr
Krauel, the German Commissioner, in making the recommendation that
the administration of the native government should be assumed by one
of the treaty Powers, suavely proposed that "having regard to the
great preponderance of German commercial interests in Samoa, the task
of forming a better administration should be entrusted, in the first
instance, to the German Government."
On the alternative proposal, Dr Krauel thought that this commercial
preponderance of Germany should meet recognition by the nomination of
two German representatives as against one each of the other treaty
Powers on the proposed King's Council.
Mr Thurston, the British Commissioner, was sufficiently impressed
with the representations of his German colleague to suggest to his
Government the adoption of the suggestions, which meant German control
over the whole administration.
Before any action was taken upon the recommendations of the
Commission, the Germans took matters into their own hands; and on 31st
December, 1885, King Malietoa was driven by a German force from his
seat of Government, and the Samoan flag hauled down by German forces
from a man-o'-war.
Inquiries elicited the fact that "the object of the German
Representative was not to abolish the Samoan Government by force, but
only to take reprisals against King Malietoa."
The foundation for the first act of direct aggression on the part of
the Germans seems to have arisen in the sale of a portion of Apia to
an American, who transferred the deeds to a German--the purchase price
being only five hundred dollars. The land was looked on by the Samoans
as the centre of the seat of their Government; and very rightly, too,
as it covered the whole harbour of Apia.
The King, Malietoa, offered five thousand dollars to the German holder
to rescind the sale, but was met with a curt refusal of his offer;
following upon which a German proclamation was immediately issued,
drawing attention to alleged grievances of Germany, _more especially
in respect of the violations of treaty agreements_, and declaring the
intention of the German Government to take, in reparation, "possession
of the lands of the village and district of Apia, in which is included
Malinuu (the seat of Government) and the harbour of Apia, to hold
possession under the supreme control that was under the Government of
Malietoa, for the Government of Germany."
The Samoans were informed in the proclamation that it was only the
"municipality" that was being taken possession of, and the document
concludes with a characteristic Hohenzollern touch: "I beseech you to
be at peace and to have confidence in the Government of Germany and
myself. Then will Samoa indeed be happy!"
An impartial inquiry into the arbitrary action of the Germans was
suggested, but the German Imperial Government temporised the while
a movement was set on foot by Germans in Samoa to upset the rule of
Malietoa and replace him by one of their own creatures who had been
plentifully bribed with the two things dearest to the native--spirits
and firearms.
King Malietoa was informed by the British Consul that an inquiry was
to be held, and that his kingship could not be jeopardised, the three
Powers, Great Britain, Germany, and America, having jointly agreed to
recognise and maintain his authority.
To subdue the ardour of the more impetuous amongst his people, Malietoa
issued the following proclamation to the Chiefs of Samoa:
"CHIEFS,--I call upon you to keep quiet, and not to entertain foolish
fears, for the English Consul, W. Powell, has assured me that in a
short time Samoa will be once more united under the Government of
Malietoa, for England does not undertake anything which she does not
carry through; and all that England undertakes she does carry through.
What Germany does, on the other hand, is merely commenced, and is
not concluded. Let us place confidence in these words, which will be
fulfilled."
The German Ambassador in London, in discussing the Samoan question with
our own Foreign Minister, the Earl of Iddlesleigh, referred rather
bitterly to King Malietoa's proclamation, and Lord Iddlesleigh readily
agreed that it was very offensive.
A further joint Commission was held on the affairs of Samoa late in
the year 1886, in the early months of which Malietoa had offered to
place Samoa under the protection of the United States--which offer was
accepted by the American Consul, but his action immediately repudiated
by his Government.
No workable form of administration could, however, be agreed upon by
the three Powers--the reason being that the Germans were determined to
pursue their fixed aim of acquiring the absolute control of Samoa.
The rule of Malietoa, who had been recognised in authority by treaty
agreements, was irksome to them; and towards the end of 1887 they
demanded satisfaction from Malietoa for alleged robbery and insults to
German subjects, whom they declared had been attacked when returning
from celebrating the birthday of the German Emperor.
The required redress not being forthcoming, Malietoa was declared
deposed by the Germans, and one Tamasese was set up in his place. The
English and American Consuls did not participate in the recognition of
Tamasese.
A state of anarchy now prevailed for a time; and inter-tribal combats
took place all over the islands, centring about Apia. An insurrection
was engineered by the Germans which was headed by Matiafa, who was
attacked by Malietoa; and the opportunity having, as the Germans
considered, arrived for the action of the mailed fist, Germany declared
war on Malietoa.
In March, 1889, relations between the three Powers became extremely
strained in regard to Samoa, and warships of all the nations concerned
appeared off Apia.
The story of the hurricane that swept the harbour on the 16th March,
in the teeth of which the British _Calliope_ alone pounded her way out
to sea and safety to the ringing cheers of the American sailors, is
stirringly told in Robert Louis Stevenson's "A Footnote to History."
The _Calliope_, fighting the tempest and making less than a knot an
hour, upheld the traditions of British seamanship; while the ribs of
the German flagship _Adler_ serve the purpose of providing a mournful
monument to the death of German ambitions in Samoa.
Until Samoan administrative affairs were finally settled, her history
consists of no more than a record of squabbles and intrigues.
Every fresh effort only demonstrated more clearly the futility
of control by the three Powers, one of which was fixed in her
determination to be supreme.
A convention was, indeed, signed at Berlin in 1889 under which the
Samoan Islands were declared to be independent neutral territory, Great
Britain, Germany, and the United States to have equal rights, and the
King Malietoa, who was a strong opponent of German claims, was again
recognised as King.
Matiafa, who had been stirred into insurrection for their own purposes
by the Germans, now supported Malietoa, who received a vociferous
welcome from the Samoans on his return to Apia in his regal capacity.
Shortly after his reinstatement, however, Malietoa wearied of his
office and resigned his throne, which was no sinecure, in favour of
his friend Matiafa. The latter's election by the people was necessary;
but having duly gone through the formula, he assumed the sceptre with
Malietoa as "vice-King."
The subordinate position, however, was unsatisfactory to Malietoa, and
by concert of the Powers he was reinstated in his former position--a
proceeding which Matiafa strongly disapproved of, and he attacked
Malietoa with a strong force.
The Powers again intervened conjointly, and Matiafa was subdued and
deported.
A further rebellion against Malietoa's rule was suppressed, and the
affairs of Samoa began to present some appearance of law and order when
Mr Henry Ide, an American, was appointed Chief Justice--a position of
great responsibility. He seems, however, to have been over-strenuous
in his dispensation of justice, for in less than a year his repressive
measures created a state of Civil War.
In November, 1894, the unsatisfactory condition of affairs induced the
Government of New Zealand to come forward with a proposal to establish
a Protectorate over Samoa, and an expressed desire to undertake the
administration of the islands.
The proposal was not entertained by our Home Government; and while it
is probable that such an arrangement would have met with the approval
of the United States, it is certain that Germany would have strenuously
objected.
Further insurrections in 1894 brought about joint intervention by
Great Britain and Germany, and the bombardment by ships of the two
countries; while the death of Malietoa in 1898 necessitated another
naval demonstration.
A serious dispute, which might have had far reaching consequences but
for the tact displayed by our Consular Service, arose over the election
of a king to succeed Malietoa. The claimants to the throne were Tanu,
son of Malietoa, and Matiafa.
In January, 1899, Chief Justice Chambers, an American, in whose hands
the final decision lay, decided in favour of Tanu in accordance with
the international agreement whereby the throne was secured to Malietoa
and his heirs.
The decision, however, met with the strong disapproval of the Germans,
who instigated Matiafa to rebel; and a serious outbreak occurred, in
the course of which the greater part of Apia was burned.
A force of British marines was landed from H.M.S. _Porpoise_, on which
Mr Chambers and other Europeans took refuge.
A provisional Government was now formed by Dr Raffel, a German, and
President of the Municipal Court of Apia; and he proclaimed himself
Chief Justice in spite of the protests of the British and American
Consuls.
The Consuls appealed to Captain Sturdee of the _Porpoise_ to assist
in the reinstatement of Mr Chambers, and he sent ashore a threat to
bombard the town if any resistance were offered to Mr Chambers in
resuming his seat as Chief Justice.
Mr Chambers was opposed by the German faction, but Dr Raffel's action
did not meet with the approval of the Government at Berlin, and he was
recalled in February, 1899.
In the meantime, Admiral Kantz of the American navy arrived on the
United States cruiser, _Philadelphia_, and a proclamation was issued
under which Matiafa's Government was declared to be illegal under the
terms of the Berlin Treaty.
A counter-proclamation was immediately issued by the German Consul,
Herr Rose, the immediate result of which was that Apia was surrounded
by a strong force of rebels, and riots occurred--in the course of which
R. L. Stevenson's house was looted.
The British and American warships opened fire and landed forces of
bluejackets, who, after some severe fighting and losses, repulsed the
rebels.
On the 23rd March, 1899, Tanu was crowned King of the Samoan Islands
in the presence of the Foreign Consuls, with the exception of the
Representative of the German Government.
Matiafa, with German moral support, continued in rebellion, and several
Anglo-American parties of bluejackets and marines were ambuscaded,
though the chief rebels' posts were captured.
A state of anarchy now prevailed, and another international Commission
was appointed in May, 1899, Mr Bartlett Tripp (President) representing
the United States, Mr Eliot Great Britain, and Baron Sternburg Germany.
Mr Chambers' decision was confirmed by the Commission, but Tanu had
wearied of his kingship and voluntarily abdicated.
Further fighting now occurred, but an agreement was signed in August,
1899, by the three Powers, under which the kingship was abolished and
the Government of Samoa placed in the hands of an Administrator with
a Council of the Consuls of Great Britain, Germany, and the United
States, assisted by a native assembly and a High Court of Justice.
The German, Dr Solf, Municipal President, was nominated as
Administrator, and Mr Osborne, the United States Consul, was appointed
to act as Chief Justice in the place of Mr Chambers who had resigned.
Samoa remained under this triple administration until the 1st March,
1900, when by the Anglo-German Convention, embodied in the Samoa
Treaty, the principal Samoan Islands were annexed by Germany, the
Tonga, Savage, and Solomon Islands came under the rule of Great
Britain, while Tutuila and the adjacent islands became the property of
the United States.
On the 1st March, 1900, the German flag was hoisted over Apia.
Claims for compensation were presented for the destruction of property
during the Matiafa rebellion; and these, having been submitted to the
arbitration of the King of Sweden, were, in 1902, adjudged to be
payable by Great Britain and the United States of America!
The surrender of Samoa to Germany was a bitter pill to New Zealand,
and the Imperialist Premier, the late "Dick" Seddon, expressed himself
forcibly on the subject.
In reply to the letter from the Imperial Colonial Secretary announcing
British withdrawal from Samoa, Seddon, who had looked to the
realisation of the dream of a federation of the Pacific Islands under
the hegemony of New Zealand, wrote:
"This surrender of Samoa will in future be a source of anxiety and
entail expense on Great Britain and the Colonies in preparing for and
providing against eventualities. However, now that it has been done,
it is necessary that immediately opportune steps should be taken to
put the islands admitted to be British on a satisfactory footing. Some
definite action of a forward character is required in the Pacific
at the earliest opportune moment, for the surrender of Samoa has
disheartened the natives in the islands, disappointed the people of
Australasia, and lowered the prestige of Great Britain in this part of
the world."
SAMOA
The thought of South Sea Islands conjures up pictures of treasure-trove
and pearls, of joy-rides on turtle back, of dusky beauties with
scarlet hybiscus blooms in their hair, and of fat, naked brown babies
rolling on the sun-kissed sands.
Readers of Robert Louis Stevenson will know Samoa and the Samoans as he
knew them, and will picture the life on the islands he loved--gentle
and entrancing--and breathe the soft atmosphere undisturbed save by the
gurgle of rivulets flinging spray, on which small rainbows dance, over
lichen-covered boulders flanked by feathery tree ferns.
Samoa, Upolu, Fanuatapu--the very sound of the names has in it the
cadence of the murmur of the surf over coral reefs and silver sands,
or the whisper of perfume-laden breezes in tall palms fringing blue
lagoons.
That is the more aesthetic conception; but there is a sordid view open
to the imagination in blood-spattered, headless corpses, victims of
tribal fights, or "the white men on the beach," in turn victims of
unbridled passions and "square-face" gin.
The beachcombers of the South Seas have enriched the slang of
our language with the expression "on the beach," or "on the
pebbly," to denote a hopeless financial condition; but as a class
these pyjama-clad, unlaced-booted gentry represent the limit of
degradation--the bottom of the depths.
To natives all white men are chiefs, but "surely these are not great
chiefs?" asked one of the Samoan islanders, indicating the whites who
dream the idle hours away on the sandy beach of Samoa.
Papua, or New Guinea, again, is in the mind immediately associated with
fearsome weapons of warfare made of carved wood, with collections of
smoke-dried human heads with fantastically tattooed faces, and horrid
feasts at which the _pièce de résistance_ was sirloin of "methody"
missionary.
The Samoan Islands are perfect in their beauty, and all the conditions,
including the ease with which the bare necessaries of life were
produced from natural resources, conduced to a _dolce far niente_ sort
of existence amongst the natives, by which the whites also became
infected.
The Samoan group, which forms the entrepôt of all the islands round
where trade is carried on, consists of fourteen islands, of which
eight, Savaii, Manono, Apolima, Upolu, Fanuatapu, Manua, Nu'utele, and
Nu'ulua, were German--the remainder being British and American.
Savaii is roughly 50 miles long by 10 miles wide, comprising some 650
square miles; while Upolu, 22 miles east of Savaii, comprises about 340
square miles.
All the islands are of volcanic origin, and rise to rugged elevations;
while they are surrounded by coral reefs intersected by passages
through which the navigation is difficult and dangerous. Savaii, rising
to 5,400 feet, possesses an active volcano; Upolu reaches an elevation
of 3,200 feet; while Tutuila, separated from Upolu by a channel 36
miles in width, is 2,300 feet at its highest point.
On all the islands there is a certain scarcity of fresh water inland,
but it is plentiful on the lower slopes and above high-water mark on
the seashore.
While the climate is moist, it is never excessively hot; and the
fertility of the soil is such that it is almost a drawback, for the
extreme productiveness of the soil obviates the necessity for strenuous
labour on the part of anyone who occupies a patch of ground whereon to
grow cocoa-nuts, yams, etc.
On the Island Upolu, R. L. Stevenson's home, is Apia, the port and
centre of Samoan trade. At Apia Stevenson died on the 5th December,
1894. He was much loved by the Samoans, and was by them buried on the
top of Vasa Mountain, 1,300 feet above the sea.
Saluafata is the next harbour of importance; but both Apia and
Saluafata are open harbours, and during the months of January,
February, and March are particularly insecure, owing to the hurricanes
which prevail.
The Samoan Islands contain less than 600 white inhabitants, and the
native population is a little over 40,000. The natives residing on
Upolu amount to 18,000, and on Savaii 13,000; while imported labourers
total about 1,500.
The origin of the natives is obscure, but ethnological students have
declared them to be closely allied to the Maoris of New Zealand, and to
have their origin in China; and there seems to be no reason to doubt
their judgment.
While cannibalism was prevalent throughout the islands of the South
Seas, its practice has always been denied by the Samoans.
By nature the Samoan natives are indolent, and would look upon any
uncalled-for exertion as a midsummer madness; while, to the Samoan
mind, the idea of growing food such as cocoa-nuts, etc., for the
purpose of sending it away and selling it, held about it something
barbaric, unhandsome, and absurd. There is for him no conceivable
object in growing anything more than is necessary to provide daily
food, and consequently he would have no share nor parcel in such a
practice.
The question of labour, therefore, has always been a pressing one on
the plantations; and to provide this Chinese have been imported under
indentures, and by Chinese labour all the work is carried on.
From the time of their first gaining a footing in Samoa, the Germans
began to oust the natives from the land; and as the Samoans could not
be got to work, plantations were established under German managers who
proceeded to extract from it, by means of the cheapest foreign labour
procurable, as much as it would yield.
At Apia, which Stevenson describes as the seat of the political
sickness of Samoa, a controlling German firm was established who
gradually obtained possession of the most fertile lands, but their
titles were at times of the flimsiest.
The same writer describes how a visitor would observe, near an ancient
Samoan village which he had been informed was the proper residence of
the Samoan kings, a notice-board set up indicating that the historic
village was the property of the German firm. These boards, he adds,
which were among the commonest features of the landscape, might be
rather taken to imply that the claim had been disputed.
If the "sales" of land from the natives to the German firm were
questionable, the Samoans beheld in the firm only the occupier of
_their_ land, and consequently regarded the constant raiding of the
German plantations and the stealthy gathering of the cocoa-nuts merely
in the light of a very trifling peccadillo, and certainly not as theft.
Such land as the firm was unable to find labour to work was "mortgaged"
to natives, who were compelled, under a penalty of imprisonment, to
sell their copra to no one except to the mortgagee. The firm, which
Stevenson describes as "the true centre of trouble, the head of the
boil," of which Samoa languished thus gradually, got into its own hands
the practical monopoly of trade.
The trade of the islands of the South Pacific was, as previously
stated, always regarded in Europe as a most valuable one; and when in
1711 a monopoly of trade with South America and the Pacific Islands
was granted to the South Sea Company in England, its riches were
popularly looked upon as illimitable and the shares of the South Sea
Company stood at one time at a premium of 900 per cent.
The bursting of the "South Sea Bubble," however, was the end of
monopolies until the era of the German firm, whose agents gained a
preponderance even in Fiji.
The principal article of Samoan trade is copra, and the value of land
is assessed according to its growth of cocoa-nuts.
The trade was eminently suited for Germans, as the natives readily
bartered for cheap and flashy goods "made in Germany."
In the vicinity of Apia uncultivated land is worth from £15 to £25 an
acre, and cultivated land planted with cocoa-nuts from £20 to £40;
while "bush" land faced a value ranging from 8s. to £2.
In addition to palm-oil and copra, Samoa yields the usual tropical
products of cocoa, coffee, tobacco and rubber, as well as vegetable
ivory.
From Samoa the export of copra in 1912 amounted to £200,000, and owing
to the increased utility found for copra and its steady rise in price
during recent years, further planting has energetically proceeded,
though somewhat interfered with by the appearance of the rhinoceros
beetle.
The pest seems to have been introduced in baskets of earth in which
rubber stumps were packed, and soon obtained a firm hold upon the
plantations, though the Samoan Government has made strenuous efforts to
extirpate it.
"The larvae usually proceeding from eggs deposited in decayed cocoa-nut
stumps are found in large quantities six to twelve inches beneath the
soil, in masses of rubbish, where they gradually transform themselves
into beetles. On coming to the surface they fly from tree to tree and
feed on the leaves, especially on the centre leaf of the cocoa-nut
palm--the heart of the tree--which, being eaten up, the tree dies. The
eggs, it is said, are always deposited by the beetles above the ground,
and turn into caterpillars, which, boring their way through loose soil
and rubbish, then become larvae."[H]
Rubber is of comparatively recent introduction into Samoan production,
and only amounted to £646 in 1911.
Tapping really only commenced in that year; and though later figures
are not available all reports as regards the quality of Samoan rubber
are reassuring, and the prospects of the industry are regarded as
excellent.
Cocoa, however, has been grown for many years, and in 1911 was exported
to the value of £38,508, despite the ravages of the "cacao canker,"
which attacks the older trees, the young ones under eight or nine years
old being seldom if ever affected.
Amongst other industries is the collection of phosphates, the value of
which, exported from the Pacific Islands in 1912, amounted to £250,000.
The following official report was made last year on the phosphate
industry in the islands of Nauru and Angaur:
"The Pacific Phosphate Company in 1912 shipped from the islands
138,000 tons (as against 90,000 tons in the previous year). The
Company suffered from a gradually growing lack of labourers, which
was in the end overcome by the importation of coolies. At the end of
1912, 59 Europeans, 90 Chinese, and 576 natives of the Protectorate
were employed in the phosphate mines on the Island of Nauru. The
works were improved and extended in many directions. The Deutsche
Suedsee Phosphat Aktiengesellschaft exported from Angaur 54,000 tons
of phosphate, as against 45,000 tons in the previous year. The total
annual production has consequently increased by 57,000 tons. While
on Nauru Island labour was scarce, on Angaur several plants had to
be finished before work could proceed to the full extent. Labour
conditions were here satisfactory."
The imports to Samoa are principally cheap "trade goods," and include
large quantities of calico, petticoats of which are worn by both men
and women. The latter purchase white dress-stuff and have them printed
by native dyers with a dye known as tapa.
The value of imports in 1911 totalled £203,312.
Galvanised iron has grown more and more in demand, the wild sugar-cane
disease having nearly destroyed the manufacture of the picturesque
native thatch.
New Zealand and Australia have a regularly connecting line of steamers,
and in 1913 a better connection was provided for the whole South Sea
District (by the Germans of course) by a steamship line from Singapore
which touched New Guinea as well as Samoa.
The South Seas have for many decades been the field of fruitful labour
of missionaries, and as a result of their work in their native schools
every Samoan can read and write his own language. The Government had a
school for white and half-caste children at Upolu in which they were
taught English.
After annexing Samoa the Germans established a Government, taking the
form of a Government Council, consisting, besides the members who
occupied official positions, of eight persons selected by the Governor,
and who were chosen from the leading merchants and planters. The votes
of the general public as regards the election of these were presented
to the Governor for his information, but he was not compelled to act
in accordance with them--the votes merely indicating the popular wish
in the matter. Up to 1912 two councillors, who received no salary, were
Englishmen but subsequently all were German.
The Germans took steps to get rid of "the white men on the beach," and
the class of white who dreamed the hours away there were discouraged by
a deposit of £25, or a guarantee for that amount, being required to be
placed in the hands of the collector of customs before strangers from
foreign countries could land, unless they intended leaving again by the
next or following steamer.
Up to December, 1912, pleading by foreigners in the Imperial Court
in Apia was allowed in the English language by persons who could not
speak German, but this was then stopped and all Court proceedings were
held in the German language, or, where those concerned could not speak
German, by means of an interpreter. Interpreters were provided by
the Court for witnesses, but not for parties to suits nor for anyone
appearing for them. In the custom-house and post office, however,
English was still permitted.
The Government was extremely anxious to increase the use of the German
language in Samoa, but as regarded trade and commerce the proximity of
Australia, New Zealand and Fiji caused the knowledge of English to be
of far more importance to the residents, whatever their nationality.
NEW GUINEA
The New Guinea (formerly known as Papua) group of islands comprise
Melanesia, the Samoan being included in Polynesia.
In New Guinea the British territory was in 1914 approximately 87,786
square miles, while the German possessions in the north of the
principal island, and including the Bismarck Archipelago, amounted to
roughly 180,000 square miles.
German New Guinea was, upon the hoisting of the German flag, renamed
Kaiser Wilhelm's Land, New Britain became Neu Pommern, and New Ireland
took the name of Neu Mecklenburg.
Neu Pommern and Neu Mecklenburg are the principal islands of the
Bismarck Archipelago, the area of which is estimated at 48,000 square
miles.
Lying in the equatorial region, the climate of New Guinea and the
Bismarck Archipelago is hot and humid, and the seasons may be roughly
divided into the comparatively dry period of the southeast monsoon from
about May to November, and the rainy west or north-west monsoon.
The annual rainfall is heavy, being some 150 inches on the sea-board,
and far more on the highlands which intercept the moisture-laden
clouds.
Like the majority of the islands of the South Seas, New Guinea
coastal districts are infested with mosquitoes, and malarial fever,
which affects Europeans as well as natives, is prevalent. It occurs
in more or less severe forms, and occasionally terminates fatally.
The eradication of the mosquito pest by petroleum spraying, which
has proved such a marked success in the Panama regions, is now
being attempted in all malarial-stricken countries, and will, when
accomplished, no doubt bring immunity from malaria to New Guinea.
The coastline on the mainland of New Guinea is fringed by coral reefs
and a line of large and small islands, and is indented by fine bays;
but to reach them the navigation is extremely difficult.
In the narrow passages between the islands and between the reefs the
current is so strong and runs so continuously for days at a time that a
sailing boat can do nothing but lie at anchor waiting for a turn in the
tide, and some have had to wait for a fortnight before they could get
through.
The chief danger to navigation is the number of coral reefs that
are scattered about the coast, very few of them charted. Sometimes
there is enough water to make it safe to pass over them, and then the
coral presents a beautiful sight--snow-white with long branches, or
bright-red: then the sudden drop into deep, dark nothingness, at the
edge of the reef that rises sheer from bottomless depths.
The islands are volcanic and the Kaiser Wilhelm territory in
particular is very mountainous, the most prominent feature of its
configuration, especially on the east coast, being the magnificent
mountain ranges which in places rise steeply from the narrow fringe of
the low coastal lands.
Snow-capped mountains and volcanoes, rising to a height of 15,000 feet
or more, are reported to have been seen in the interior, which is still
considerably unexplored.
There are a large number of mountain streams on all the large islands,
but so far no navigable river has been found in the Archipelago.
An abundant rainfall, together with a high and equable temperature,
has produced a vegetation of exceptional luxuriance and great variety.
While in places extensive areas of grass plains are found, the
hillsides and lowlands are, for the greater part, covered with almost
impenetrable forest, containing timber trees of considerable size and
utilitarian value.
Manioc (wild arrowroot), yams, bananas, and other tropical fruit such
as paw-paws are cultivated by the natives, while sago forms a staple
food of the inhabitants.
Sago palms grow wild in the bush, and prior to treatment sago is, like
tapioca, in its crude state poisonous; but the Papuans have devised
the means of carefully preparing the pith of the palm, and by washing,
straining, and drying rendered it fit for food.
Until the end of the flowering period, the hollow interior of the sago
palm, somewhat similar to bamboo, is filled with a starchy mass from
which the growing fruit draws its nourishment. The tree is felled by
the Papuans and the pulp scraped and washed, during which process the
sago is separated and sinks to the bottom.
Cocoa-nuts also form an important food factor, and groves are found
everywhere; while copra and palm-oil are the principal articles of
trade.
Papuan birds are noted, and amongst the numerous species of bird
life the bird of paradise is particularly notable for richness of
plumage; and the skins of bright-plumaged birds have been in the past
extensively exported.
New Guinea holds less than 500 white inhabitants, the majority being,
of course, German officials and planters; while the natives living in
all the islands are estimated at 500,000.
Papua suffered for years from the presence of the undesirable "white
men on the beach," and wild and weird tales are told of early days of
white men with nothing to do, sitting or lying about in native houses.
The Rev. Henry Newton, one of the pioneers of later civilisation in
British New Guinea, gives the following description of a phase of New
Guinea life:
"The storekeeper would go to bed and leave a supply of liquor handy for
his clients to dispose of as seemed best to them.
"They would spend the night drinking and gambling, the empty bottles
thrown over the veranda would form a fine heap on the ground, and
sometimes one or two humans would follow the bottles as the result of
a heated but disconnected argument, and decide to remain there till
the morning. The storekeeper and publican would count up the number of
'dead-heads' in the morning, and divide the total cost amongst those
whom he had left to enjoy themselves overnight.
"A gaol was built for the accommodation of native prisoners; not that
this meant there was no need of a place of detention for members of the
white race. Occasionally a white man had to be accommodated.
"One man, an Irishman, who had been indulging not wisely but too well
and had decided on open-air treatment, was lying asleep in the street,
and it was necessary to remove him. A detachment of native police was
told off to carry the member of the ruling race to the gaol.
"When they had hoisted him on their shoulders and were marching off,
the unhappy man waked up for a moment, and, not quite understanding the
situation, said 'Hullo, boys, what have I done? Why, am I a hero?'"[I]
The native Papuans are not regarded as suitable for work in the
Western sense of the word, and the German efforts to exploit the
natives have not produced very successful economic results, and the
import of Chinese coolies had to be relied on. This resulted, in the
Pacific Islands generally, in a traffic in labour which roused R. L.
Stevenson's ire.
The native inhabitants consist in New Guinea of a number of races,
differing totally from each other in appearance, customs, and language.
The various tribes have little in common with each other, and
inter-tribal wars and feuds have been continuous, in the course of
which the custom of "head-hunting" became a popular pastime.
Although the Samoans strenuously repudiate the suggestion that they or
their ancestors were ever addicted to cannibalism, the Papuans freely
admit the prevalence of the custom; and although they now profess to
have discontinued cannibalism, the older men will talk confidentially
about the doings in "the old days," and will sigh for the times that
have been.
The natives have unbounded belief in the powers of sorcerers and in
witchcraft, and are more easily held in control by superstition than by
any appeal to any sense.
The hard work--domestic and agricultural--is done by the women, as
amongst most native races; it being beneath a man's dignity to be
engaged in any other labour than that connected with warfare, sport, or
the provision of creature comforts.
The Government of New Guinea was vested in a Governor whose seat was
at Herbertshöhe, picturesquely situated on the shores of Neu Pommern.
The town was the most important commercial centre of the Colony,
several of the principal trading and planting firms making it their
headquarters. Round about it are situated some of the best cocoa-nut
plantations in the islands.
The official language was, of course, German, but English was also
spoken or at least understood by all European residents in the islands.
In the intercourse with the natives the weird form of speech known as
pidgin-English is in universal use throughout the South Seas. It is
framed on the same principles as their own languages, and every white
man who cannot speak native seems to fall naturally into the use of
it. So universal is its use that in German New Guinea the Government
officials, to the offence of their _kultured_ minds, had to use it if
they wanted the natives to understand them.
In their anxiety to spread the use of German, this must have
been particularly distasteful to the officials, especially when
an Englishman who did not understand German found a medium in
pidgin-English.
Some compensation, however, is found by a German writer who says that
"_although_ it is deplorable that, while the easily learned Malay
language might be introduced with advantage, this unlovely dog-English
should still be encouraged, the quaint expressions promptly invited by
the natives for anything new to them, amply demonstrate their ready wit
and furnish a constant source of amusement."
But if "pidgin" is a barbarous perversion of English, on the other hand
pidgin-German is a horror hardly conceivable.
Of all the island groups in the Pacific Ocean, perhaps none offers
conditions equally favourable for agricultural pursuits than does
the north coast of New Guinea and the Archipelago. Lying outside the
cyclonic belt, those devastating storms which are largely responsible
for the failure of crops in Polynesia, as well as in some of the groups
north of the line, need not be reckoned with, and a greater fertility
of the soil further helps to make this part of the Pacific well fitted
for tropical cultivation.
Cocoa-nut growing especially proves most profitable, but cotton,
rubber, cocoa, coffee, and tobacco are also grown, besides spices and
fruits.
The export of copra, which in 1912 amounted to £300,000, has steadily
increased as more and more land was brought under cultivation. Other
articles of export include phosphates, pearl and tortoiseshell,
trepang, sandal-wood, and vegetable ivory.
The exportation of phosphates in 1912 amounted to about £250,000, and
with copra made up 90 per cent of the exports.
Skins of birds of paradise were exported from Kaiser Wilhelm's Land
in 1912 to the value of £25,000, but an agitation on hand against the
destruction of wild birds for the sake of their plumage will no doubt
put an end to this traffic.
Trepang or bêche-de-mer, otherwise known as sea cucumbers and sea
slugs, are an important food luxury amongst the Chinese and other
Eastern people. They are used in the gelatinous soups which form an
important article of food in China. They are prepared for export by
being lightly boiled, then sun-dried, and finally smoked over a fire. A
small English company is engaged in the industry of trepang fishing.
While timber of great variety and excellent quality exists in
inexhaustible quantities, and although there are small saw-mills in
Kaiser Wilhelm's Land, only small quantities of timber for cabinet
purposes have been exported.
Traces of valuable minerals have been discovered. In 1890 gold was
located by prospectors from Queensland, but the gold veins discovered
have not proved as valuable as had been hoped.
Oil has also been prospected in New Guinea, but its exploitation
was reserved by the German Government. The analysis showed a high
percentage of heavy oil.
The imports, amounting in 1912 to £750,000, consist chiefly of
food-stuffs, liquid and tinned, machinery and iron ware, building
materials, clothing, leathern goods, and sundries.
The wants of the natives are few, however, and little trade is done
with them in textiles, the clothing of men and women alike being
usually composed of strips of cloth with plaited grass girdles and a
profusion of shell ornaments.
On 15th August, 1914, the advanced detachment of the New Zealand
Expeditionary Force, which was ordered to seize Samoa, left Wellington
at dawn and was met at sea by three of His Britannic Majesty's cruisers
in New Zealand waters--the _Psyche_, the _Pyramus_, and the _Philomel_.
As it was known that the German armoured cruisers _Scharnhorst_ and
_Gneisenau_ were at large in the Pacific, it was decided not to go
direct to Samoa, but to shape a course for New Caledonia (French).
Cruising off New Caledonia the British ships were joined by the French
cruiser _Montcalm_ and by the Australian cruisers _Australia_ and
_Melbourne_.
The contingent received a wonderfully enthusiastic reception from the
French in New Caledonia, and under the command of Admiral Sir G. E.
Patey the allied fleet steamed for Samoa.
In the early dawn of 30th August the first glimpse was obtained of
Upolu--the scene of wars and rebellions and international schemings,
and the scene also of that devastating hurricane which wrecked six
ships of war and ten other vessels and sent 142 officers and men of the
German and American navies to their last sleep.
The rusting ribs and plates of the _Adler_, the German flagship,
pitched high inside the reef, stared at them as a reminder of that
memorable event.
The _Psyche_ went on ahead, and after the harbour had been swept for
mines, she steamed in under a flag of truce and delivered a message
from Rear-Admiral Sir George Patey demanding surrender. The Germans,
who had been expecting their own fleet in, were surprised at the
suddenness with which an overwhelming force had descended upon them,
and decided to offer no resistance to a landing.
In a remarkably brief space of time the covering party was on shore,
and shortly afterwards Apia was swarming with British bluejackets and
troops. Guards were placed all about the Government buildings and a
staff installed in the Government offices.
The custom-house was seized and an armed party was dispatched along a
bush road to seize the wireless station, the tall, latticed iron mast
of which could be seen rising above the trees some three or four miles
inland on the lower slopes of the hills.
Meantime the German flag that had flown over the island for fourteen
years was hauled down, the Germans present doffing their hats and
standing bareheaded and silent on the veranda of the Supreme Court as
they watched the soldier in khaki from New Zealand unceremoniously
pulling it down, detaching it from the rope, and carrying it inside the
building.
Next morning the British flag was hoisted with all due ceremony.
The troops were drawn up in three sides of a square facing the
court-house--the seat of the new Government. Inside the square and
facing the flagstaff were Colonel Logan and staff in their rough khaki
uniforms, with them the naval Commanders. On the left the high Samoan
Chiefs, Tanu-Malietoa and Tamasese--who had been specially invited to
attend the ceremony--with other Chiefs made a picturesque group.
Fifteen years ago some of those present had seen the young Chief Tanu
placed on the throne of Malietoa, with the representatives of the
allied fleets of Great Britain and America and the civil authorities of
these natives in attendance, and the Germans conspicuous only by their
absence.
A few minutes before 8 o'clock all was ready. The commands to the
troops had ceased and an intense silence had prevailed. Two bluejackets
and a naval lieutenant stood, with the flag, awaiting the signal.
Presently the first gun of the Royal salute from the _Psyche_ boomed
out across the bay. Then slowly, very slowly, inch by inch, to the
booming of twenty-one guns the flag was hoisted, the officers with
drawn swords silently watching it go up.
With the sound of the last gun the flag reached the top of the
flagstaff and fluttered out in the southeast trade wind above the tall
palms of Upolu.
The troops came to the Royal salute as the band played the National
Anthem.
The reading of a proclamation by Colonel Logan terminated the brief but
finely impressive ceremonial.
The German Governor, Dr Schutz, was sent to Fiji and subsequently to
New Zealand.
With similar ceremonies Herbertshöhe in Neu Pommern was occupied by an
Australian force.
* * * * *
On the 14th September the German cruisers _Scharnhorst_ and _Gneisenau_
made their appearance at Apia, but on the New Zealanders manning the
guns the ships left for the open Pacific.
A German merchant ship was at the time at Pango-Pango in the American
island of Tutuila, and ten members of the crew deserted and rowed the
seventy miles to Apia, where they hoped to find the _Scharnhorst_ and
_Gneisenau_. They were, however, arrested by the British authorities.
A British administration was set up. The German officials in the old
administration resigned their appointments, but the natives decided to
continue under British rule.