THE UNITED STATES AND SAMOA 273 



islands into an international quarrel. Obviously the course 

 of wisdom lay in disregarding the recent happenings in Apia, 

 and proceeding at once to a review of Justice Chambers' 

 decision. 



Germany first relieved the tension by a disavowal of the 

 course which had been followed by her consul-general in 

 Apia, and by the bestowal of a reprimand upon Herr Raffel, 

 which caused that indignant official to resign his position. 

 The Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs announced 

 that England was awaiting further information before recog- 

 nizing Mataafa as king of Samoa. This evidence of a con- 

 ciliatory policy on the part of Great Britain further eased 

 the situation. 



The first move of the United States after a hasty diplo- 

 matic parley in Washington between Secretary Hay and 

 the representatives of Great Britain and Germany (where 

 assurances were given that the matters would be peaceably 

 settled) was to despatch a war vessel with a commander of 

 high rank to the scene. Accordingly the U. S. S. Philadel- 

 phia, Admiral Kautz in command, was immediately ordered 

 to Samoa, arriving at Apia on the 9th of March, 1899. 

 The admiral was instructed to enforce order, but to take no 

 decided steps in upholding either party without urgent 

 necessity. 



The situation that Admiral Kautz discovered upon his 

 arrival in Apia was a troublesome one with which to deal. 

 An official deadlock existed. Mataafa warriors were active, 

 .and desultory fighting continued in all the islands. The ad- 

 miral, as senior naval officer in the harbor, called a meeting 

 of the three consuls and of the naval commanders then in 

 port. A. two days' conference was held, as a result of which 

 Admiral Kautz issued a proclamation on March 11, setting 

 forth that "it is agreed that the so-called provisional gov- 

 ernment, under the High Chief Mataafa and thirteen other 

 chiefs can have no legal status under the Berlin treaty, and 

 can therefore not be recognized by the consular and naval 

 representatives." TJie proclamation ordered Mataafa and his 

 warriors to disperse quietly to their homes ; it also upheld 



