s to the king, could do very little to mend them.

To the impropriety of some of the official proceedings Stevenson felt
compelled to call attention in a series of letters to the Times, the
first of which appeared in 1891, the remainder in 1892. He had formed
the conviction that for the cure of Samoan troubles two things were
necessary: first and above all, the reconciliation of Laupepa and
Mataafa; secondly, the supersession of the unlucky Chief Justice and
President by men better qualified for their tasks. To effect the former
purpose, he made his only practical intromission in local politics, and
made it unsuccessfully. The motive of his letters to the Times was the
hope to effect the second. In this matter, after undergoing the risk,
which was at one moment serious, of deportation, he in the end saw his
wishes fulfilled. The first Chief Justice and President were replaced by
better qualified persons in the course of 1893. But meantime the muddle
had grown to a head. In the autumn of that year war broke out between
the partisans of Laupepa and Mataafa: the latter were defeated, and
Mataafa exiled to a distant island. At the close of the following year
Stevenson died. Three years later followed the death of Laupepa: then
came more confused rivalries between various claimants to the kingly
title. The Germans, having by this time come round to Stevenson's
opinion, backed the claims of Mataafa, which they had before stubbornly
disallowed, while the English and Americans stood for another candidate.
In 1899 these differences resulted in a calamitous and unjustifiable
action, the bombardment of native villages for several successive days
by English and American war-ships. As a matter of urgent necessity, to
avert worse things, new negotiations were set on foot between the three
powers, with the result that England withdrew her claims in Samoa
altogether, America was satisfied with the small island of Tutuila with
its fine harbour of Pago-pago, while the two larger islands of Upolu and
Savaii were ceded to Germany. German officials have governed them well
and peacefully ever since, having allowed the restored Mataafa, as long
as he lived, a recognised position of headship among the native chiefs.
Stevenson during his lifetime was obnoxious to the German official
world. But his name and memory are now held in honour by them, his
policy to a large extent practically followed, and he would have been
the first to acknowledge the