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Reichstagsakten 1884/1885, Attachment 41 Collection of Documents pertaining the placement of the Togo area and Biafra Bay, No.6, Attachment No.2: Excerpt of a letter from the captain of S.M.S. Sophie regarding the incident at Little Popo on February 22nd 1884
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(p.130) When S.M.S. "Sophie" arrived at Little Popo on January 30th 1884, the representatives of the German merchant houses established there informed the commander of the crisis conditions were in there, and that their position at
that location was threatened.
They gave the following details : in February 1882 they had signed a contract with chief
Quadjovi, who at that time was generally recognized as ruler of Little Popo, in which they were, on the condition of payment of certain export dues on palm oil and palm kernels, and an annual gift to the chief, they were granted freedom regarding all other merchant activities. Until November 1883 they were, in general, not disturbed, but at that time other chiefs laid claim on those export dues. Every one of them claimed, the dues had to be paid to him and any payment to the other chiefs would be invalid. (p.131)
Over this issue the chiefs argued with each other, and as a consequence the outbreak of hostilities, in the course of which lives and property of the Germans are endangered, are to be expected. All attempts to reach a solution by calling for an assembly of the chiefs or the people have been in vain, namely an assembly frequented the day before by several thousands of armed men; if the S.M.S. "Sophie" had not appeared, they had feared the worst.
Concerning the political conditions in Little Popo, the commander was informed of the following. Little Popo and the adjacent coastal stretch are ruled by the King of Grigi, a negro prince, whose residence Grigi is located about 2 sea miles north of Little Popo in the interior. Some time ago the King of Grigi had appointed 3 chiefs for Little Popo, and charged them with the collection of the dues from the foreigners living there. One chief, Georg Lawson, was charged with collecting the dues from the Britons living there, the second,
Quadjovi, with the collection of dues from other foreigners, the third, Pedro Quadjo, with the collection of the rent for real estate. Early in the 1850es the King of Grigi died. As his successor was still a minor, his death was not announced, but, according to the customs of the land, it was stated that the King was asleep. Government was continued, under the sign of royal dignity - the king's stick - by relatives of the perished king. Over time, royal power decreased.
When chief Georg Lawson died in 1883, a relative of his, born in Sierra Leone under the name of William Lawson, tried to establish himself as Regent. He arrived in Little Popo on a British vessel and succeeded in assuming great power, based on British influence. As the other chiefs and the population vehemently opposed this, he proclaimed a nephew of the deceased chief by the name of G.A. Lawson as King of Little Popo, and to take the position of prime minister for himself. This self-proclaimed minister's claim, G.M. Lawson would be the factual King of Little Popo, is not justified, the latter has only assumed the position of the late Georg Lawson and thus only promoted chief or Kabozeer. However, F.A. Lawson's power has, through the activity of his minister, increased considerably.
While, until 1883, Quadjovi was the unchallenged ruler of Little Popo, now Georg Lawson is the most feared. Still the Germans doubt if his forces are superior to those of the other two chiefs and that he were capable to
guarantee the security of the German residents.
On January 31st the commander of S.M.S. Sophie a palaver was held, in order to secure the safety of German interests; it was attended by representatives of the King of Grigi, by the chiefs Pedro
Quadjo, by chief Quafjovi and by minister William Lawson. It was insuccessful. We succeeded the following day to conclude an agreement with the representatives of the King of Grigi and the chiefs Pedro
Quadjo and Quadjovi, in which these parties recognized the contract signed with German merchant houses with
Quadjovi in 1882 as lawful, and in which these took upon themselves the obligation to guarantee the security of the Germans and of their property.
Despity the Lawson party did not sign the agreement, the representatives of the German factories were convinced to be assured of satisfactory protection.
The S.M.S. "Sophie" departed the following day for Grand Popo. Immediately after arrival, a representative of the German merchant house Wölber & Brohm came in, who had covered the diatance between Little Popo and Grand Popo by horse. He asked the commander to come to aid as quick as possible, as the worst had to be feared for lives and property. The negroes, seemingly those of the Lawson party, had hindered the Germans, with the use of arms, in using landing craft to land goods from the German freighter "Carl Woermann", which had arrived immediately after the departure of the S.M.S. "Sophie"; these men also had stated that the German Kaiser would not have the power, and his warships would not dare to militarily interfere in order to protect German trade interests.
Soon returned to Little Popo, the commander ordered a landing detachment of 100 men to arrest the 3 chiefs and their advisers and to bring them on board. After the representative of the King of Grigi had come on board voluntarily, the events were examined, the statements of the Germans as well as of the indigenous were heard and it was determined, that the men of the Lawson party had been responsible for the violent acts committed against the Germans. It was further found, that the minister Lawson, a mulatto named Gomez and an adviser of the king by the name of Wilson had been the main culprits for the events of the previous day, while the chiefs Pedro
Quadjo and Quadjovi had tried to maintain order.
In the course of further negotiations, chief Lawson took on the obligation to recognize the agreement concerning the taxation of the Germans, and to personally take on the responsible for the protection of the Germans from
his side.
Then the prisoners were released, with the exception of minister Lawson, the mulatto Gomez and the advisor Wilson aforementioned, the latter of which had stated to remain on board representing the king.
These 3 persons were held captive, when the S.M.S. "Sophie" departed on February 5th.
At the arrival of S.M.S. "Sophie" in Lagos, minister Lawson informed the commander to be a British subject; this information was confirmed and it turned out, that he, as surveyor, was in British service, and during his
stay in Little Popo had been on vacation, he was, at the request of the Royal British Governor in Lagos, set free after the latter guaranteed in writing not to permit the aforementioned Lawson to return to Little Popo.
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translations are published on psm-data with explicit permission !
posted on the
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Dokument
in deutscher Sprache: [S.130]
[S.131]
translation and English language table of contents: AG
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