Why did Britain protectorate the Gilbert islands in 1892?

In an effort to restore a measure of order, the Gilbert Islands and the neighboring Ellice Islands (now Tuvalu) were declared as the British Protectorate by Captain Davis of HMS Royalist (1883) on 27 May 1892. British Western Pacific Territories SS Tokelau: Government Steamer Gilbert & Ellice Islands Protectorates (30 April 1909)

Explanation:

Source - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Kiribati

while it was true that the cotton gin reduced the labor of removing seeds, it did not reduce the need for slaves to grow and pick the cotton.

explanation:

before eli whitney's invention of the cotton gin, picking and cleaning cotton was a slow, labor-intensive job. workers, usually slaves, had to pick the seeds from the cotton fibers by hand. this invention made it possible to grow large amounts of cotton on big farms and make money.