y one case, though it seems to have had many developments,
do I find the premier personally committed. The MacArthurs claimed the
copra of Fasitotai on a district mortgage of three hundred dollars. The
German firm accepted a mortgage of the whole province of Aana, claimed
the copra of Fasitotai as that of a part of Aana, and were supported by
the government. Here Brandeis was false to his own principle, that
personal and village debts should come before provincial. But the case
occurred before the promulgation of the law, and was, as a matter of
fact, the cause of it; so the most we can say is that he changed his
mind, and changed it for the better. If the history of his government be
considered--how it originated in an intrigue between the firm and the
consulate, and was (for the firm's sake alone) supported by the consulate
with foreign bayonets--the existence of the least doubt on the man's
action must seem marvellous. We should have looked to find him playing
openly and wholly into their hands; that he did not, implies great
independence and much secret friction; and I believe (if the truth were
known) the firm would be found to have been disgusted with the
stubbornness of its intended tool, and Brandeis often impatient of the
demands of his creators.

But I may seem to exaggerate the degree of white opposition. And it is
true that before fate overtook the Brandeis government, it appeared to
enjoy the fruits of victory in Apia; and one dissident, the unconquerable
Moors, stood out alone to refuse his taxes. But the victory was in
appearance only; the opposition was latent; it found vent in talk, and
thus reacted on the natives; upon the least excuse, it was ready to flame
forth again. And this is the more singular because some were far from
out of sympathy with the native policy pursued. When I met Captain
Brandeis, he was amazed at my attitude. "Whom did you find in Apia to
tell you so much good of me?" he asked. I named one of my informants.
"He?" he cried. "If he thought all that, why did he not help me?" I
told him as well as I was able. The man was a merchant. He beheld in
the government of Brandeis a government created by and for the firm who
were his rivals. If Brandeis were minded to deal fairly, where was the
probability that he would be allowed? If Brandeis insisted and were
strong enough to prevail, what guarantee that, as soon as the government
were fairly accepted, Brandeis might not be