B
Dear Mr. Greenbie:
Your letter of Feb. 20th was forwarded on to me here, and reached me yesterday.
I regret that I cannot tell you definitely as to the celebration held in Samoa in 1915, in honor of the late "King"; I returned to Samoa in 1917 after an absence of some years, and heard nothing of it. I think, however, that the celebration must have been for Mataafa, as the natives told you that the deceased Chief had been the favorite of Mataafa.
Stevenson rather despised Laupepa who although an amiable man and the rightful King, was of feeble character, and when broken up by the suffering and indignity of his deportation by the Germans, weakly ceded the throne to Mataafa out of gratitude for the stand taken by the latter on his behalf during the years of his exile.
My own conviction is that, had R. L. S. lived a few years longer, he would have realized that his championship of Mataafa was a mistake, and precipitated the very event he wished to avoid—the German rule in Samoa.
Very sincerely yours,
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