 Foreign political influences by this time had become deeply ingrained in the Samoan struggle for leadership.A committee composed of the foreign consuls called together the leaders of both parties on 20 May 1899.Matā‘afa Iosefo, Malietoa Fa‘alata and Lauaki Namulau‘ulu Mamoe are mentioned as high-ranking spokesmen of the Matā‘afa-Sā Talavou bloc while Tupua Tamasese Titimaea and Malietoa Laupepa headed the Tamasese-Sā Mōlī delegation (Tuvale 75–76).