The Last Stand of the American Flag in Samoa
Secretary Bayard’s dismissal of Consul Reesell sparks outrage over U.S. surrender to German bullying in the Pacific.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
As has been reported, Secretary Bayard has yielded farther to Germany by dismissing Consul-General Reesell on the ground that his views are not in harmony with those of the administration. Mr. Reesell has represented the United States at Apia with dignity and prudence. He has protested against the unwarranted acts of the Germans, and has insisted that the rights of his countrymen should be respected. In doing this he has incurred the hostility of the German officials, and it is doubtless in accordance with a request from the German government that he has been removed from office.
General Greenbaum, who was first selected by President Cleveland to represent the United States at Apia, was removed in the same manner and for the same reason. Indeed, the fact that a minister or consul of the United represents his country fearlessly seems to be regarded by Secretary Bayard as sufficient cause for his removal, unless, indeed, the government which he offends happens to be a weak one, in which case he is at perfect liberty to bully it as he chooses.
Our government presents a bold front to Mexico and Haiti, but cringes shamefully before Great Britain and Germany. There is nothing in the diplomatic history of our country more shameful and humiliating than the Samoan episode. If Secretary Bayard were to be the head of the state department for four years more, we might reasonably expect Germany to be in complete possession of Samoa at the end of that period, and it would be surprising if the Hawaiian islands also had not been seized by either Germany or Great Britain.
This 1893 editorial captures a moment of profound anxiety about American imperial overreach and diplomatic weakness. While today we often critique U.S. foreign policy for interventionism, this era feared the opposite: that Washington was too timid to protect its strategic footholds in the Pacific against European powers like Germany. The fear that Samoa would fall to colonial rivals mirrors modern concerns about geopolitical influence in the Indo-Pacific.
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