THE UNITED STATES AND SAMOA 263 



Berlin Act as best suited their own or their country's political 

 and commercial interests. It is not surprising, therefore, 

 that the old racial enmities cropped out anew. It became 

 apparent, even to its most radical supporters, that the treaty 

 government could never fulfil expectations. The natives 

 soon came to ignore the authorities. The process of the 

 Supreme Court was seldom served, and when served, it was 

 of little avail. The influence of King Malietoa gradually 

 declined, until the last vestige of his power as native ruler of 

 Samoa left him king in name only. The government had no 

 authority whatever outside the settlement of Apia, and even 

 within the little municipality itself, its impotent character, 

 combined with its cumbersome structure, made it seem like 

 the creation of a comic opera. The testimony of travellers, 

 the reports of consuls, and the dismal complaints of the 

 natives operated in a very short time to prejudice the admin- 

 istration in Washington against the maintenance of the 

 Berlin Act. 



At one of the sessions of the conference in Berlin (1889), 

 Count Bismarck had said, with full approval of the other pleni- 

 potentiaries, that the arrangements would " be limited to a 

 period of three or five years, to put them to the test." The 

 act also provided for amendment (Art. 8, Sec. 1) after three 

 years from date of signature " the powers shall consider, 

 by common accord, what ameliorations, if any, may be intro- 

 duced into the provisions." Taking advantage of these 

 provisions, meetings presided over by Robert Louis Steven- 

 son were held in Apia in 1892, to adopt proposals for cer- 

 tain desirable ^changes in the act. These proposals were 

 forwarded to the three signatory powers, with the expressed 

 hope that " they, the powers, might be willing to consider 

 the opinion of persons on the spot, and intimately acquainted 

 with the interests involved." The American Consul, Mr. 

 Sewall, also represented to the government in Washington 

 the pressing need of that " revision of the Berlin Act " which 

 was contemplated when it was originally executed. The 

 United States Government alone appears to have been moved 

 by the Stevenson memorial, for it, at least, made some effort 



