His party,for practical purposes,is no longer large.They pretend ammunition to be lacking,but what they lack most is good-will.Captain Brandeis,whose influence is now small,declares they can no longer sustain a serious engagement,and is himself in the intention of leaving Samoa by the LUBECK of the 5th February."And Knappe,in the same despatch,confutes himself and confirms the testimony of his naval colleague,by the admission that "the re-establishment of Tamasese's government is,under present circumstances,not to be thought of."Plainly,then,he was not so much seeking to deceive others,as he was himself possessed;and we must regard the whole series of his acts and despatches as the agitations of a fever.
The British steamer RICHMOND returned to Apia,January 15th.On the last voyage she had brought the ammunition already so frequently referred to;as a matter of fact,she was again bringing contraband of war.It is necessary to be explicit upon this,which served as spark to so great a flame of scandal.Knappe was justified in interfering;he would have been worthy of all condemnation if he had neglected,in his posture of semi-investment,a precaution so elementary;and the manner in which he set about attempting it was conciliatory and almost timid.He applied to Captain Hand,and begged him to accept himself the duty of "controlling"the discharge of the RICHMOND'S cargo.Hand was unable to move without his consul;and at night an armed boat from the Germans boarded,searched,and kept possession of,the suspected ship.The next day,as by an after-thought,war and martial law were proclaimed for the Samoan Islands,the introduction of contraband of war forbidden,and ships and boats declared liable to search."All support of the rebels will be punished by martial law,"continued the proclamation,"no matter to what nationality the person [THATER]may belong."Hand,it has been seen,declined to act in the matter of the RICHMOND without the concurrence of his consul;but I have found no evidence that either Hand or Knappe communicated with de Coetlogon,with whom they were both at daggers drawn.First the seizure and next the proclamation seem to have burst on the English consul from a clear sky;and he wrote on the same day,throwing doubt on Knappe's authority to declare war.Knappe replied on the 20th that the Imperial German Government had been at war as a matter of fact since December 19th,and that it was only for the convenience of the subjects of other states that he had been empowered to make a formal declaration."From that moment,"he added,"martial law prevails in Samoa."De Coetlogon instantly retorted,declining martial law for British subjects,and announcing a proclamation in that sense.Instantly,again,came that astonishing document,Knappe's rejoinder,without pause,without reflection -the pens screeching on the paper,the messengers (you would think)running from consulate to consulate:"I have had the honour to receive your Excellency's [HOCHWOHLGEBOREN]agreeable communication of to-day.
Since,on the ground of received instructions,martial law has been declared in Samoa,British subjects as well as others fall under its application.I warn you therefore to abstain from such a proclamation as you announce in your letter.It will be such a piece of business as shall make yourself answerable under martial law.Besides,your proclamation will be disregarded."De Coetlogon of course issued his proclamation at once,Knappe retorted with another,and night closed on the first stage of this insane collision.I hear the German consul was on this day prostrated with fever;charity at least must suppose him hardly answerable for his language.
Early on the 21st,Mr.Mansfield Gallien,a passing traveller,was seized in his berth on board the RICHMOND,and carried,half-dressed,on board a German war-ship.His offence was,in the circumstances and after the proclamation,substantial.He had gone the day before,in the spirit of a tourist to Mataafa's camp,had spoken with the king,and had even recommended him an appeal to Sir George Grey.Fritze,I gather,had been long uneasy;this arrest on board a British ship fitted the measure.Doubtless,as he had written long before,the consul alone was responsible "on the legal side";but the captain began to ask himself,"What next?"-telegraphed direct home for instructions,"Is arrest of foreigners on foreign vessels legal?"-and was ready,at a word from Captain Hand,to discharge his dangerous prisoner.The word in question (so the story goes)was not without a kind of wit."I wish you would set that man ashore,"Hand is reported to have said,indicating Gallien;"I wish you would set that man ashore,to save me the trouble."The same day de Coetlogon published a proclamation requesting captains to submit to search for contraband of war.
On the 22nd the SAMOA TIMES AND SOUTH SEA ADVERTISER was suppressed by order of Fritze.I have hitherto refrained from mentioning the single paper of our islands,that I might deal with it once for all.It is of course a tiny sheet;but I have often had occasion to wonder at the ability of its articles,and almost always at the decency of its tone.Officials may at times be a little roughly,and at times a little captiously,criticised;private persons are habitually respected;and there are many papers in England,and still more in the States,even of leading organs in chief cities,that might envy,and would do well to imitate,the courtesy and discretion of the SAMOA TIMES.Yet the editor,Cusack,is only an amateur in journalism,and a carpenter by trade.His chief fault is one perhaps inevitable in so small a place -that he seems a little in the leading of a clique;but his interest in the public weal is genuine and generous.One man's meat is another man's poison:Anglo-Saxons and Germans have been differently brought up.