Mataafa was involved in the same trouble. His disaffected speech at a
meeting of Atua chiefs was betrayed by the girls that made the kava, and
the man of the future was called to Apia on safe-conduct, but, after an
interview, suffered to return to his lair. The peculiarly tender
treatment of Mataafa must be explained by his relationship to Tamasese.
Laupepa was of Malietoa blood. The hereditary retainers of the Tupua
would see him exiled even with some complacency. But Mataafa was Tupua
himself; and Tupua men would probably have murmured, and would perhaps
have mutinied, had he been harshly dealt with.
The native opposition, I say, was in a sense continuous. And it kept
continuously growing. The sphere of Brandeis was limited to Mulinuu and
the north central quarters of Upolu--practically what is shown upon the
map opposite. There the taxes were expanded; in the out-districts, men
paid their money and saw no return. Here the eye and hand of the
dictator were ready to correct the scales of justice; in the
out-districts, all things lay at the mercy of the native magistrates, and
their oppressions increased with the course of time and the experience of
impunity. In the spring of the year, a very intelligent observer had
occasion to visit many places in the island of Savaii.
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