Message to the Congress Transmitting Report from the Secretary of State Concerning Claims of American Citizens Growing Out of Joint Naval Operations of the United States and Great Britain in and About the Town of Apia, in the Samoan Islands, March, April, and May, 1899

To the Senate and the House of Representatives:

I transmit herewith a report by the Secretary of State of the action taken by him in pursuance of the act of Congress approved June 23, 1910, authorizing and directing him to ascertain the "amounts due, if any, respectively, to American citizens on claims heretofore filed in the Department of State, growing out of the joint naval operations of the United States and Great Britain in and about the town of Apia, in the Samoan Islands, in the months of March, April, and May, 1899, * * * and report the same to Congress."

Accompanying the report of the Secretary of State is the report of the officer who, pursuant to the Secretary's direction, visited the Samoan Islands for the purpose of collecting evidence regarding the claims mentioned. Of the total amount of American claims, of about $64,677.88, payment of $14,811.42 is recommended by the agent. This finding is approved by the Secretary of State, who submits for the consideration of Congress the question of an immediate appropriation for the payment of the claims recommended.

WM. H. TAFT.

The White House, Washington, January 10, 1913.

[APP NOTE: The Message above refers to the "Secretary of State." The Letter below is titled as from the Secretary of War, but signed by the Secretary of State. This is the way it is presented in the "Messages and Papers of the Presidents". HOWEVER: In a 1913 bound compilation of House Documents, the attachment is simply "Letter of Submittal" without source designation in the title. So this may be an example of an error in compiling MAPP error.]

Letter of submittal from the Secretary of War:

To the President: I have the honor to submit, with a view to its transmission to Congress, the accompanying report, together with copies of the evidence collected, relative to the action taken by this department in response to the act of Congress approved June 23, 1910, authorizing and directing me to ascertain the "amounts due, if any, respectively, to American citizens on claims heretofore filed in the Department of State, growing out of the joint naval operations of the United States and Great Britain in and about the town of Apia, in the Samoan Islands, in the months of March, April, and May, 1899, * * * and report the same to Congress." For carrying into effect this act there was appropriated in the diplomatic and consular appropriation act approved March 3, 1911, the sum of $750.

Pursuant to my instructions of April 15, 1911, Mr. Joseph R. Baker, of the solicitor's office of this department, visited the Samoan Islands during the summer of 1911 and remained there for about two months collecting evidence regarding the claims in question. Under date of Oct. 12, 1911, Mr. Baker submitted his report in the matter, including recommendations as to the amount properly payable, if any, on each of such respective claims. This report and the evidence in writing collected by Mr. Baker have been carefully considered by the department, and the conclusion has been reached that the amounts indicated by him are to be regarded as equitably due the various claimants.

By decision given at Stockholm Oct. 14, 1902, by His Majesty Oscar II, then King of Sweden and Norway, to whom the matter had been referred by the convention of Nov. 7, 1899, between the United States, Great Britain, and Germany, it was held that the Governments of the United States and Great Britain were responsible for the losses caused by certain military action, found by the arbitrator to be unwarranted, in the Samoan Islands in the spring of 1899, namely: (1) The bringing back of the Malietoans (to the island of Upolu) and the distribution to them of arms and ammunition; (2) the bombardment; (3) the military operations on shore; and (4) the stopping of the street traffic in Apia. There was reserved for future decision "the question as to the extent to which the two Governments or each of them may be considered responsible for such losses."

However, such further decision was never made nor requested, inasmuch as it was agreed upon by the United States and Great Britain that each Government should pay one-half the amounts found to be due to the citizens or subjects of other powers and should deal alone with the claims of its own nationals.

The German Government, after an interchange of several notes on the subject, finally signified through the German ambassador in Washington its acceptance of the offer of $40,000 in full settlement of the claims, and thereafter Congress appropriated as the moiety of the United States in payment thereof the sum of $20,000.

The French and Danish claims were resubmitted, and the respective sums of $6,782.26 and $1,520 were paid thereon. Congress appropriated in each case for the moiety of the United States, as it did also in the cases of the Swedish and Norwegian claims, upon which were paid, respectively, $750 and $400.

The department is advised that after its contribution to the payment of the said claims of persons of other nationalities the Government of Great Britain several years ago reimbursed its own subjects in the sum of £3,645 for similar losses.

It appears to follow, then, that the American claimants alone, as a class (aside from the native Samoans), remain unpaid for the losses suffered in these Samoan troubles, and it would seem that the equities of the situation require that provision should be made without delay for such payment where it is shown to be deserved.

Investigation by the department reveals that, generally speaking, the American claims are of the same character as those of other nationalities. The total amount of the American claims is about $64,677.88 and the total amount recommended for payment is $14,811.42.

In conclusion, to show by an eyewitness the condition of affairs in Samoa immediately after the war in question, I desire to quote the following extracts from the report of Hon. Bartlett Tripp, the American representative upon the commission which composed affairs in Samoa following the war:

The country surrounding Apia indeed had much the appearance of a battle field at the time of our arrival * * *. The shells from the war vessels fired to dislodge the forces of Mataafa had left their marks upon the houses and plantations surrounding the town and within a radius of 3 miles from the inner harbor, while the lawless acts of looting and foraging parties from either camp had left them a scene of devastation and desolation which always succeeds the invasion of armed forces of savage and civilized men * * *. The white people whose homes had been pillaged and who had sought refuge in Apia, under the guns of the men-of-war, despondingly awaited events which might again bring peace, and the inhabitants of the unhappy town, whose houses had been unluckily struck by the shells of a friendly fleet, and who sought shelter upon the shore, were about equally divided in their words of censure for the hostile forces of the natives and the vessels of their own fleet (Foreign Relations, 1899, pp. 621, 622, and 649.)

Respectfully submitted;

P. C. Knox, Secretary of State.