CO885-(13-15) — Page 179

23,781.

No. 194.

(WESTERN PACIFIC.)

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PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

انسية

Reference :-

C.O.

ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO

• 885

13 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

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MY LORD,

LAW OFFICERS to FOREIGN OFFICE.

Royal Courts of Justice, December 1. 1890.

We were honoured with your Lordship's commands, signified in Sir P. Currie's letter of the 11th ultimo, stating that he was directed by your Lordship to transmit to us the papers noted in the accompanying list, with reference to certain regulations to be issued by the High Commissioner for the Western Pacific for the purpose of enforcing the stipulations of the final Act of the Conference on Samoan affairs.

That the Act was drawn up and signed at Berlin by the representatives of Great Britain, Germany, and the United States of America on June 14, 1889, and having been in due course ratified by the three Powers, received the assent of the King of Samos.

That instructions were, therefore, sent to Sir J. Thurston, the High Commissioner for the Western Pacific, and to Colonel de Coëtlogon, Her Majesty's Consul for the Navigators Islands, directing them to issue, as far as possible, such regulations in accordance with the final Act as would place British subjects upon the same legal footing as the subjects of the two other treaty Powers, viz., Germany and the United States of America.

That Sir J. Thurston had now replied enclosing a copy of the regulations passed by Her Majesty's Consul for the Navigators Islands, in conjunction with his German and American colleagues, with regard to the collection of customs and taxes in Samoa. That he, at the same time, stated that on considering the instructions sent to him and the already existing regulations in force in Samoa, he had come to the conclusion that he could not at present pass any fresh regulations without placing British subjects on a footing differing from that occupied by the subjects of other

nations.

That Sir P. Currie was to inquire whether we agreed with the view of Sir J. Thurston that Article 7 of the Western Pacific Order in Council of 1879, under which regulations were issued by the High Commissioner, did not authorise the imposition of taxes, and that he would therefore be debarred from issuing a regulation which would enforce in its entirety the regulation with regard to taxes agreed upon by the three Consuls.

That it would be seen that the High Commissioner was of opinion that he could have so far assisted the Consuls as to have issued regulations enforcing the making of the necessary declarations with regard to imports and exports, value of houses, and clerks employed, &c., on which the amount of taxes was computed.

But that the regulations issued by the three Consuls provided no penalty for a breach of their observance, and that apparently, if Sir J. Thurston were to impose any such penalties by regulation, British subjects would be placed in a different position from the subjects of other countries. That Sir J. Thurston requested instructions as to the manner in which the payment of taxes was to be enforced in the future, and pointed out that, though the greater part of them would be payable in Apia and therefore the Municipal Council would be able to make the necessary regulations within the limits of that municipality, the Council had no jurisdiction outside of Apia. That he was, therefore, in some doubt as to how outside taxes could and should be enforced.

That your Lordship was inclined to agree with the High Commissioner that amounts due could probably be sued for before the Chief Justice of Samoa as civil debts due to the Samoan Government, but that any penalties which might be attached to failure to comply with the tax lawa must be tried, so far as the subjects of the treaty powers were concerned, by their own courts, the Chief Justice not possessing criminal jurisdiction over the subjects of those powers.

That your Lordship would be glad, however, of our opinion on these points, for it would appear that when the Samoan Government should have passed laws for the regulation of taxes, it would be the duty of the High Commissioner to make regulations imposing penalties for entering the country at any other port than Apia, and for any failure to make the required declarations of values and other returns.

That your Lordship would also wish to be advised whether it was within the High Commissioner's power to impose a penalty on any person carrying on a particula

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61207.-31. 55,-12/90.