SAMOA POLICY.

Auckland Star, Volume LX, Issue 256, 29 October 1929, Page 9

SAMOA POLICY.

"TAIHOA" THE BEST?

SIR A. T. NGATA'S SPEECH.

FAVOURABLE COMMENT.

IS "CIVILISATION" NEEDED?

(From Our Own Correspondent.)

APIA (Samoa), October 12

Samoa to-day is a much more mollified Samoa than it was two years ago, but even the happiest optimist could not state that all Samoa's troubles are ovex Certainly the Mau is a dying organisation, and the natives are amenable to the law where it does not trench on political offences, but underneath all is an undercurrent of hostility to New Zealand's well-meant administration. Logically, the Samoans should not be hostile to New Zealand, for undoubtedly New Zealand lias done a great deal for the welfare of the natives in several directions. The causes of the political troubles are hard to define. Two important commissions appointed to investigate Samoan affairs have on certain points arrived at contradictory conclusions, a fact which has somewhat bewildered the Samoan, who, though a wily politician himself, is unable to understand the ramifications of New Zealand's weird and wonderful Samoan policy.

And now at last a New Zealand politician, Sir Apirana Ngata, has placed his finger on what appears to be the vital point. ' "What we wanted," said this able Minister, "was the application of the 'Taihoa' policy of the late Sir James Carroll." The Minister of Native Affairs referred to the period of administration under Major-General Sir George Richardson, ' when Samoa was undergoing in the space of a few years an assimilation of civilisation which could hardly be coped with under two generations. This speech by Sir Apirana Ngata is one'of the very few bursts of oratory about. Samoa which has been received with fairly general approval amonjt those residents in Samoa who might be deemed to understand the native to any great extent. It is obvious that the Minister has studied the matter very carefully and realises that the situation must be considered from the native point of view.

White Man, Brought Troubles. The situation is, of', course, somewhat complicated by the mandatory pioviso that the native ,should be developed, though why the native should be developed and civilised is hard to understand. Apparently the world to-day is under such a powerful impulse towards progress and development that it would be sinful to leave one small, insignificant country in a happy state of nature. In fact, such a suggestion might be regarded with horror, but j nevertheless there is ample reason for leaving the.Samoan in an enviable, untroubled state of uncivilisation. The main reason for this retrograde step, of course, is that Samoa i? a paradise, where man may live without work. Nature has so well provided for the wants of man that beyond a ceitain stage there is not the slightest necessity to be developed—and it did not require the coming of the white man to show the Samoan how to enjoy the fruits of Nature. The white man undoubtedly brought complications, which were not of the native's seeking, and since Klie white man has assumed control these complications ha,,ve tended, to increase, whether the native liked, them or not.

That some of the white man's impositions were for the benefit of the Samoan, is beyond question. As regards health and sanitation the Samoan is infinitely better off than he was only a generation ago. Old residents in Samoa can still remember when tlie natives were afflicted with numerous hideous diseases which to-day are rarely seen. In those days it was a common sight to see native children being borne to the river or the sea to have the scabs rubbed off ghastly sores with stones and sand. Nowadays medical relief is always available to the Samoan and it is usually his own fault if he does not aiply for it. In this matter, however, the natives have still to bo educated out of thoir belief in their own quack remedies. The Samoan doctor is still frequently consulted first, with the result that by the time the case reaches the hospital it is hopeless. Here, undoubtedly, the SaniQan requires developing. Education and Language. The matter of education is a doubtful question, and Sir Apirana Ngata's suggestion that the Samoans be ■ taught English might not be approved unanimously. The Samoans have an extremely useful language of their own, which answers for all the purposes for which they require the spoken word. Under the" German rule the Samoans were not compelled to learn German and beyond an occasional native who can utter a few gutterals, the Samoans appear to carry little remembrance of their German masters. Samoans do not take well to ,a foreign language, and except for the more ambitious ones who work around and about Apia and with Europeans, there seems to be no necessity for them to acquire any language but their own.

Sir Apirana Ngata's contention that outside factors must penetrate into Sa,moa might perhaps warrant the acquisition of "the English language, but then, is it inevitbale that outside factors must compete with the native? If the interests of the Samoans are to be considered, it is the duty of the Mandatory Power to see that outside factors do not come in. The Samoan is far from being equipped to compete with members of any other race. To use a colloquialism, it would be like "taking candy from a kid" to expose the Samoan to such competition.

The Samoan is indolent by nature, and generations of comparative idleness have rendered him unable to undertake hard and consistent work. Physically he is able, but mentally he is unable to apply himself. For this reason it has been necessary to import labour into Samoa to do the plantation work. When such labour is confined to the plantations and prevented from acquiring an interest in the country as under the present system, the Samoan will suffer little harm from it.

But should vested interest in the country ever couie to the point where it is allowed to exploit Samoan property with imported labour, that will be the beginning of the end for the race. To equip the Samoan to cop&

with outside factors will require generations of education, but so long as the interests of the native are safeguarded it seems quite unnecessary so to equip him. "Happiest in the World." The Samoan to-day is perhaps the happiest person in the world, and he has good reason to be so. He lives in a land wonderfully blessed by Nature; he can overeat and underwork in a kindly climate; he is not quarrelsome and he loves to dance and sing. Obtaining food is a pastime, politics a diversion and he is not greatly interested in the doings of the world. His main worries are his immediate pleasures, and as these are usually of a mild nature he cannot harm himself by over-indulgence. Why, then, should a manadatory power, in the name of progress, subject a people so blessed to the doubtful benefits of a white man's civilisation acquired by necessity? The Samoans do not know necessity.

The political requirements of Samoa to-day seem to worry certain members of Parliament a great deal. The Samoans also are a little vexed over the question, though exactly what they want is a doubtful point. The fact that they will now have representation on the Legislative Council may appease them somewhat, as it is something they have talked themselves into desiring. Sir Apirana's statement, "Let us run them, but let it appear that they are running themselves," is quite sound, but the Samoans are too shrewd not to see through the guile. Nevertheless a little practical experience in administration may convince the Samoans that they are not yet capable of running "Samoa for the Samoans," but the same experience, gradually broadened, may be the beginning towards that desirable end. In the meantime the "tailioa" policy which the present Administration seems to be following is making slow atonement for the past rapid civilisation.