The Struggle for Monarchy

CHAPTER SIX The Struggle for Monarchy

Contributors: Ma ma Meleisea Penelope Schoeffel Meleisea Gatoloai Peseta S. Sio

The Pulefou and Foreign Rivalry 1876-1888

For the remaining 24 years of the 19th century, conflict between the Samoans was to become increasingly complicated by the quarrels of the local Europeans and the international rivalry of the nations whose citizens they were. In 1876 Malietoa Laupepa's Puletua clashed with Ta'imua and Faipule, led by Tupua Tamasese Titimaea at Fale'ula, and Malietoa and the Puletua were defeated. Malietoa returned to Malie and his supporters dispersed to their villages. But the victorious Ta'imua and Faipule were not able to govern effectively and their administration was in a state of confusion. They decided to disband for a while with the hope of meeting again in a few months. Their frustrations were largely a result of the conflicting demands, influences and rivalry of the foreign consuls and their settler nationals. At this point Malietoa Talavou took advantage of the lack of a government and with his supporters, moved into Mulinu'u. With some support from factions on Savai'i who had supported Malietoa Laupepa, he set up a new government called the Pulefou and was declared king. The Ta'imua and the Faipule gave in because they had little support to enable them to resist and most of the Europeans were more sympathetic to the Pulefou since Malietoa Talavou's supporters were mainly from

Tuamasaga and A'ana which is where most of the foreign plantations were. Malietoa Laupepa was made vice-king under Malietoa Talavou and, when the latter died in 1880, Malietoa Laupepa was proclaimed king once more. This new government was recognised by the Powers in 1880. The disappointed Tui Atua Mata'afa, who had left the Tupua side to join the Pulefou government under Malietoa Talavou, was not favoured as the King, as he had hoped, so he rejoined the Ta'imua-Faipule side again. Mata'afa's genealogy linked him to the Sa Malietoa as well as the Sa Tupua. The rejection of Mata'afa as king caused a split among the Samoans in which support was divided between the Sa Tupua and the Sa Malietoa. Some historians think that the rejection of Mata'afa was due to anti-Catholic attitudes from the London Missionary Society, (the strongest church in Samoa) because Mata'afa was a Roman Catholic. The branches of the Sa Tupua were strongest in the Tumua districts of A'ana and Atua. Malietoa's families were mainly in Tuamasaga and Savai'i. The Tupua side had established a rival or rebel government at Leulumoega in A'ana, the traditional headquarters of the Tumua orator groups. In 1881 Malietoa Laupepa was made King by the consuls, so the opposing side immediately declared Tamasese as their King. Fighting broke out between the two sides but was contained by foreign naval intervention. A treaty signed aboard the US naval ship Lackawanna brougt the two parties together in a new compromise, with Malietoa remaining as King and the youthful Tupua Tamasese as the vice-king. The agreement was, as under the Steinberger constitution, that the two would take turns to be king. The re-united government was not effective at the local level because local chiefs continued to regard the villages as independent identities and took the enforcement and application of the new laws to suit themselves. They were reluctant to pay taxes because they could not see what the money was needed for and suspected it was going into the hands of the Europeans. The new government did not like the Germans, who treated them without respect, and twice in 1884 they petitioned Queen Victoria to make Samoa a British protectorate. Malietoa also protested to the German Emperor regarding the convention that he had been forced to sign, which allowed a German-Samoan Council to deal with Samoans who offended against the Germans, without reference to other authorities in Samoa. When the German Consul, Theodore Weber, heard about the petitions to the Queen he retaliated by claiming ownership of the land at Mulinu'u where the government had its headquarters, and expelled Malietoa from the area. At the same time he persuaded Tupua

Tamasese and his supporters to form a government again. Tupua Tamasese returned to Leulumoega to begin marshalling support and a new German arrival, Eugen Brandeis was sent out to Leulumoega by Weber to help them organize their government. He was appointed as the Pulefou Premier and set about training the A'ana people and their allies for war. Despite these moves by Weber, Britain, America and Germany did not officially recognise the Tamasese government, but local German interests continued to back and supply Tamasese. In 1887 Tamasese's forces attacked Malietoa and his allies, with the support of German warships. Malietoa tried to enlist the support of a parry of Hawaiian representatives of the monarchy (led by Gibson who sent the First Mormon missionaries to Samoa) who were there in turn to try to enlist Samoan support for a Polynesian confederation. Hawaiian support was forthcoming and Malietoa was defeated. He withdrew into the bush for a period, but eventually gave himself up to save his people being attacked by a German warship, whereupon the Germans promptly deported him to the Marshall Islands. They hoped that in his absence, support for the Tamasese government could be increased. Tamasese and his German advisors went too far, however, when Tamasese declared himself Tafa'ifa, also claiming the Malietoa title. This action antagonised many of his former supporters, including Mata'afa who held the Tui Atua and who had a claim to the Malietoa title. Mata'afa losefa took advantage of Malietoa's absence and in the name of Malietoa's rights, he raised support from the Malietoa factions n Tuamasaga and from those who had turned against Tamasese in A'ana, and of course from his own people in Atua. He also had the support of many Apia Europeans who thought him the `rightful' king. They supplied him with arms and he and his supporters went to war against Tamasese and his supporters. The war of 1888 was probably the most savage since Samoa had opened up to foreigners. Each of the powers hurriedly sent for naval support as fighting spread through the Apia Municipality. These - einforcements duly arrived, but were prevented from engaging in the action by the great hurricane of 1889. It sunk all but one of the ships. Three of the warships were American - the Trenton, the Vandalia and - .ne Nipsic. Three were German - the Olga, the Adler and the Eber. The seventh warship was British, the Calliope. The American and merman vessels were dashed to pieces against the shores and reefs of Iola harbour. Only the Calliope escaped, by getting out into the ocean beyond the force of the huge waves, which prevented the other ships fim~rn getting through the reef opening in time. Ninety two Germans prod sixty three Americans lost their lives, even though the Samoans

91 forgot their differences and made every effort to save them. As it was, many were saved by Samoans who risked their lives to swim out to the wrecked ships. Mata'afa's side won the war, but after all that, he was not recognised as King by the three powers, who had met in Berlin that year on the Samoa question and signed the Berlin Act of 1889. This acknowledged Malietoa Laupepa as the 'rightful' king. The act also established a Supreme Court in Samoa, to be presided over by a judge who was to be chosen by agreement between the three powers. In the event that they could not agree, the King of Sweden or Norway was to make the choice. The Germans particularly objected to Mata'afa since he had thwarted their aspirations in the last war. Prominent Europeans such as H.J. Moors and Robert Louis Stevenson regarded Mata'afa as the 'rightful' king. Among other things, he had by that time been given the Malietoa title by the branch of the Sa Malietoa who did not support Malietoa Laupepa. They argued that since he had won the war and since he had all the correct genealogical connections, he should be the King. Stevenson wrote long letters in support of the Mata'afa side which were published in British newspapers. He also wrote a book called A Footnote to History about the war. But even if Mata'afa had been king, the task of reunification would still have been difficult because of the bitterness and desire for revenge by the Tupua supporters who had been defeated earlier by Mata'afa.

The terms of the Berlin Act of 1889 offered little to the Samoan people and limited their independence. The explosive issue of the Kingship remained unresolved and war was still imminent among the contenders. Mata'afa's closest allies were angry that he had not become king because when Tupua Tamasese Titimaea died in 1891, he had no rival from the Tupua side. Malietoa Laupepa, who had been brought back to Samoa in 1889, had said at first that Mata'afa should become king, but once he was among his supporters again they persuaded him to assert his own rights. So Mata'afa, the following year, began to disassociate himself from Malietoa Laupepa and established himself at the Malietoa headquarters at Malie and began to gather support for his right to become the King.

Hostilities broke out again in 1893 and Malietoa's supporters defeated those of Mata'afa. The main division this time was between the Tuamasaga branches of the Sa Malietoa in Savai'i, and the various allies of the Sa Malietoa in other districts. This time the foreign powers agreed to send Mata'afa into exile (the Germans in particular, had not forgiven Mata'afa's side for killing 17 German marines in the war of 1888) but this did not end the rivalry. Tupua Tamasese Titimaea was succeeded by his son Tupua Tamasese

Lealofi I, and the A'ana people were once again united with their traditional allies of Atua, who were furious about the exiling of Mata'afa. The A'ana people forgot about the last war and another opposition government was formed at Leulumoega. Some fighting broke out in 1894 between Atua and A'ana against Tuamasaga and Savai'i, but the Tamasese party eventually apologised and surrendered their weapons.

The War of 1893 by Robert Louis Stevenson

In June it became clear that the King's Government was weary of waiting upon Europe, as it had been clear long before that Europe would do nothing. The last commentary on the Berlin Act was read. Malietoa Laupepe had been put in ex aut oritate by the Powers; the Powers would not support him even by a show of strength; and there was nothing left but to fall back on an "Election according to the laws and customs of Samoa" - by the arbitration of rifle bullets and blackened faces. Instantly heaven was darkened by a brood of rumours, random calumnies and idle tales. As we rode, late at night, through the hamlet near my house, we saw the fires lighted in the houses; and eager talkers discussing the last report. The king was sick; he was dying; he was perfectly well, he was seen riding furiously by night in the back parts of Apia, and covering his face as he rode. Mata'afa was in favour with the Germans; he was to be made a German king; he was secure of the support of all Samoa; he had no following whatsoever. The name of every chief and village (with many that were new to the hearer) came up in turn, to be dubbed Laupepa, or Mata'afa, or both at the same time - or neither. Dr George Brown, the missionary, had just completed a tour of the islands. There are few men in the world with a more mature knowledge of native character, and I applied to him eagerly for an estimate of the relative forces. "When the first shot is fired, and not before," said he, "you will know who is who. " The event has shown he might have gone yet further; for even after shots were fired and men slain, an important province was still hestitating and trimming.

Mata'afa lay in Malie. He had an armed picket at a ford some two miles from Apia, where they sat in a prodigious state of vigilance and glee; and his whole troop, although not above 500 strong, appeared animated with the most warlike spirit. For himself, as he had waited for two years; wrote eloquent letters, the time to answer which was quite gone by; and looked on while his enemies painfully collected their forces. Doubtless to the last he was assured and deceived by vain promises of help.

The process of gathering a royal army in Samoa is cumbrous and dilatory in the extreme. There is here none of the expedition of the fiery cross and the bale fire; but every step is diplomatic. Each village,

93 with a great expense of eloquence, has to be wiled with promises and spurred by threats; and the greater chieftains make stipulations where they will march. Tamasese, son to the late German puppet and heir of his ambitions, demanded the vice-kingship as the price of his accession, though I am assured that he demanded it in vain. The various provinces returned various and unsatisfactory answers. Atua was off and or, A'ana was on and off,. Savai'i would not move; Tuamasaga was divider; Tutuila recalcitrant; and for long the king sat almost solitary under the windy palms of Mulinu'u. It seemed indeed as if the war was off, and the whole archipelago unanimous (in the native phrase) to sit still and plant taro.

But at last, in the first days of July, Atua began to come in. Boats arrived, thirty and fifty strong, a drum and a very ill-played bugle giving time to the oarsmen, the whole crew uttering at intervals a savage howl; and on the decked foresheets of the boat the village champion (the taupou), frantically capering and dancing. Parties were to be seen encamped in palm groves with their rifles stacked. The shops were emptied of red handkerchiefs, the rallying sign or (as a man might say) the uniform of the Royal Army. There was spirit shown; troops of handsome lads marched in a right manly fashion, with their guns on their shoulders, to the music of the drum and the bugle or the tin whistle. From a hamlet close to my own doors a contingent of six men marched out, Their leader's kit contained one stick of tobacco, four boxes of matches, and the inevitable red handkerchief,- in his case it was of silk, for he had come late to the purchasing, and the commoner materials were exhausted. This childish band of braves marched one afternoon to a neighbouring hill, and the same night returned to their homes on the ground that it was `uncomfortable' in the bush. An excellent old fellow, who had had enough of war in many campaigns, took refuge in my service from the conscription; but in vain. The village had decided no warrior might hang back. One summoner arrived; and then followed some negotiations - I have no authority to say what; enough that the messenger departed and our friend remained. But, alas! a second envoy followed and proved to be of sterner composition; and with a basket full of food, kava, and tobacco, the reluctant hero proceeded to the wars. I am sure they had few handsomer soldiers, if, perhaps, some ' that were more willing. And he would have been better to be armed. His gun - but in Mr Kipling's pleasant catchword, that is another story.

War, to the Samoan of mature years, is often an unpleasant necessity. To the young boy it is a heaven of immediate pleasures, as well as an opportunity of ultimate glory. Women march with the troops, even the Taupou-sa, or Sacred Maid of the village, ac-companies her father in the field to carry cartridges and bring him water to drink; and their bright eyes are ready to 'rain influence' and reward valour. To what grim deeds this practice may conduct I shall have to say later on. In the rally of their arms it is at least wholly pretty;

94 and I have one pleasant picture of a war party marching out, the men armed and boastful, their heads bound with the red handkerchief, their faces blacked - and two girls marching in their midst under European parasols. On Saturday, July 8, by the early morning, the troops began to file westward from Apia, and about noon found themselves face to face with the lines of Mata'afa in the German plantation of Vaitele. The armies immediately fraternized, kava was made by the ladies, as who should say tea, at home, and partaken by the braves with many truculent expressions. One chief on the king's side, revolted by the extent of these familiarities, began to beat his followers with a staff. But both parties were still intermingled between the lines, and the chiefs on either side conversing, and even embracing, at the moment when an accidental, or perhaps a treacherous shot precipitated the engagement. I cannot find there was any decisive difference in the numbers of actually under fire, but the Mata afas appear to have been ill-posted and ill-led. Twice their flank was turned, their line enfiladed, and themselves driven with a loss of about thirty, from two successive cattle walls. A third wall afforded them a more effectual shelter, and night closed on the field of battle without further advantage. All night the Royal troops hailed volleys of bullets, at this obstacle. With the earliest light, a charge proved it to be quite deserted, and from further down the coast smoke was seen rising from the houses of Malie. Mata'afa had precipitately fled, destroying behind him the village which, for two years he had been raising and beautifying.

So much was accomplished: what was to follow? Mata'afa took refuge in Manono, and cast up forts. His enemies, far from following up this advantage, held fonos and made speeches and found fault. I believe the majority of the king's army had marched in a state of continuous indecision, and maintaining an attitude of impartiality more to be admired in the cabinet of the philosopher than in the field of war. It is certain at least that only one province has as yet fired a shot for Malietoa Laupepa. The velour of the Tuamasaga was sufficient, and prevailed. But Atua was in the rear, and has as yet done nothing. As for the men of A'ana, so far from carrying out the plan agreed upon, and blocking the men of Malie, on the morning of the 8th they were entertaining an embassy from Mata'afa, and they suffered his fleet of boats to escape without a shot through certain dangerous narrows of the lagoon, and the chief himself to pass on foot and unmolested along the whole foreshore of their province. No adequate excuse has been made for this half-heartedness - or treachery. It was a piece of the whole, which was a specimen. There are too many strings in a Samoan intrigue for the merely European mind to follow and the desire to serve upon both sides, and keep a door open for re-conciliation was manifest almost throughout. A week passed in these divided councils. Savai'i had refused to receive Mata'afa it is said they hesitated to rise for the King, and demanded instead a fono (or

95 council) of both sides. And it seemed at least possible that the Royal army might proceed no further, and the unstable alliances be dissolved. On Sunday, the 16th, her British Majesty's ship Katoomba, Captain Bickford, C.M.G., arrived in Apia with fresh orders. Had she but come ten days earlier, the whole of this miserable business would have been prevented, for the three Powers were determined to maintain Malietoa Laupepa by arms and had declared finally against Mata'afa. Right or wrong, it was at least a decision, and therefore welcome. It may not have been the best - it was something. No honest friend to Samoa can pretend anything but relief that the three Powers should at last break their vacillating silence. It is of a piece with their whole policy in the islands that they should have hung in stays for upwards of two years - of a piece with their almost uniform ill-fortune that, eight days before their purposes was declared, war should have marked the country with burned houses and severed heads.

There is another side to the medal of Samoan warfare. So soon as an advantage is obtained, a new and (to us) horrible animal appears upon the scene - the Head-hunter. Again and again we have reasoned with our boys against this bestial practice; but reason and (upon this one point) even ridicule are vain. They admit it to be indefensible; they allege its imperative necessity. One young man, who had seen his father take a head in the late war, spoke of the scene with shuddering revolt, and yet said he must go and do likewise himself in the war which was to come. How else could a man prove that he was brave? And had not every country its own customs?

Accordingly, as the occasion offered, these same pleasing children who had just been drinking kava with their opponents, fell in-continently on the dead and dying and secured their grisly trophies. It should be said in fairness, that the Mata'afas had no opportunity to take heads, but that their chief, taught by the lesson of Fagali'i, had forbidden the practice. It is doubtful if he would have been obeyed, and yet his power over his people was so great that the German plantation, where they lay some time and were at last defeated, had not to complain of the theft of a single coconut. Hateful as it must always be to mutilate and murder the disabled, there were in this day's affray in Vaitele circumstances yet more detestable. Fifteen heads were brought in all to Mulinu'u. They were carried with parade in front of the fine house which our late President built for himself before he was removed. Here, on the verandah, the king sat to receive them, and utter the words of course and compliment to each successful warrior. There were spolia opima in the number. Mata'afa's nephew - or, as Samoans say, his son - had fallen by the first wall, and whether from those sentiments of kindred and friendship that so often unite the combatants in civil strife, or to make by an unusual formality the importance of the conquest, not only his head, but his mutilated body also, was brought in. From the mat in which the corpse was enveloped

96 a bloody hand protruded and struck a chill in white eye-witnesses. It were to attribute to Laupepa sentiments entirely foreign to his race and training if we were to suppose him otherwise than gratified. But it was not so throughout. Every country has its customs, say native apologists, and one of the most decisive customs of Samoa ensures the immunity of women. They go to the front, as our women of yore went to a tournament. Bullets are blind; and they must take their risk of bullets, but of nothing else. They serve out cartridges and water; they jeer the faltering and defend the wounded. Even in this skirmish of Vaitele they distinguished themselves on either side. One dragged her skulking husband from a hole and drove him to the front. Another, seeing her lover fall, snatched up his gun, kept the head-hunters at bay, and drew him unmutilated from the field. Such services they have been accustomed to pay for centuries; and often, in the course of centuries, a bullet or a spear must have despatched one of these warlike angels. Often enough too, the head-hunter springing ghoul-like on fallen bodies, must have decapitated a woman for a man. But the case arising, there was an established etiquette. So soon as the error was discovered the head was buried, and the exploit forgotten. There had never yet, in the history of Samoa, occurred an instance in which a man had taken a woman's head and kept it and laid it at his monarch's feet.

Such was the strange and horrid spectacle, which must have immediately shaken the heart of Laupepa, and has since covered the face of his party with confusion. It is not quite certain if there were three or only two; a recent attempt to reduce the number to one must be received with caution as an afterthought, the admissions in the beginning were too explicit, the panic of shame and fear had been too sweeping. There is scarce a woman of our native friends in Apia who can speak upon the subject without terror, scarce any man without humiliation. And the shock was increased out of measure by the fact that the head of one of the heads was recognized for the niece of one of the greatest of court ladies; recognized for a Taupou-sa, or Sacred Maid of a village, from Savai'i. It seemed incredible that she who had been chosen for virtue and beauty, by vigil and duennas, whose part it was, in holiday costume, to receive guests, to make kava and to be the leader of the revels - should become the victim of a brutal rally in a cowpark, and have her face exposed for a trophy to the victorious king.

In all this muttering of aversion and alarm, no word has been openly said. No punishment, no disgrace has been inflicted on the prepetrators of the outrage. King, consuls and mission appear to have held their peace alike. I can understand a certain apathy in whites. Head-hunting, they say, is a horrid practice; and will not stop to investigate its finer shades. But the Samoan himself does not hesitate; for him the act is portentous; and if it go unpunished, and set a fashion its consequences must be damnable. This is not a breach of a Christian

virtue, of something half-learned by rote and from foreigners in the last thirty years. It is a flying in the face of their own native, instinctive and traditional standard: tenfold more ominous and degrading. And, taking the matter for all in all, it seems to me that head-hunting itself should be firmly and immediately suppressed. "How else can a man prove himself brave?" my friend asked. But often enough these are but fraudulent trophies, On the morrow of the fight at Vaitele, an Atua man discovered a body lying in the bush, he took the head. A day or two ago a party was allowed to visit Manono. The king's troops on shore, observing them to put off from the rebel island, leaped to the conclusion that this must be the wounded going to Apia, launched off at once two armed boats, and overhauled the others - after heads. The glory of such exploits is not apparent; their powers for degradation strikes the eyes, Lieutenant Ulfsparre, .our late Swedish Chief of Police and commander of the forces, told his men that if any of them took a head his own hand should avenge it. That was talking. I should like to see all in the same store - king, consuls, and missionaries - included.

The three Powers have at last taken hold here in Apia. But they came the day after the fair; and the immediate business on hand is very delicate. This morning, 18th, Captain Bickford, followed by the two Germans, sailed for Manono. If he shall succeed in persuading Mata'afa to surrender, all may be well. If he cannot, this long train of blunders may end in what is so often the result of blundering in the field of politics - a horrid massacre. Those of us who remember the services of Mata'afa, his unfailing generosity and moderation in the past, and his bereavement in the present - as well as those who are only interested in a mass of men and women, many of them our familiar friends, now pent up on an island and beleaguered by three warships and a Samoan army - await the issue with dreadful expectation. (The Pall Mall Budget, 1893) In 1898 Malietoa Laupepa died and the same year, Mata'afa, having meanwhile signed a pledge of allegiance to Malietoa Laupepa, was brought back from exile. With Malietoa Laupepa gone, Mata’afa may well have expected to have been made king, but two factors intervened; first, Tupua Tamasese Leolofi I was contesting the office himse.' as the representative of the Se Tupub and secondly, Malietoa Laupepa had been succeeded to the Malietoa title by his son, Malietoa Tanumafili I. This meant that Mata'afa was no longer sole holder of the Malietoa title. The decision to bestow the title upon Tanumafili was understandable from the point of view of the Sa Mblietoa because eve-though Matb'afa had genealogical rights to the Malietoa title, he was linked politically to the Atua groups and the Tupua supporters the re they saw him as a Tumua man who lacked traditional support from Pule groups of Savai'i.

The contest was taken to the Supreme Court and the Chief Justice decided in favour of the youthful Malietoa Tanumafili. Since the court had been established without consultation with the Samoans, it was not considered to have final authority. The response of Mata'afa and his supporters was, once again, to prepare for war. On the first of January, 1899, they drove Malietoa Tanumafili's forces out of Apia, and established a de-facto government which was promptly recognized by all three consuls. (British and American warships were involved, and the American shelling of Apia caused extensive damage to property. In 1910 a commission awarded compensation to many Apia families.) But in May, the same year, a joint commission sent by the three powers ordered all armaments to be surrendered, and once again, declared Malietoa Tanumafili to be king.

Malietoa, (who was only 19 years old) then resigned the office in order to go to college in Fiji, at the urging of the missionaries. The joint- commissioners decided to abolish the office of king altogether, and full political authority was handed to the local consuls. This arrangement preceded a new agreement between the three powers in December 1899. It resulted in Britain renouncing her claim to the Samoan islands and Germany and the United States divided the islands between them. Germany took the main Western islands where their plantation interests were centered and America took the Eastern group because they wanted to maintain control of the Pago Pago harbour of Tutuila for a naval base. ironically, Mata'afa was finally acknowledged as the paramount chief of Samoa by the Germans. The Kaiser was to be the King of Samoa, the 'Tupu Sili', but Mata'afa was designated Ali'i Sili, the paramount chief.

Few foreigners really understood the principles of Samoan chiefly succession and right up until 1900 there was a significant bias among the powers to the Sa Malietoa, whom they supposed to be the 'real king', probably because he held the Tafa'ifa at first contact. There was a similar tendency among foreigners to regard the son of a previous titleholder as the legitimate successor, whereas in Samoan custom this was not necessarily so. Foreign involvement, whether well meaning or opportunistic was therefore often based on a false assumption about which faction was the 'legitimate' claimant to the monarchy.

On the Samoan side, the need for some central body to mediate with the foreigners was appreciated by most of the chiefs. But traditional factions did not wish to lose ground to their opponents, or to have the traditional independence of the village interfered with. They were prepared to tolerate some changes, such as making Mulinu'u the national headquarters because it was close to the Europeans at Apia. It was difficult for Samoans to accept changes which would limit their

99 own regional power and prestige to support leaders who represented districts with whom they had long histories of rivalry and war. The task may have been accomplished without the presence of rival and interfering Europeans. But no matter how much Europeans claimed they wanted a Samoan government and King, they were not going to accept any dictates from Samoan leaders or any limitation on their power to do as they pleased and to follow their own interests. They wanted a token government which they could control. The Samoans were not fooled, but realised clearly that the limitation of such a government was that it would not protect Samoan lands from being alienated.

Traditional rivalries may have appeared petty and trivial to the foreigners, but they were of deep concern to the Samoans. They took priority over the creation of a political institution which would make foreigners content, while seeming to offer little benefit to Samoans. It may appear in the light of history, that the Samoans were fools, but from the perspective of the period it is not too difficult to see why Samoan chiefs put their own factional struggles ahead of the creation of a central government that would tax them, interfere with local government and possibly place the leader of one Samoan faction in a position .of power over his rivals.

The Three Powers

By the 1880s Apia had become one of the major ports of the Pacific and many of the settlers believed that Samoa would become another Hawaii. Hawaii had boomed because of the large plantations which had been established there to grow sugar, pineapples and other tropical crops. The plantation economy of Hawaii had been achieved at the expense of the native Hawaiians whose numbers had declined not only from introduced diseases but as a result of being pushed off their lands and inter-marrying with the Chinese, Japanese and Filippino labourers who were brought in to work the plantations. The obstacle to land development was the Samoans who occupied the land and who showed no signs of dying out. In those days comparatively little was known about tropical agriculture and the European settlers mistakenly believed they could make fortunes from plantations on a commercial scale. Most of the prime land had been taken by the German firm (Godeffroy & Sohn) which became the Deutsche Handels and Plantagen Gesellschaft (DH & PG). Thus by the 1880s, settlers wanted government which would not only make and enforce local regulations but also recognize their land claims.

By the late 1870s the Samoans realised the predicament they faced

100 as a result of the demands of the settlers. Samoan leaders agreed that what they needed was for one of the great powers to establish a protectorate over Samoa, and in 1877 Ta'imua and Faipule sent a deputation to Fiji to ask the British to declare Samoa their protectorate. The governor of Fiji, Sir Arthur Gordon, told them that Britain would annex the islands, that is take full colonial control, but this was never a desire of the Samoans. By a `protectorate' they wanted one of the great powers to exercise control over its own nationals in Samoa while keeping other foreigners out. Having failed with the British, Ta'imua and Faiule sent M.K. Le Mamea Faleto'ese to Washington to negotiate an American protectorate, but the USA was only interested in obtaining a treaty with the Samoans for rights over the Pago Pago harbour, for a naval base.

The twenty years from 1880 to 1900 were a period in which the great powers were like three large dogs snarling over a very small bone. It has been suggested that this rivalry gave the Samoans an unrealistic picture of their own importance in international affairs. Although the `three dogs' almost fought one another in 1888, they eventually agreed to break `the bone' up between them and add it to their larger and more important 'collections of bones' or Empires. In 1891 the settlers of Apia established a municipal government in Apia which had complete jurisdiction over everyone in the Apia area. This was the result of the Berlin Act passed by a conference of the three powers, German, Britain and the USA in 1889 to avoid war over Samoa. The provisions of the Act established a condominium or joint government by the representatives of the three powers over the Apia area through a joint council. The Act confirmed Malietoa as king but gave the Samoans very little power or recognition. Although the Act stipulated that the King should ratify and sign the Act beforcs it could be enforced, as the choice of the powers, it was not expected that Malietoa would disagree with their decisions. As we have noted, the great issue was to establish a court and a Lands Commission. The following table shows the results of the Lands Commission of 1889.

Nationality Area claimed Area confirmed (acres)

German 134,419 75,000=56%

English 1,250,270 36,000=3%

American 302,746 21,000=7%

French 2,307 1,300=57%

Others 2,151 2,000=95%

1,691,893 135,300=*%

(Gilson 1970:411)

101

The failure of the Act was that although it provided for the in-dependence of the Samoans through their own king and government, it failed to take account of or to consult with Samoan leaders. Davidson wrote: "The establishment of a European-controlled municipality in Apia ... had lasting effects on the Samoan thinking. The area of the municipality had become known to the Samoans as the 'Ele'ele Sa (the forbidden ground), a term used in bitterness and reproach; and the government offices there continued to be regarded by Samoans for nearly half a century as centres of an alien, and largely antagonistic authority." (Davidson 1967: 74)

THE CRY OF MATA'AFA For his people to the Three Great Powers. (0 LE TAG! A MATA'AFA MO LONA NUU I MALO TETELE E TOLU) On behalf of my people, whom I love with a great love, I beseech the Three Great Powers of England, Germany, and the United States of America to listen to my voice and grant my prayer. I ask and desire nothing for myself. My years cannot be many, for now I am old. The grave will soon enclose me, and I shall be no more. But the people who have loved me long, and love me still, will live for many years after I am gone. The strong men who have served me so bravely and faithfully, the women who for my sake have endured many hardships and privations, and the children whose laughter and sport make the villages joyous and happy - these will be living when I am known no longer in Samoa. It is for their sakes that I raise my voice, and pray that the Three Great Powers, in their generosity and kindness, will grant my request. Thrice have I been elected King of Samoa, by the free will and choice of the great majority of the people, and according to our own laws and customs. At Faleula in 1888, at Vaiala, in 1889 and at Mulinu'u, in 1898, the people asked me to reign over them. When the people asked me on the last occasion to become their King, I thought there were none to oppose or cause trouble, for it seemed to me that all Samoa was united. I was not eager to rule, for I had been five years in exile from my native land, and 1 wished to live peaceably and quietly in Samoa for the remainder of my life: moreover, Kings of Samoa have ever been beset with dangers, difficulties, and troubles. But I believed the people desired me to rule over them, and I thought that l could govern them in such a way that all Samoa would be happy, contented, and peaceful. But certain evil white men led a portion of the people astray, beguiling them with schools and deceptive promises. These evil men persuaded a small minority of the Samoans to choose a boy as King. They forced him, against his will, to leave his school at Leulumoega, and he came to Apia, and lived in the houses of some of

102 the white men, so that he might always be under their control. They desired him to be King, so that they might do with him as they pleased, for selfish purposes, and not for the good of Samoa. It has been said by some people, that before I left Jaluit, to return to Samoa, I signed a written promise not to concern myself with Samoan politics and these persons also say that by reason of this promise I could not be rightfully elected King of Samoa. But this statement is not true. I did not promise to have nothing ° to do with politics in Samoa, and the writing which I signed does not contain anything that should prevent me from becoming King of Samoa, after the death of Malietoa Laupepa.

I believed, also, and felt sure, that the German Government no longer objected to me being appointed King. And this being so, I cannot understand why evil and designing white men, who were not authorised by the German Government, should make an objection which did not concern England or America but only Germany. But the Chief Justice, being an ignorant man, and also not upright, listened to the lawyers, who spoke with many deceptive words, and also paid great heed to the evil counsel of others, and declared the boy to be King of Samoa, but not according to the laws and customs of Samoa; for such a thing has never been known in Samoa; that a boy be clothed with the power and authority of a High Chief or King. It was an unrighteous judgment, and against the wishes of the majority of the Samoan people. Then my people rose up in their anger and indignation, driving the small minority, who wished the boy to be King, out of Apia, and establishing a Government of Samoa at Mulinu'u. This Government was recognized by the Consuls of Great Britain, Germany, and the United States of America, in the name of the Three Powers, until the Powers should determine what should be done concerning the unrighteous decision of the Chief Justice. But before the Three Great Powers had time to consult amongst themselves, and make their wishes known, the American Admiral commanded me to submit to the boy whom the Chief Justice had unlawfully declared to be King. He likewise ordered that the Government which had been established at Mulinu'u, and had been recognized by the Three Great Powers, should be overthrown, and that my people should yield to the small party opposed to them. He also said that if his orders were not obeyed he would fire upon the people at Mulinu'u who could not resist, with his great guns and small guns. These orders grieved and astonished the people, because they knew that the Great Powers had not ordered these things to be done, but that all these things were being done because of the evil influence of certain officials and white men. So my people and I left Mulinu'u and we went into the bush. Then the great guns of the American warships and the British warships shelled the town of Apia and the mountain of Vaea, and sent armed men ashore to hold the town. After this there was much fighting and many of my people were killed and wounded by the guns which fire many bullets,

103 like the drops of rain in a heavy shower. Some of the white officers and men were slain also, and for this I was very sorrowful, for I desired not that any should be killed. Many times when the white soldiers were marching along, my people were on each side of them unseen, and could have killed many of them, but they let them pass unharmed. Then the British warships proceeded up and down the coasts of Upolu and Savai'i, shelling many towns and villages, none of which could defend themselves, for the people in them had no thought of fighting, being nearly all old men, women, children, and pastors. These were compelled to seek refuge in the bush and in the churches; but even these sacred buildings were not safe, some of them being pierced by shells and bullets, and there was great trouble and fear amongst the people. Then white officers came ashore in small steamers (steam launches) and boats, landing Samoan warriors, even the British Consul being with the officers, and carrying a sword and revolver. The white officers commanded the Samoans to burn down the houses in the towns and villages, and they did so, leaving only the pastors' houses unburned. Many things were burned in the houses. They likewise destroyed many plantations, and they also destroyed many very large and valuable boats, the building of which had cost many thousands of dollars.

In consequence of the destruction of their houses, and the sacking of their towns and villages, the old men, the women, and the children were compelled to take shelter in the bush, residing in poor huts, which were not weatherproof, and were in unhealthy situations. They were also compelled to subsist on unwholesome and unsuitable food. In consequence of these things, many of these old men, women and children have sickened and died, causing great sorrow and distress in almost every town and village. Even now the people are living in discomfort. I humbly implore the Great Powers to regard with compassion my people in their trouble and distress. They have obeyed the High Commissioners whom the Great Powers sent to Samoa. They have surrendered their guns, they have faithfully complied with all that the High Commissioners required of them, and they are resolved to obey the Provisional Government established by the Commissioners before they left Samoa.

Though my people are subject to frequent insult and ill treatment from the small party who were opposed to them - these things being done in order to provoke them to renewed strife - they desire to live at peace with all Samoa. If the bad influence of a few evil-minded white people were stopped, by these men being removed from the country, there would no longer be any trouble, for then all Samoa would be at peace. I rejoice, and my people are glad at the prospect of a new and stable Government for Samoa. If the Great Powers will send good men to take charge of the Government, and not those who care only for the money they receive, Samoa will become peaceful, happy, and prosperous. I pray to God that this may be so, for I love my country

104 and my people greatly. But now I again beseech the Great Powers, out of their abundant wealth, to grant my people some compensation for the great loss and damage inflicted upon them. To his Majesty the German Emperor I appeal, in great confidence and trust, for during the trials and troubles of this year he and his government have been the true and steadfast friends of my people and myself, and this we shall ever remember with deep and abiding gratitude. To President McKinley and the Government of the United States of America I appeal, for that great country has always been friendly to Samoa, and has, in past years, assisted and strengthened us in times of peril and tribulation. To Her Majesty Queen Victoria and the Government of Great Britain I appeal, for all the world knows the Queen to be good, kind, and humane, and the British Government has always been ready to succour the needy and help the weak and distressed in all countries. To the great peoples of Germany, America and England / appeal, and beseech them to make their voices heard in our behalf, and assist my people in their cause.

The smile of God brightens the lives of those who assist the injured and the wronged, and the blessings of those whom they relieve and assist will continually follow them.

(Signed) J. Mata'afa.

Amalie, Upolu, Samoa. 16th August 1899.

105

Plate 11. Namalau'ulu Lauaki Mamoe, 1905.

106

Plate 12. Samoan war party, 1880s.

107