THE SAMOAN REPORT.

Auckland Star, Volume LX, Issue 47, 25 February 1929, Page 6

THE SAMOAN REPORT.

To my mind the finding; of the Public >.-rvi--e Comriii-.~;...n justify the contentions of the t itLer.s" (.'-remittee in bringing before the Royal Con:;ni.-.«iou allegations of extravagance. Strang that the veil-selocted and expensive Royal Ommi—bn would not seek det per into the various Mm, tcomdngs as pointed out t« them by the Citizens' Committee and no* brought to light by the Fublie Service Comrm»?io!]. _ All-Nation's of expense and wastage were pointed out during the fitting of the Koyal Commission, and. though the figures of the Citizen-' Committee were all at sea. vet it has now been proved that after ail there was a genuine grievance and that the allegations were, in the jnain. correct. It might" be as well for me to explain here that I am not «. deportee, neither am I a. member of the Citizens ( ommittee. nor a disgruntled ev-Samoan Civil Service .-.riio-iaL I speak from knowledge, having lived in Samoa throughout the trouble. The clauses setting out the principal cause-? for the present state of affairs and points from the report are sufficient to cause even a lavman to wonder what actually has been going on and why all this was missed bv the aforementioned expensive Royal Commission. The reference to the absence of anv definite svstem of recruitment, thus leading to a lower'grade type of official, hits the nail on the head" and the Public Service Commi-smn must be congratulated for not hesitating to point out this defect even a t the expense of being personal. There w-'rl bo many, howev-r. w];,. will not agree with the suggestion that officials appointed from \>w Zealand sho;::d not remain in the territory lor niore than two vears. Samoa j< , : ,. t ..,, enervating ev.-..-, t fo r a few month-: in the year that a Imaithy man cordd not nut up v. itli the conditions for ea?ilr twice that peri.,,; o,- e\ o n longer, and provided that italic':-; up to the conditio];- and serves efficiently, what need would there be to replace him? The -,mgo-ti-.n that Nov.- Zealanders shouldl- employed ii sound, but there are some d.-i art merits that would be outside the scope of their knowledge, though there has been am;.l- time for a live Administration to train New Zealanders to be efficient in the rubber and <~c , ,i. in-lns:rr. copra, etc. The findings, of the I'uldic Service C"'mmission are timely. The eommi-sion did i.,h well— too well for son..- i pi--'—ami summed up T he situation admira'blv. Provided that the <m\ernment seriou-ly "enusid.-rs the-e finding* and gives effect in all departm-nts ;h-r» -imuld be happy days ahead for Sam. a. (ev,> the higher petitions, in fact ad rc:-po :! -d }■■ :■■■-]■:.■::-. to far-seeing sympathet'.e ami Tol-rar: men. and New Zealand"-' job in Sam..* wili be made easier and th- p-e-rig.- of this e..-:::--v and the Empire's tiag regained. YAIALA.