THE UNITED STATES AND SAMOA. 267 



lead to war, but shall be presented for decision to the chief justice 

 of Samoa, who shall decide it in writing, conformably to the pro- 

 visions of this Act and to the laws and customs of Samoa not in 

 conflict therewith ; . . . 



The choosing of a king, therefore, fell at last to the Supreme 

 Court, according to the stipulations of the tripartite Berlin 

 Act ; but the selection of a ruler from the candidates was, 

 nevertheless, to be made by the court in strict accordance 

 with the laws and customs of Samoa. William L. Chambers, 

 an American, was chief justice, under authority of the three 

 signatory powers, and upon him, therefore, fell the responsi- 

 bilities of the occasion. An excited popular interest, both 

 native and foreign, became inflamed during the period of the 

 trial. The Teutonic element in Apia warmly espoused the 

 cause of Mataafa, and his case was vigorously conducted in 

 court by Herr von Bulow, a German lawyer well versed in 

 Samoan traditions. 



The American and English residents suspected that the 

 lively German interest in Mataafa's success was owing to 

 some secret understanding with that chief by which, in the 

 event of his election as king of Samoa, he was to submit him- 

 self to the will of the German Government, and even aid in 

 securing for it the ultimate control of the islands. Indeed, 

 at that very time, rumors were rife in Apia that Germany 

 contemplated a decisive movement toward that end. The 

 usual jealousies and racial antipathies in Apia were there- 

 fore greatly stimulated. The Germans did not conceal their 

 desire ultimately to win Samoa for themselves ; but for the 

 present they had no hesitancy in asserting that Mataafa had 

 been rightfully and properly elected king, and that they sup- 

 ported him solely through a sense of justice. Mataafa, it will 

 be remembered, was the former arch enemy of the Germans. 

 He was in command of those forces which, in the political 

 disturbances of 1887-88, had ambushed and killed some fifty 

 German marines from the Adler. This act had called down 

 upon him the denunciations of the German Government, and 

 had left him barred from ruling over Samoa by a protocol of 

 the Berlin Act, a condition insisted upon, as already stated, 



