the sympathies of our people are touched nor their direct political or commercial relations with those scattered communities threatened by the proposed change.

"The President, before whom the protest has been brought, moved by these considerations, does not regard the matter as one calling for the interposition of the United States, either to oppose or support the sug gested measure."

Mr. Frelinghuysen, Sec. of State, to Mr. Carter, Dec. 6, 1883. MSS. Notes,
Hawaii.

The following Congressional documents may be referred to in this connection:
King Kalakaua's visit to United States, expenses incurred by United States,
statement of. Dec. 9, 1875. Senate Ex. Doc. 2, 44th Cong., 1st sess.
Reciprocity treaty. President's message. Dec. 6, 1875. House Ex. Doc. 1, 44th
Cong., 1st sess.

Views and objections to the bill to carry the treaty into effect. Favorable and
adverse reports. Feb. 24, 1876. House Rep. 116, parts 1 and 2, 44th Cong.,
1st sess.
Proclamation putting the treaty into effect. President's message. Dec. 9, 1875.
House Ex. Doc. 1, 44th Cong., 2d sess.
Termination of treaty. Report recommending
nation of, existing treaty. Jan. 16, 1883.
sess. Jan. 29, 1883. Part 2, minority report.
Termination of treaty. Favorable report and minority report. Feb. 27, 1883.
Senate Rep. 1013, 47th Cong., 2d sess. Adverse report. Jan. 24, 1884.
Senate Rep. 76, 48th Cong. 1st sess. Jan. 24, 1884. Part 2, minority re-
port.

modifications in, instead of termiHouse Rep. 1860, 47th Cong., 2nd

See also speeches of Mr. Mitchell and of Mr. Morrill on the Hawaiian reciprocity
treaty of 1875, Pamph., Dept. of State, and remarks of Messrs. Allen and
Boutwell on the bill for the termination of that treaty, Pamph., Dept. of
State; and pamphlet by Mr. Spalding on same topic, id.

(7) SAMOA, CAROLINE, AND OTHER PACIFIC ISLANDS.

§ 63

In March, 1872, certain commercial arrangements were made by Manga, chief of Tutuila, and Commander Meade, of the U. S. S. Narragansett, for the use of the port of Pango-Pango. According to a summary in the Nineteenth Century for February, 1886, "it was arranged that Pango-Pango should be given up to the American Government, on condition that a friendly alliance existed between that island and the United States. Pango-Pango Harbor has thus passed forever from the hands of the British."

For the agreement of Feb. 17, 1872, between Commander Meade, of the United
States Navy, and the chief of the Island of Tutuila, one of the Samoan
group, conferring on the United States the exclusive privilege of establish-
ing a naval station in such island, see MSS. Report Book.

As to claims for spoliations by "wrongful acts of the commercial agent of the
United States exercising authority," at Apia in 1855, see House Rep.
No. 212, 35th Cong., 2d sess.; House Rep. No. 569, 36th Cong., 1st sess.; Sen-
ate Rep. Com. No. 148, 36th Cong., 1st sess.

in the

"The Government of the Samoan Islands has sent an envoy, person of its secretary of state, to invite the Government of the United States to recognize and protect their independence, to establish commercial relations with their people, and to assist them in their steps toward regulated and responsible government. The inhabitants of these islands, having made considerable progress in Christian civilization and the development of trade, are doubtful of their ability to maintain peace and independence without the aid of some stronger power. The subject is deemed worthy of respectful attention, and the claims upon our assistance by this distant community will be carefully considered."

President Hayes, First Annual Message, 1877.

"The treaty with the Samoan Islands, having been duly ratified and accepted on the part of both Governments, is now in operation, and a survey and soundings of the harbor of Pango-Pango have been made by a naval vessel of the United States, with a view of its occupation as a naval station, if found desirable to the service."

President Hayes, Second Annual Message, 1878.

"A naval vessel has been sent to the Samoan Islands, to make surveys and take possession of the privileges ceded to the United States by Samoa in the harbor of Pango-Pango. A coaling-station is to be established there, which will be convenient and useful to United States vessels."

President Hayes, Third Annual Message, 1879.

"In Samoa, the Government of King Malietoa, under the support and recognition of the consular representatives of the United States, Great Britain, and Germany, seems to have given peace and tranquillity to the islands. While it does not appear desirable to adopt as a whole the scheme of tripartite local government, which has been proposed, the common interests of the three great treaty powers require harmony in their relations to the native frame of government, and this may be best secured by a simple diplomatic agreement between them. It would be well if the consular jurisdiction of our representative at Apia were increased in extent and importance so as to guard American interests in the surrounding and outlying islands of Oceanica.”

President Hayes, Fourth Annual Message, 1880.

"The United States, the same as Germany and Great Britain, does not desire the triumph of any particular party, but the restoration of peace and order; and this Government further desires that peace and order be restored by the establishment of a firm, stable, independent native Government that will command the respect and support of natives and foreigners. There is nothing in any of the instructions of the Department to our consul at Apia to warrant any one party on the

islands more than another to believe that this Government was favor.
able to their cause; and the Department would regret to have such an
impression prevail."

Mr. Evarts, Sec. of State, to Mr. von Thielmann, June 15, 1877. MSS. Notes,
Germ.

"A naval station having in 1872 been established in the harbor of the
Bay of Pango-Pango, under an agreement with the great chief of the
bay, and the attention of the Government drawn by highly respectable
commercial persons to the importance of the growing trade and com-
merce of the United States with the islands in the South Pacific Ocean,
and to the opportunities of increasing our commercial relations in that
quarter of the globe, it was determined, as the Samoan or Navigator
Islands lay in the track of such trade, and were reputed to abound in
good harbors and to be very fertile and their inhabitants friendly towards
this Government, to send a special agent thither, for the purpose of
making a thorough examination and report in regard to all the points
on which it was desirable that this Government should be informed.”
Mr. Evarts, Sec. of State, to Mr. Welsh, May 15, 1879. MSS. Inst., Gr. Brit.
As to special power conferred by the United States upon A. B. Steinberger, special
agent to the Samoan Islands, see reports of Mr. Fish, Sec. of State, to Presi-
dent Grant, May 1, 1876 (sent by him to the House of Representatives).
MSS. Report Book.

The following Congressional documents may be consulted in this relation: Report as to the character of the island, the inhabitants, nature and quantity of the agricultural and other productions, the character of the harbors, and the form of Government, by A. B. Steinberger, special agent of the United States. President's message. Apr. 21, 1874. Senate Ex. Doc. 45, 43d Cong., 1st sess.-Further report. President's message. May 1, 1876. House Ex. Doc. 161, 44th Cong., first sess.

Further correspondence. President's message. Feb. 24, 1877. House Ex. Doc.
44, 44th Cong., 2d sess.

Political and commercial report of Gustavus Goward. President's message.
Mar. 20, 1879. (Senate Ex. Doc. 2, 46th Cong., 1st sess.)
Steinberger's bargain of Sept. 10, 1874, with the house of Godeffroy & Son, of
Hamburg, by which his influence in the Samoan Islands is made over to
that house, is given in the Nineteenth Century for Feb., 1886, pp. 288,
289. The same periodical (p. 305) gives the German negotiations with Sa-

moa.

"The Ralik group of islands in the Marshall Archipelago" "is understood to be under no foreign flag or protectorate, and to feel no foreign influence other than that of the resident consular officer, a German, and of the distant consular representatives at Samoa and Fiji, within the jurisdiction of which the Ralik Islands seem to fall." Hence this Government, in desiring to aid the native Government of those islands in the establishment, in connection with the missionaries, of temperance restrictions, can only do so through the agency of the German Government.

Mr. Evarts, Sec. of State, to Mr. White, Nov. 13, 1880. MSS. Inst., Germ.

[§ 63 "For your information I inclose a copy of an instruction recently sent to our legation at Madrid in regard to the mode of procedure by which the crimes alleged to have been committed by an American citizen on the Island of Guap, or Yap, might be reached and punished. This instruction (No. 381, of August 3, 1885, to Mr. Foster) abundantly shows that we not only have not the slightest purpose of asserting claim to the Caroline Islands in virtue of the large American interests established there, but that we seek to respect whatever sovereign jurisdiction may be established as existing there, without even indicating an opinion as to questions of legitimate controversy by either Spain or Germany."

Mr. Bayard, Sec. of State, to Mr. Pendleton, Sept. 7, 1885. MSS. Inst., Germ. The instruction to Mr. Foster, above referred to, had to do with the punishment of an alleged American trader for crimes against natives in his employ on the Island of Guap. After alluding to the difficulties in the way of reaching him, it was suggested that if, as was reported, orders had been issued at Madrid to establish the jurisdiction of Spain over the Caroline Islands, of which Guap was one, the Spanish authorities, if it be determined they have jurisdiction, could cause him to be arrested and brought to the nearest court competent to try the case.

"Your communication of the 17th instant, referring to this Department a letter addressed to you by Mr. A. Crawford, of San Francisco, in relation to the alleged action of Germany in claiming the sovereignty of the islands of the Samoan, Gilbert, and Marshall groups, has been received. In reply, I have the honor to inform you that we have no treaty relations with the Gilbert and Marshall Islands, or any knowledge of the intention of Germany with respect thereto, except the reports which reach us, with more or less authenticity, that Great Britain and Germany have agreed upon lines of division in the Pacific Ocean, by which determinate areas will be open to the exclusive settlement and control of the respective Governments. The case is different in Samoa, with which country we have established treaty relations. The German Government has repeatedly disclaimed any intention to interfere with these treaty relations in any way. The recently reported occurrences in Samoa are not as yet fully understood, and further knowledge is awaited before forming a definite judgment. As to the outlying unattached groups of islands, dependent upon no recognized sovereignty, and settled sporadically by representatives of many nationalities whose tenure. depends on prior occupancy of inhabited territory or on a good understanding with the natives of the inhabited islands, we conceive that the rights of American settlers therein should rest on the same footing as others. We claim no exclusive jurisdiction in their behalf, and are not called upon to admit on the part of any other nationality rights which might operate to oust our citizens from rights which they may be found to share equally with others. In cases of actual annexation of such islands by any foreign power, we should expect that our citizens peace

ably established there would be treated on a basis of equality with the citizens or subjects of such power. These views have been communicated to our ministers at London and Berlin for their guidance.

Mr. Bayard, Sec. of State, to Mr. Morrow, Feb. 26, 1886. MSS. Dom. Let. "My recent instructions to you show the deep concern which this Government feels in the reported operations of Germany in the Samoan Islands, with which we have treaty relations. We have no treaty relations with the Marshall or Gilbert groups. They are understood to belong to the large category of hitherto unclaimed islands which have been under no asserted administration, and where the traders of various na tionalities have obtained lodgment through good relations with the natives. Of the Gilbert Islands we have no precise information. Mr. von Alvensleben recently stated in conversation that the German claim to the Caroline Islands having been decided adversely, Germany would, instead, take possession of the Marshall group. It is understood, but informally so, that an arrangement exists between Great Britain and Germany whereby the two powers will confine their respective insular annexations in the Pacific Ocean within defined areas or zones, and that under this arrangement the Marshall Islands fall within the zone where Germany can operate without coming into collision with Great Britain. "It is not easy to see how either Great Britain or Germany can assert the right to control and to divide between them insular possessions which have hitherto been free to the trade of all flags, and which owe the civilizing rudiments of social organization they possess to the settlement of pioneers of other nationalities than British or German. If colonial acquisition were an announced policy of the United States, it is clear that this country would have an equal right with Great Britain or Germany to assert a claim of possession in respect of islands settled by American citizens, either alone or on a footing of equality with British and German settlers.

"There are islands in the Pacific Ocean known to be wholly in the undisturbed possession of American citizens as peaceable settlers, and there are many others where American citizens have established themselves in common with other foreigners. We, of course, claim no exclusive jurisdictional right by reason of such occupancy, and are not called upon to admit it in the case of like occupancy by others.

"What we think we have a right to expect, and what we are confident will be cheerfully extended as a recognized right, is that interests found to have been created in favor of peaceful American settlers in those distant regions shall not be disturbed by the assertion of exclusive claims of territorial jurisdiction on the part of any power which has never put forth any show of administration therein; that their trade and intercourse shall not in any way be hampered or taxed otherwise than as are the trade and intercourse of the citizens or subjects of the