ct in the islands to the Samoan king; and it would enable them to
substitute over the royal seat the flag of Germany for the new flag of
Tamasese. It is true (and it was the subject of much remark) that these
two could hardly be distinguished by the naked eye; but their effects
were different. To seat the puppet king on German land and under German
colours, so that any rebellion was constructive war on Germany, was a
trick apparently invented by Becker, and which we shall find was
repeated and persevered in till the end.

Otto Martin was at this time magistrate in the municipality. The post
was held in turn by the three nationalities; Martin had served far
beyond his term, and should have been succeeded months before by an
American. To make the change it was necessary to hold a meeting of the
municipal board, consisting of the three consuls, each backed by an
assessor. And for some time these meetings had been evaded or refused by
the German consul. As long as it was agreed to continue Martin, Becker
had attended regularly; as soon as Sewall indicated a wish for his
removal, Becker tacitly suspended the municipality by refusing to
appear. This policy was now the more necessary; for if the whole
existence of the municipality were a check on the freedom of the new
government, it was plainly less so when the power to enforce and punish
lay in German hands. For some while back the Malietoa flag had been
flown on the municipal building: Becker denies this; I am sorry; my
information obliges me to suppose he is in error. Sewall, with
post-mortem loyalty to the past, insisted that this flag should be
continued. And Becker immediately made his point. He declared, justly
enough, that the proposal was hostile, and argued that it was impossible
he should attend a meeting under a flag with which his sovereign was at
war. Upon one occasion of urgency, he was invited to meet the two other
consuls at the British consulate; even this he refused; and for four
months the municipality slumbered, Martin still in office. In the month
of October, in consequence, the British and American ratepayers
announced they would refuse to pay. Becker doubtless rubbed his hands.
On Saturday, the 10th, the chief Tamaseu, a Malietoa man of substance
and good character, was arrested on a charge of theft believed to be
vexatious, and cast by Martin into the municipal prison. He sent to
Moors, who was his tenant and owed him money at the time, for bail.
Moor