Matā’afa’s cry: evil men name boy as king

Invincible Strangers 14 Chapter 3.4

 The commission considered the matter of compensation. King Oscar II of Sweden and Norway was appointed as arbitrator and in his determination (which remains an official United Nations document) he said the Anglo-American military action was unwarranted and they were considered responsible for the losses. It went into details, saying that bringing Malietoa and his soldiers to Mulinu’ū and giving them arms and ammunition, the bombardments and the roadblocks in Āpia were not warranted. Oscar had been advised that the bombardments had begun because Matā’afa warriors had made a rush on the British and American consulates on Beach Road. They also believed that canoes had been heading to Mulinu’ū to attack the gunboats.

‘We have found nothing in the evidence before Us to show that the general condition of affairs was such as to render the military action necessary for the protection of lives and property,’ Oscar said. There was never an attack on the consulates, that all that had happened was that Matā’afa warriors chased Malietoa women nearby. As for the canoe attack on Mulinu’ū, it was not possible. The tide was out and the canoes were going in the opposite direction. Oscar ordered the British and Americans to pay $40,000.00 (equal in 2018 to $1.07m) to Germany for property damage to German citizens. Lesser amounts were ordered to be paid to France, Denmark, Sweden and Norway. The US tried to cut the German payment back to $25,000, but in the end the full ordered amount was paid. Oscar made no mention of compensation to the people of Sāmoa who had seen hundreds of people killed and wounded, and lost many homes in what was regarded, internationally, as an unwarranted action.

 The US State Department sent lawyer Joseph Baker to Sāmoa where in 1911 he spent two months checking claims for compensation from Americans. His report, which included transcripts of questioning claimants, made no reference to Sāmoans who had suffered much greater losses. When he reported back, US President William Taft, in 1913, asked Congress for $14,811.42 (2018 equal to $370,824) to pay Americans in Sāmoa compensation for damages. Those Americans had asked for $64,677.88 (2018 equal to $1.6 million). Baker’s report canvassed the war itself, noting there were ‘friendly’ natives and ‘hostiles’.

‘Periodically also the war vessels bombarded those points where the Mataafans were supposed to be located and steamed up and down the coast throwing shells into the native villages and destroying the boats of the Mataafans.

Tamasese supervised the surrender of arms following the USS Badger agreement. US Naval History and Heritage Command.