The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, April 13, 1899, Page 1

Tall VOLUME LXXXV—N NO. 134. SAN FRANCISCO, THURSDAY, APRIL 13, 1899. PRICE FIVE CENTS. WAR WITH GERMANY MAY GROW FROM THE SAMOAN TROUBLE There Would Have Been No Bloodshed if Consul Rose Had Not Urged the Mataafans to Defy the Americans and British. o0 00060000000 00000CR00000V0EOEBHODIOBICLEE O POP0PRICRVVICRRIVOEIBVOO00CCL90D0OB0ILC000 THE SCENE OF ACTION AT SAMOA VERY WEARY OF GERMAN TACTICS, SAYS MR. HULL W 12—The Call’s sive cablegram from nd concerning the latest 1 Samoa was the only in- on at hand at the War ent early this morning, cagerly discussed. It s confirmed some hours later a cablegram from Admiral Kautz. The possibility of very grave consequences resulting from the collision at Apia lies in the com- plicated circumstances surround- If the ambuscade American and Brit- aind sailors were killed led or instigated by ish officers ¢ all n, as indicated in the news dispatches, it would still be a simple matter for Germany to disavow the act and.punish the offender. The trouble is, how- ever, that this ambuscade does not stand by itself. The instiga- tion in hostilities in Samoa is charged to the German Consul, and this latest bloodshed in which the responsibility of a Ger- man is indicated is but a develop- ment in hostilities growing out of the dispute in which German ASHINGTON, Aprilj officials assume an attitude ad exclu- | verse to the British and Ameri- | cans. The situation is still further complicated by the statements quoted in the Associated Press dispatches from Berlin as official from a representative of the German Foreign Office. The tone of these utterances is so de- fiant and so far in conflict with the attitude assumed by the Ger- man Embassador at Washington that even before news of the col- lision at Apia was received the situation was looked upon as par- taking of a more serious aspect than had been before anticipated. The course of the German Em- bassy at Washington in com- munication with the State De- partment since the first outbreak of the trouble in Samoa has ap- peared conciliatory, and the agreement on the commission was looked upon as assuring a peaceful settlement. This Gov- ernment has had reason to be- lieve that Germany had no pur- pose to sustain the German Con- sul, and that his proclamation exciting the natives to resistance would be repudiated. Therefore ¢ a world, needs little comment. newspaper in San Francisco. Steal- 900000000000000000000080000000000000009900080 oumuoomoonnono the apparently sudden veering about of the Berlin Foreign Of- fice causes great surprise. The statement attributed to an offi- cial of the Berlin Foreign Of- fice, published this morning, that Great Britain and the United States must make an un- mistakable disavowal of the ac- tion of their naval commanders, together with the alleged official statement by the Berlin Foreign Office the day before sustaining Consul Rose and charging vio- lation of the treaty by American and British officers, places the | matter in an entirely different as- pect from that anticipated by reason of the attitude of the Ger- man Embassy here, and a suspi- cion of double dealing has been aroused in some quarters. ‘The State Department can- . _ Continued on Third Page. A view of the western side of Apia Harbor from the German Consulate on the left to Mulinuu Cemetery on the extreme right, with the village of Vailoa, near which the battle took place, across the water, in the distance. Near the water’s edge on the left is the tall chimney of the German Trading Company s plant in the suburb of Savala, whence a road leads around the shallow inner bay through the company’s plantations to Vailoa. mountain beyond the chimney is the French Mission. Half way between the German Consulate and Mulinuu Point is the King’s house. The American and British Consulates are in Matuatu suburb, about half a mile to the east, not shown in the picture. 0900000000000030020002000000000080000000000000000000000000020000000600000008000000000800000000000000000000000006000000000000000C0000000006060000000206000000000 THE CALL BEATS THE WORLD. On the morning of January 18 The Call, by special cablegram from Auckland, first gave to the world the story of the beginning of the present trouble in Samoa. Mataafa. taking up arms in rebellion against a decision of Chief Justice Chambers declaring Malietoa Tanu King, had overturned the Berlin treaty, defied the powers and set up a government of his own. Yesterday morning The Call once more beat the newspaper world in printing the news that American and English blood had been shed in Samoa, that the savages under Mataafa had ambushed a party of bluejackets near Apia. A news service such as this, reaching more than half around the The Call never has spared and never will spare expense to give its readers not only all the news all the time, but the best of the news ahead of its contemporaries. ing and garbling The Call’s specials will' not aid the beaten ones. Extras issued in spasmodic jerks after the event do not cover a news beating. The Call’s copyrighted cablegram from Samoa was in every copy of The Call printed yesterday. To-day The Call has carried it to the remotest corners of the State. The achievement is the most splendid ever placed to the credit of In passing it may be observed that The Call will continue to cover the Samoan field and all news fields as no other newspaper in San Francisco can. UCKLAND, N. Z., April A 12—9 a. m.—Further ad- vices from Apia, Samoa, say that on the arrival of the British cruiser Tauranga at Apia the British and American Consuls issued a proclamation to give Mataafa a last chance, and that the French priests also used their influence, but all efforts failed, and "the rebels continued their depredations. Property was destroyed and bridges and roads were barricaded. On March 29 the enemy was sighted at Maguigi and machine guns and a seven-pounder were used. The. friendlies, Malietoa’s men, also attacked the enemy during the latter’s retreat and several rebels were killed or wounded. The friendlies carried one head through Apia, which made Captain Stuart so furious that he went to the King and threatened to shoot any man found taking heads. The King then issued a proclamation, forbidding the practice. | The German Consul wrote to ooaoooroooooooooooooo ............................O.....Qfl....o............0.....00..0.. 006006€0002050000009000000000000000090009000002000 ‘...‘....O.......O.... On the THE GERMAN CONSUL URGED MATAAFA TO KEEP ON FIGHTING Admiral Kautz, asking if two great Christian nations approved of this inhuman and barbarous practice against the laws of Christianity and the decree of the Supreme Court. The admiral replied, agreeing with the Consul as to the inhu- manity of the practice, and pointed out that had “the Ger- man Consul upheld the decree ot the Supreme Court in January there would have been no blood- shed; that the custom was an old Samoan one, but first made known to the world ten years ago, when the heads of honest German sailors were cut off by the barbarous Chief Mataafa, whom the representative of the great Christian nation, Germany, is now supporting.” Expeditions in armed cutters belonging to the Tauranga and Porpoise are doing considerable execution against Mataafa’s strongholds along the coast. The British forces are being as- sisted by 100 Samoans. About forty-six of Mataafa’s boats and several villages have been de- stroyed. In the meantime flying columns are being sent daily