introduction of HR 12493, I deplore their failure to consult the matter first with the Governor and Leaders of American Samoa. Their failure prompts a suspicion that there might be some ulterior motives behind their solicitude. If their interests were not genuine, I would then argue against the passing of the Bill. I have already presented by pros and cons concerning the matter of the Bill. However, it is my firm belief, based on my almost fifty years service with both the Governments of the United States and American Samoa, my thorough knowledge of the Samoan customs and culture and the Samoan mind, my several years of working for and with naval and civilian administrators and their staffs, my legal training and association with overseas and local government officials, businessmen, judges and lawyers, educators and anthropologists, that it is best for all concerned that the matter of Passing HR 12493 and Election of a Governor and Lt. Governor for American Samoa, be kept in abeyance until the Convention in July of this year. This will absolve the Government and People of the United States from any blame. Please bear in mind the uniqueness of the status of American Samoa, the only territory or possession of the United States with a matai and aiga system. Respectfully submitted, NAPOLEONE A. TUITELELEAPAGA. WORLD TRADE BUSINESS, DEPARTMENT, IBS-7, Fagatogo, Pago Pago, American Samoa, February 25, 1972. CONGRESSMAN PHILLIP BURTON, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Territorial Affairs, House Office Building, Washington, D.C. DEAR MR. BURTON: It is obvious that a public Hearing will be conducted in Washington, D.C. provided an elected Governor and Lieutenant Governor for American Samoa. Whereas in accordance with the Constitution of the United States that a free press, free speech, and a free expression of ideas, thoughts, and opinions relative to certain subjects should be otherwise considered respectively. And that I, therefore, as a free individual, have a right to submit to the Hearing the following TESTIMONY as a Ten-Point Package. Question A. WILL A SAMOAN CANDIDATE BE ELECTED AS GOVERNOR FOR AMERICAN SAMOA? Answer B. My Testimonial Answer to the questions indicated above is that—in a general point of view that "This is not the right time, but very sooner, four (4) years more or less, a qualified Samoan Candidate necessarily be elected as Governor for American Samoa." Mr. Chairman-regardless of not appearing in person in this Hearing that I, furtherly testify and witness in this Hearing before the presence of the Chairman and the Subcommittee members that-because of the existing Ego-Centric Nature of a Samoan that-there will be no qualified Samoan Candidate at the present time necessarily be elected as Governor for American Samoa. Mr. Chairman-And, otherwise in a general point of view the situation at the present time is well proportional to 10-Point Package Testimony submitted herewith that 1. He, whoever, a Samoan Candidate be elected as Governor for American Samoa, provided his Administration would be undoubtedly directed on a Partial Basis which may possibly benefit only a few number of people, and thus otherwise loses the common interests of a great majority of the people, who loyally wish to support his Administration as Governor of American Samoa. 2. A Samoan Candidate be elected as Governor for American Samoa may or may not be able to up-hold the Governorship Position, provided no possibilities that should meet the necessary wants and requirements of the people of American Samoa, thus otherwise only benefited himself. 3. He, whoever, a Samoan Candidate be elected as Governor for American Samoa has been contained in himself an existing Ego-Centric nature-a potentially inward impulse that may strongly insist himself to lead his Administration towards to an absolutely wrong course which may spring up a drastic confusion and pell-mell among the people of American Samoa, and thus otherwise trended to a Governmental corruption. 4. Regardless of the Traditional status, there will be no Samoan Candidate has acquired a sufficient background from a College or University, and he is wholly lacked on Governorship experience. 5. He is anyway lacked on a background concerned with International-Diplomatic-Relations. 6. He is probably underestimated on visualizing a future economic conditions in proportional to the increased oncoming future generations of American Samoa. 7. He is probably too pride with self-prestige, thus otherwise, he is allowing a wrong pleasing-fancy to certain friendly individuals. 8. He is perhaps making considerations and decisions on certain problems and disputes admiring only, one good side view, and ignored a bad side view. 9. A Samoan Candidate be elected as Governor for American Samoa that I, personally believe that his Administration, in a general point of view, is not as good as a Palagi Governor administers. If that is the case, that I further testify and witness in this Hearing before Mr. Chairman and the Subcommittee thatno Samoan Candidate be qualified as to hold the Administration as Governor for American Samoa. 10. Mr. Chairman, without my personal appearance in this Hearing that I, again furtherly testify and witness in this Hearing before the Chairman and the Subcommittee that I move, that the subject on elected Governors for American Samoa should be turned down and placed it in the agenda for 4 years more or less, then later be resumed for further discussion and public Hearing respectively. C. To sum up the 10-Point Package Testimony above that I, truly testify and witness in this Hearing before the Chairman and the Subcommittee that-the subject on a Governor for American Samoa should be APPOINTED by the President of the United States through the consideration of the Secretary of the Interior Department. By so doing, thus will possibly elapse the common desires and wishes of those who want to be Governor for American Samoa. That he, whoever, is appointed from Washington, D.C. will calmly settle the matter without any dispute or argument occurred among the people of American Samoa. Thus one's (who is who?) Administration as Appointed Governor from Washington, D.C. for American Samoa would be certainly supported with loyalty by the people of American Samoa as Governor for the Government of American Samoa. However, that I, again furtherly testify and witness, without my personal appearance in this Hearing, before the Chairman and the Subcommittee Members that the people of American Samoa still, must have a sole authority to renounce (abdicate) the appointed Governor from his Administration as Governor for American Samoa if, or when, his Administration does not possibly comply with the common interests of the people of American Samoa. D. Secondly, the subject on Lieutenant Governor for American Samoa that I, regardless of not appearing in person in this Hearing, furtherly testify and witness before the Chairman and the Subcommittee that-the subject on Lieutenant Governor should be widely opened to any qualified Samoan Candidate, who has been awarded with a highly recognized DEGREE from a College or University. For whoever, a qualified Samoan Candidate wants to be a Lieutenant Governor for American Samoa, an Official Application should be submitted to the Office of the Secretary of the Interior in Washington, D.C. or vice versa. Mr. Chairman, I conclude with great gratification for a chance being widely opened to anyone who wishes to testify and witness in this preliminary Hearing on matter of Governors for American Samoa. With confidence, I quietly remain. Very respectfully yours, S. I. MASANIAI, International Trader & Importer. OFFICE OF THE DISTRICT GOVERNOR-WESTERN DISTRICT, Hon. PHILLIP BURTON, March 8, 1972. Member of the U.S. Congress, House of Representatives, Washington, D.C. DEAR MR. BURTON: At nine o'clock, Saturday morning, March 4, 1972, all the paramount-hereditary chiefs, or their representatives; high talking chiefs and all duly registered and officially recognized matais, under the laws of American Samoa and Samoan customs as well, representing their respective villages and families in the Western District, were duly assembled and did meet at Laloifi and Faleomavaega, the traditional meeting place of the Lealataua County, in the domain of Paramount Chief and District Governor Tuitele, Leone Village, Western District, American Samoa, to discuss and consider H.R. 12493, introduced by Mr. S. Matsunaga on January 19, 1972, and other identical ones. At ten minutes past the hour of two in the afternoon, the following decision was reached. 1. The Western District, with a population of nearly ten thousand, not only protests against the introduction and passing of the said H.R. 12493, but refrains from making any comment or discussion until the coming Convention in July of this year. 2. Although we appreciate the interest of Mr. Matsunaga, et al, in connection with the introduction of H.R. 12493, we fully believe that the matter concerning the election of a Governor and Lieutenant Governor for American Samoa, or a change in form or status of government, or such other related matters, must originate from, or come from the Samoan people themselves and/or the Department of the Interior. 3. We respect and revere the Treaty of Cession signed by our forefathers (several descendants of whom are signors of this letter), their perspicacity and purposes that did cause them to peacefully cease the islands and entrust the future and welfare of their progeny to the magnanimous Government and philanthropic People of the United States. Likewise, we respect and admire the representatives of that magnanimous Government and philanthropic People of the United States when they too, in reciprocation, made a sacred pledge to, inter alia, "respect and uphold the customs and culture of the Samoan people . . . .". 4. We do honestly feel, based on our respect and gratitude to the magnanimous Government and philantropic People of the United States, and our sincere desire not to disrupt our traditional way of life, which the Government and People of the United States so generously and philosophically helped to perpetuate for the last seventy-two years, and our mutual relationship with the Government and People of the United States, that the said H.R. 12493 be kept in abeyance until the Convention in the coming July of this year. Not all the matais who were present at this memorable meeting have signed their names, but only those of the upper echelon. Respectfully submitted. TUITELE, M. T., District Governor; LEOSO, M., Senator; SAL- Congressman BURTON, APIA, WESTERN SAMOA, February 28, 1972. Chairman of the Subcommittee on Territories, Washington, D.C. DEAR SIR: I have heard that your important committee will be holding public hearings soon on the Samoan Elected Governor Bill, and would like to offer my comments as follows; I am a registered Democrat in American Samoa and have worked for about four years in American Samoa as a managing editor of various newspapers such **Present, Concurred, but did not sign. as Samoa Times, Samoa News and Pacific Star. In my position I was able to detect a lot of the problems in the territory. Principally, my main thesis is that the people of American Samoa are ready for an elected governor and lieutenant governor. Moreover, this would be an excellent solution to the "problem" of American Samoa. It has been objected that such a step should not be taken because the people of American Samoa are not yet educated enough. But what does "educated enough" mean? I maintain that more internal self-government does not depend on the amount of education, but principally on "common sense" and this is what the Samoan leaders in American Samoa have in sufficiency. The principal problem, as far as the rulers are concerned, is not education though admittedly that would be a help (as well as a handicap) but “integrity". For this reason, the masses must be educated enough to appoint upright, honest men, of the calibre of George Washington etc. to represent them. In conclusion, I wish to voice my support of your bill. The people of American Samoa are more than ready now to elect their own governor and lieutenant governor. With Best Wishes, (FLEISE VA'a) Mr. Samoa Times Newspaper, Apia, Western Samoa, THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, CONGRESSIONAL RESEARCH SERVICE, Washington, D.C., March 13, 1972. To: House Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs; Attention: Mr. William G. Thomas, Consultant, Subcommittee on Territorial and Insular Affairs. From: Government and General Research Division; Charles W. Harris, Division Chief. Research by-William R. Tansill. Subject-The various forms of government that have operated in American Samoa, and the concepts behind the division of territories into organized, unorganized, incorporated, and unincorporated territories. In response to your inquiry of February 18, concerning the governing of American Samoa, as well as the institution of categories for differing American territories, we are pleased to report as follows: I. AMERICAN SAMOA A. INDEPENDENT KINGDOM OF SAMOA The first American contact with the Samoan island group occurred in 1839, when Lt. Charles Wilkes surveyed the area in the course of an exploring expedition. The Islands were then forgotten until President Grant became interested, through the prompting of a steamship magnate who had become cognizant of the commercial possibilities of the harbor at Pago Pago. In 1872 Commander Richard Meade, visiting Samoa in the U.S.S. Narragansett, negotiated with High Chief Mauga of Pago Pago an agreement affording the United States exclusive rights in Pago Pago harbor in return for an American promise of protection for the native government. The treaty, however, was never ratified by the Senate. The aborted venture, nonetheless, was not without positive result: it prevented both Germany and Great Britain from making claim to the harbor.1 In the meantime, President Grant had despatched an American agent, Colonel A. B. Steinberger, to Samoa on an investigation mission. The Samoans took so kindly to Steinberger that they soon made him their "prime minister." He was not nearly so popular with the American and British consular agents, though, and they, indeed, conspired to ride him out of sight on a British cruiser in 1876. But his enforced departure left a power vacuum. Two years later a Samoan delegation appeared in Washington asking for a treaty of either protection or annexation. Informed by the Hayes administration that the Senate would not counte 1 Julius W. Pratt, America's Colonial Experiment (New York: Prentice-Hall, 1950), pp. 7-8; [Governor of American Samoa], 1968 Annual Report to the Secretary of the Interior (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1969), p. 5. nance such a treaty, the Samoans agreed to a treaty of friendship and commerce, which cleared the Senate on January 30, 1878. In return for promising to use its "good offices" to resolve "any differences" that might arise between the government of Samoa and that of any other nation on friendly terms with America, the United States was awarded the privilege of establishing a coaling station in and on the shores of Pago Pago harbor.2 While the United States had its coaling station in Pago Pago, British and, particularly, German commercial interests were acquiring economic ascendancy in the islands. Within a few years the Germans gained almost complete control of the export business, and by 1887 were threatening to squeeze the British and Americans entirely out of the Samoan picture.3 When the Germans deported King Malietoa Laupepa and placed his rival on the throne, the Americans took marked umbrage and the possibility of a shooting affay between German and American naval forces became a bit imminent. Fortuitously, and not altogether unfortunately, a devastating hurricane descended in March 1889 upon the American and German warships which had assembled in Apia harbor (Western Samoa) and wrecked nearly every one of them. The disaster accelerated efforts of the three Powers for a just "accommodation"; and on June 14, 1889 a treaty was concluded in Berlin which established a tripartite protectorate over all of Samoa.* The United States agreed to the condominium because it represented the only acceptable alternative to war, to a German mandate for the whole Samoan group, or to partition of the islands; and, of course, it preserved American rights in Pago Pago. Washington, indeed, hoped for a quick reestablishment of Samoan independence.5 Government under this arrangement was hopelessly complicated, with a German "president" of the Apia municipality empowered to advise the restored King Malietoa and an American chief justice serving as the "final legislator" in Apia and being authorized to "recommend" legislation to the general native government-and all the while constituting in himself the court of last resort. The condominium broke down completely upon the death of King Malietoa in 1898. In the resulting war of succession waged by rival chiefs, disorder engulfed the islands, highlighted by the bombardment of Apia by American and British warships. The three Powers then agreed to appoint a high commission of investigation, which declared an end to the kingship and replaced it, temporarily with a Consular Board." When Germany proposed partition of all the islands, Great Britain and the United States (which by this time had taken possession of the Philippines and no longer was overly diffident about acquiring overseas territory) posed no objections. In the resultant tripartite convention signed at Washington on December 2, 1899, Germany and Great Britain renounced in favor of the United States "all rights and claims over and in respect to the Island of Tutuila and all other islands of the Samoan group east of Longitude 171° west of Greenwich." In return, the United States renounced in favor of Germany "all . . rights and claims over and in respect to the islands of Upolu and Savaii and all other Islands of the Samoan group west of Longitude 170° west of Greenwich." Great Britain gracefully bowed out of the picture: she had received from Germany a promise of compensation elsewhere in the world. Without bothering to ask the Samoans what they thought of this rather cavalier disposal of their homelands, President McKinley, by executive order of February 19, 1900, directed that "The island of Tutuila of the Samoan Group and all other islands of the group east of longitude 171° West of Greenwich, are hereby placed under the control of the Department of the Navy for a naval station. The Secretary of the Navy shall take such steps as may be necessary to establish the authority of the United States, and to give the islands the necessary protection." " 2 Pratt, op. cit., p. 14; 20 Stat. 704. 3 Pratt, op. cit., p. 15. 4 William M. Malloy, comp., Treaties, Conventions, International Acts, protocols and Agreements between the United States of America and Other Powers, 1776-1909 (61st Congress, 2d Session, Senate Document No. 357, Washington, Government Printing Office, 1910), vol. 2, pp. 1576-1589. 5 Whitney T. Perkins, Denial of Empire (Leyden: A. W. Sythoff, 1962), p. 270. Ibid., p. 271. " Id. 8 31 Stat. 1878. Captain J. A. C. Gray, Amerika Samoa (Annapolis: U.S. Naval Institute, c. 1960), p. 107. |
