His Majesty himself beholds it daily, and the tenor of his
thoughts may be divined. The fine house of a Samoan chief is his
appropriate attribute; yet, after seventeen months, the government (well
housed themselves) have not yet found--have not yet sought--a roof-tree
for their sovereign. And the lodging is typical. I take up the
president's financial statement of September 8, 1891. I find the king's
allowance to figure at seventy-five dollars a month; and I find that he
is further (though somewhat obscurely) debited with the salaries of
either two or three clerks. Take the outside figure, and the sum
expended on or for His Majesty amounts to ninety-five dollars in the
month. Lieutenant Ulfsparre and Dr. Hagberg (the chief justice's Swedish
friends) drew in the same period one hundred and forty and one hundred
dollars respectively on account of salary alone. And it should be
observed that Dr. Hagberg was employed, or at least paid, from government
funds, in the face of His Majesty's express and reiterated protest. In
another column of the statement, one hundred and seventy-five dollars and
seventy-five cents are debited for the chief justice's travelling
expenses. I am of the opinion that if His Majesty desired (or dared) to
take an outing, he would be asked to bear the charge from his allowance.
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