" I am not asking what was intended by the gentlemen
who sat and debated very benignly and, on the whole, wisely in Berlin; I
am asking what will be understood by a Samoan studying their literary
work, the Berlin Act; I am asking what is the result of taking a word out
of one state of society, and applying it to another, of which the writers
know less than nothing, and no European knows much. Several interpreters
and several days were employed last September in the fruitless attempt to
convey to the mind of Laupepa the sense of the word "resignation." What
can a Samoan gather from the words, _election_? _election of a king_?
_election of a king according to the laws and customs of Samoa_? What
are the electoral measures, what is the method of canvassing, likely to
be employed by two, three, four, or five, more or less absolute
princelings, eager to evince each other? And who is to distinguish such
a process from the state of war? In such international--or, I should
say, interparochial--differences, the nearest we can come towards
understanding is to appreciate the cloud of ambiguity in which all
parties grope--
"Treading the crude consistence, half on foot,
Half flying."
Now, in one part of Mataafa's behaviour his purpose is beyond mistake.
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