THE UNITED STATES AND SAMOA 261 



to Malie with warrants for, the arrest of offenders, been driven 

 away by Mataafa's soldiers, and warned against attempting any 

 arrest under penalty of death. 



The expediency of sending war vessels to Apia to assist the 

 government in enforcing its decrees became a subject of cor- 

 respondence in Washington, for the situation in the islands 

 changing from bad to worse, the question had arisen as to 

 the advisability of taking active measures to disarm Mataafa. 

 June 19, 1893, Mr. Gresham wrote to Sir Julian Paunce- 

 fote : 



The Government of the United States, while heretofore in- 

 clined to confine its action to participation in the maintenance of 

 the system of government devised by the General Act to the ex- 

 ecution of the process of the supreme court and to keeping up 

 such naval representation in Samoan waters as should suffice for 

 the protection of American life and property in those islands, is 

 now prepared to go further, in view of the reported rebellious 

 attitude of Mataafa and his followers, and will join in an active 

 demonstration for the purpose of surrounding and disarming them. 



Sir Julian in reply, a few days later, reported that u Her 

 Majesty's Government will heartily cooperate with the other 

 two treaty powers in the manner and for the purposes 

 mentioned." 



Accordingly, with the ready consent of Germany, another 

 man-of-war episode took place in Samoa (July 18, 1893). 

 Before the arrival of the U. S. S. Philadelphia, which had 

 been hastily despatched to the islands to assist in the dem- 

 onstration, Mataafa surrendered to the combined German 

 and English forces and was deported, as had formerly been 

 Malietoa, to the Marshall Islands, where, with a number of 

 chiefs who bore him company, he was maintained in exile 

 at the joint expense of the three powers. 



With the powerful Mataafa out of the way, and Malietoa 

 consequently strengthened in his position as king, the govern- 

 ment should have prospered. In the early part of 1894, an 

 uprising of Tamaseseites disturbed the repose of the king, 

 but the three consuls, and king Malietoa stood together 



