276 AMERICAN DIPLOMATIC QUESTIONS 



criminal to let loose war between three great and civilized 

 nations" because of such a quarrel. From Germany, the 

 traditional offender in Samoa, came a proposition for a Joint 

 High Commission, representing the three powers, to proceed 

 at once to the scene of disturbance. The proposed commis- 

 sion should restore order in the islands, ascertain the causes 

 of the present trouble, and report to their home government 

 its recommendations for future legislation. 



No more promising method of a settlement could be 

 devised. The United States and Great Britain at once 

 accepted the proposition from Berlin, and general satisfac- 

 tion was felt when the State Department announced the 

 appointment of such a commission. The personnel of the 

 commission inspired confidence, and the fact that the German 

 and English members were selected by their respective gov- 

 ernments from among the diplomats residing in Washington, 

 and who were presumably in touch with American opinion 

 on the subject, gave further promise of a satisfactory con- 

 clusion. The commission departed from San Francisco 

 April 25, on the U. S. S. Badger, arriving in Apia on May 

 13. 



The three commissioners were, for the United States, 

 Judge Bartlett Tripp, of South Dakota (elected Chairman) ; 

 for Great Britain, Sir Charles Eliot, Second Secretary of the 

 British Embassy at Washington ; and for Germany, Baron 

 Speck von Sternberg, First Secretary of the German 

 Embassy in Washington. 



The commission carried full authority to establish a pro- 

 visional government in Samoa, and to enforce order. All 

 officials under the Berlin treaty, or those representing their 

 governments in Apia, were instructed to surrender their 

 authority to the commission. Thus by acquiring full juris- 

 diction over the islands, the commission would not be 

 hampered in the fulfilment of the more important duties 

 with which it was charged. These duties were a careful 

 inquiry into the social and political condition of the islands ; 

 an examination of rival claims to the throne, and a review 

 of the chief justice's decision. The commission was further 



