Page:Speeches, correspondence and political papers of Carl Schurz, Volume 5.djvu/29

Rh Samoa might by this time be practically ended; possibly the military honor of Germany, after the killing of the German marines, might consider itself satisfied by the bombardment of the Samoan villages; but he did not know. I suggested that, if the war was not yet considered ended, this might be a good opportunity for calling upon the “friendly offices” of the United States, of which the American treaty with Samoa contained a standing offer. I added that I thought the Germans had made a great mistake in trying to impose upon the Samoans, Tomasese, a king not chosen by the natives; that populations of that kind, if unwilling to submit to a foreigner, will be still more unwilling to submit to a man of their own race imposed upon them by foreigners; that under such circumstances conspiracies and revolutions are inevitable; and that, in my opinion, the Germans as well as all others concerned would serve their own interests much better by permitting the natives to choose their own king without foreign influence of any sort. Count Arco observed that this might be so, and he thought the German Government might finally accept Mataafa himself as Samoan king.

The conversation turning upon what the coming conference between the treaty Powers might do, I said, in answer to a question, that as to the future government of Samoa perhaps some proposition intermediate between that advanced by Prince Bismarck and that of Mr. Bayard might be found, satisfactorily securing Samoan autonomy as well as treaty rights, and Count Arco shared that hope.

He expressed regret at the fact that the Consular representatives [of the United States] in Samoa had in most instances been inferior to those of the other Powers in point of mental equipment as well as social standing, and he attributed their unsatisfactory relations in great