The legal strength of the position taken by the English and American representatives lies in the fact that Malietoa Tanu's claim to the throne is affirmed by the decision of Chief Justice Chambers and that the Berlin Treaty, beyond dispute, makes the decision of the Chief Justice ten! binding in questions of the succession. The Germans quote former utterances of Mr. Chambers inconsistent with the decision, but he very properly responds that these utterances were unofficial express sions, not decisions of the Court.
There is a certain humorous aspect in the fact that Mataafa's exclusion from the succession by the Berlin Treaty was due to the hostility of the Germans, who now support his claim and assert that the Berlin Treaty did not look forward to the present state of affairs and that he is therefore eligible.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.