In this emergency a joint commission
of representatives of the United States, Germany, and Great Britain
was sent to Samoa to investigate the situation and provide a temporary
remedy. By its active efforts a peaceful solution was reached for the
time being, the kingship being abolished and a provisional government
established. Recommendations unanimously made by the commission
for a permanent adjustment of the Samoan question were taken under
consideration by the three powers parties to the General Act. But the
more they were examined the more evident it became that a radical change
was necessary in the relations of the powers to Samoa.
The inconveniences and possible perils of the tripartite scheme of
supervision and control in the Samoan group by powers having little
interest in common in that quarter beyond commercial rivalry had been
once more emphasized by the recent events. The suggested remedy of the
Joint Commission, like the scheme it aimed to replace, amounted to
what has been styled a _tridominium_, being the exercise of the
functions of sovereignty by an unanimous agreement of three powers.
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