SAMOAN IMPRESSIONS.

Auckland Star, Volume LVIII, Issue 185, 8 August 1927, Page 3

SAMOAN IMPRESSIONS.

VIEWS OF VISITORS. A NATIVE GRIEVANCE. XO DIRECT REPRESENTATION. Outwardly all seems well with Samoa, but there is a ripple on the surface, and the end is not yet. This is how a passenger who arrived by the Samoa this morning described the state of affairs in the isles, which have been much discussed of late. One of the passengers was Mr. W. A. Izaid, of Wanganui, who is well known in the legal profession, and who has been on the round trip with the Tofua. Mr. Izard took pains to ascertain what was the real cause of the trouble at Samoa, and he gathered that the grievances there were due to the fact that the Samoans were not directly represented on the Samoan Legislative Council and that tne faipules were chosen. It was stated to him that the real stumbling block was a native custom which required a decision to be unanimous, and thus he could not see how the selection of any faipulc could be by unanimous vote. In one instance of recent date, Mr. Izard said, there were several nominations for a faipule, and thus it was quite possible that the faipule chosen did not represent a sixth of the natives in a particular district. The Samoans were not like the Maoris. The latter were i just as fond as the Samoans of a long-1 drawn debate, but a by a I meeting was something in the direction of finality, at least for the time being, and the native members in the New Zeai land Parliament fully represented all their constituents. He considered that the Maori was far advanced from the educational viewpoint compared with the Samoan, and that one of the difficulties at Samoa was that the natives did not fully understand the European ways of doing things. Some Causes of Friction. Mr. Izard said that some of the things that had led to friction between the Administrator of Samoa and some of the Europeans could only be described as petty in the extreme. There was the now famous instance of the Governor's ball, when several of the British residents who did not get an invitation held a patriotic celebration on their own. It was perhaps true, as alleged, that they had not put their names on the Government House list- It was one of a couple of small things that seemed to have been magnified to a much greater proportion than they deserved. Mr. Izard said that one could not give more than a few passing impressions of Samoa, but he was greatly impressed with the cleanliness of the villages and the scenic attractions of the island. Magistrate's Opinion. Another of the passengers was Mr. W. R. M. Watson, Stipendiary Magistrate, at present attached to the Feilding-Main Trunk Court circuit, who was the first judge under the civil administration after Samoa was taken from the Germans. Mr. Watson said that he had returned to Samoa as an ordinary passenger on a pleasure trip. He considered that since he had left there in 1920 there had been great improvements at Apia, and in the surrounding territory. He noticed that the plantations had been extended, and that others that had gone back during tho war bad been resumed. His opinion was that the natives had benefited under New Zealand regime, particularly in regard to public health, wherein the conditions were altogether different to what they were when he was last in the territorv.