230 AMERICAN DIPLOMATIC QUESTIONS 



Malietoa and his Government " and the " Representatives of 

 Tamasese and his Party " were induced to sign an agree- 

 ment of perpetual peace, to live "in friendship and cordial 

 relations." When the commissioners stepped ashore on the 

 beach at Apia, the temple of Janus was closed ; outwardly, 

 at least, the consuls had resumed friendly social relations. 



The reports of the three commissioners were somewhat 

 tinged by the prejudices which infected the air of Apia, but 

 in essential details they agreed. The unanimous conclusion 

 was reached that the natives were wholly incapable of main- 

 taining a stable or efficient government. Their interests, as 

 well as the interests of foreigners residing and doing business 

 in Samoa, would be better served, they all declared, by the 

 establishment of a form of government in which the three 

 powers might exercise supervision. Armed by these docu- 

 ments, the Secretary of State and the British and German 

 ministers at Washington, met in conference (June and July, 

 1887), to take up the task of "preserving <>nl,-r in Samoa." 



The United States entered into these negotiations "to 

 establish peace and a better understanding " with feelings of 

 some hesitation, if not of diffidence, as if constrained into 

 committing a second error in order to mitigate a former 

 mistake. The administration had no desire to embarrass 

 the country by assuming responsibility for good government 

 in Samoa. The weak and helpless little nation had granted 

 the United States a favor, and had asked in return the merest 

 shadow of American protection; the time had come when the 

 rights and the independence of this nation were threatened 

 with extinction, and the good offices of the President had 

 been invoked. American trade interests were not of suf- 

 ficient importance to warrant a very large share of attention 

 to the social or political affairs of Samoa. 



Germany, whose paramount commercial interests gave her 

 a livelier regard for Samoan affairs, was far more concerned 

 in the political conditions of the islands, and she was, more- 

 over, less hampered by conservative notions in her foreign 

 relations. It is more than doubtful if she was genuinely 

 interested in the welfare of Samoa. Her desire was mani- 



