placed under the rubric of extraordinary expenses $95
This looks strange enough and mean enough already. But we have ground of
comparison in the practice of Brandeis.
Brandeis, white prime minister $200
Tamasese (about) 160
White Chief of Police 100
Under Brandeis, in other words, the king received the second highest
allowance on the sheet; and it was a good second, and the third was a
bad third. And it must be borne in mind that Tamasese himself was
pointed and laughed at among natives. Judge, then, what is muttered of
Laupepa, housed in his shanty before the president's doors like Lazarus
before the doors of Dives; receiving not so much of his own taxes as the
private secretary of the law officer; and (in actual salary) little more
than half as much as his own chief of police. It is known besides that
he has protested in vain against the charge for Dr. Hagberg; it is known
that he has himself applied for an advance and been refused. Money is
certainly a grave subject on Mulinuu; but respect costs nothing, and
thrifty officials might have judged it wise to make up in extra
politeness for what they curtailed of pomp or comfort. One instance may
suffice. Laupepa appeared last summer on a public occasion; the
president was there--and not even the president rose to greet the
entrance of the sovereign. Since about the same period, besides, the
monarch must be described as in a state of sequestration. A white man,
an Irishman, the true type of all that is most gallant, humorous, and
reckless in his country, chose to visit His Majesty and give him some
excellent advice (to make up his difference with Mataafa) couched
unhappily in vivid and figurative language. The adviser now sleeps in
the Pacific, but the evil that he chanced to do lives after him. His
Majesty was greatly (and I must say justly) offended by the freedom of
the expressions used; he appealed to his white advisers; and these,
whether from want of thought or by design, issued an ignominious
proclamation. Intending visitors to the palace must appear before their
consuls and justify their business. The majesty of buried Samoa was
henceforth only to be viewed (like a private collection) under special
permit; and was thus at once cut off from the company and opinions of
the self-respecting. To retain any dignity in
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