Rensselaer Journal, Volume 10, Number 41, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 21 March 1901 — THE GILHERT ISLAJVDS [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

THE GILHERT ISLAJVDS

According to the latest advices from Apamama, there is more trouble in the Gilbert islands. This group is located on the Pacific commercial highway, latitude 0, longitude 175. The islands belong to Great Britain, having been annexed in 1892. The British occupation has been confined to an offi-

KAib-NG THE BRITISH FLAG IN 1892. cial resident governor and staff, who collected the revenues and import tariff. The natives con*’nually protested against this interference and when recently tLs warship left the islands the people suggested that the departure of all British officials would be welcome. In this they were seconded by American, French and German firms doing business at the capital of the islands. The natives of the Gilbert islands are probably of Japanese origin. They are intelligent and have a representative council to advise the king. All seemed peace before the British occupation in 1892. The Illustrated American of Oct. 8, that year, tells of how the islands came into British possession. It said: “The Englishmen seem to have adopt-

ed a paraphrase of the motto that hangs over the dining-table of rude inns of the west, in the conduct of their schemes of acquisition. “If you don’t

see what you want, ask for it,” is the injunction' to sojourners in those rough-and-ready hostelriea. “If you see what you want, take It,” is the dictum of her majesty’s officials. The seizure is generally regarded in diplomatic circles as a consequence of Butarltarl’s recent visit to San Fran-

cisco, undertaken, it was presumed, by the rapacious Englishmen, to in-j duce the United States to extend a protectorate over the Gilbert islands. While in San Francisco the king talked of going to Washington, but he received no encouragement, and illhealth forced him to return home. According to the latest correspondence from the islands, the manner of the “annexation” by the English was brutal in the extreme. About the middle of June, the British man-of-war Royalist suddenly appeared in the harbor. Her captain, accompanied by several officers, all of whom were considerably the worse for liquor, swaggered into the presence of the king and informed the astonished ruler that her majesty, the queen of the United Kingdom, etc., etc., had assumed a protectorate over the Gilbert islands. To the protests of the king, who insisted that his subjects were happy and contented, and that the foreigners resi-dent-in the islands had every protec-

tion for life and property, the English captain responded with a volley of oaths, and a violent uproar that brought a crowd running to the royal abode, where the interview was holding. Among those who hastened to the king’s assistance were A. Rick, the American commercial agent; the agents for Wightman Bros., and A Crawford of San Francisco, the representative of a German company. They demanded to know by what right the cockney captain dared to insult a harmless sovereign in his own palace; but the only answer that the commander of the Royalist vouchsafed them was to hurry an order to his gunners to fire a salute. Then, turning to the king, he ordered him to haul down his flag that it might be replaced by the English colors. The aged sovereign, with a splendid show of savage dignity, refined to obey the Englishman’s curse-laden command, and

he further hinted that if his flag were touched, he would not be responsible for the consequences. “The commander of the Royalist, after a parley with his drunken colleagues, decided that it would answer every purpose to raise the English flag on some other island than that presided over by the king of Butaritari; so re-entering their launch they steamed to the island of Apamama, which is governed by a 10-year-old boy named Paul. Here, where the population all told is only 700 persons, the invaders met with no terrifying threats of punishment, and in short order had erected a pole from whose top flew the flag of Great Britain. During the ceremony the youthful monarch appeared quite at his ease, except as regards his shoes, which he preferred to carry in his hands, In spite of the remonstrances of some thirty or forty aunts who stood about him. Paul is now almost a full-grown man, and Is said to be at the head of the present revolt.”

ROYAL PALACE AT APAMAMA.

KING PAUL.