for the squabble that took place. A squabble, I say; but I am willing to
call it a riot. And this was the new fault of Laupepa; this it is that
was described by a German commodore as "the trampling upon by Malietoa of
the German Emperor." I pass the rhetoric by to examine the point of
liability. Four natives were brought to trial for this horrid fact: not
before a native judge, but before the German magistrate of the tripartite
municipality of Apia. One was acquitted, one condemned for theft, and
two for assault. On appeal, not to Malietoa, but to the three consuls,
the case was by a majority of two to one returned to the magistrate and
(as far as I can learn) was then allowed to drop. Consul Becker himself
laid the chief blame on one of the policemen of the municipality, a half-
white of the name of Scanlon. Him he sought to have discharged, but was
again baffled by his brother consuls. Where, in all this, are we to find
a corner of responsibility for the king of Samoa? Scanlon, the alleged
author of the outrage, was a half-white; as Becker was to learn to his
cost, he claimed to be an American subject; and he was not even in the
king's employment. Apia, the scene of the outrage, was outside the
king's jurisdiction by treaty; by the choice of Germany, he was not so
much as allowed to fly his flag there. And the denial of justice (if
justice were denied) rested with the consuls of Britain and the States.

But when a dog is to be beaten, any stick will serve. In the meanwhile,
on the proposition of Mr. Bayard, the Washington conference on Samoan
affairs was adjourned till autumn, so that "the ministers of Germany and
Great Britain might submit the protocols to their respective
Governments." "You propose that the conference is to adjourn and not to
be broken up?" asked Sir Lionel West. "To adjourn for the reasons
stated," replied Bayard. This was on July 26th; and, twenty-nine days
later, by Wednesday the 24th of August, Germany had practically seized
Samoa. For this flagrant breach of faith one excuse is openly alleged;