SAMOA'S FEARS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 183, 4 August 1936, Page 7

SAMOA'S FEARS.

NO CHINESE LABOUR. I WILL SAMOANS WORK? MANDATE MAY BE ATTACKED. "The announcement by the Hon. F. Langstone, Minister of Lands, that the goodwill mission has decided to remove most of the Chinese labour from Samoa within 12 months, and the remainder soon thereafter, will inevitably bring about an agitation for the removal of this mandate from New Zealand," said ill'. K. W. Robson, F.R.G.5.., editor and owner of the "Pacific Islands Monthly.'' Mr. Kobson is in Auckland to-day aboard the Aorangi, returning to Sydney after a visit to Samoa and Fiji. "I was present at a meeting in Apia between the goodwill mission and the planters, about July 9, when the Minister expressed his abhorrence of the Chinese labour indenture system, and his determination to remove the Chinese from Samoa. Xever have I seen such consternation among a group of men— they know that if they are deprived of this labour they will be ruined. They argued and pleaded with Messrs. Lang-t-tone and O'Brien, but the only satisfaction they got was-an expression of the goodwill missioners' conviction that the Samoans could be taught to work. The delegation gave the impression that they were not concerned about the European planters in Samoa, anyway."

Mr. Robson said he had spent many days among the planters, on their cocoa nut, cocoa and banana plantations, and his experience there entirely supported the conviction of practically every European resident of Samoa — first, that those plantations could not be profitably worked without a regular, dependable supply of labour; and, second, that neither Samoans nor halfcastes can be depended upon to supply labour when it is most urgently needed. The Samoans, to a man, are landowners, and all their modest needs are supplied by the cultivation of their own lands. Administration Disliked. "The New Zealand Administration is disliked, if not actually hated, in Samoa," said Mr. Robson. "I spent three weeks there —mostly among the nonofficial Europeans and the half-caste people —and in all that time I did not hear one sincere word of goodwill towards New Zealand. Soft and flattering words were spoken at official functions before the 'goodwill mission,' but otherwise there was only condemnation of New Zealand's past record in Samoa and the liveliest fear as to what the new Socialist Government is likely to do to the territory in the future.

"The 'goodwill mission' did not create much goodwill. It was apparent that Messrs. Langstone and O'Brien knew nothing of tropical islands conditions generally, and especially were they ignorant of the j>eculiarities of the Dominion's obligations in Samoa. They had no idea of how to approach the natives. I myself heard those two wellintentioned gentlemen one morning making a series of addresses to the children ill the native schools. Each 'missioner' spoke in each school for at least ten minutes, delivering in English a kind of politico-economic sermon. And I don't suppose those little native children knew nioro than 20 words of English among them!

"I could not see that the delegation's various interviews, led anywhere, so far as the establishment of political peace in Samoa is concerned. The Minister ordered a number of reforms, which were long overdue, but his attitude towards the Alan—pleading, cajoling, argumentative —showed that he understood neither the people nor the real character of New Zealand's task in Samoa. When I left, the unanimous opinion of the more experienced and responsible Europeans was that New Zealand's difficulties in the future would be quite comparable with her troubles ir the past. Root of Troubles Not Touched.

"The delegation's recommendations to the Prime Minister amount simply to a plan for giving the native fiamoans a larger voice in the Legislative Council (purely an advisory body), and for enlarging the education and hospital services, which must mean a considerable increase in the cost of administration. These things do not even touch the root of Samoa's troubles—which may be found in the large half-caste population and in New Zealand's failure to develop the country on sound economic lines—and there is no indication of how the increased costs are to be provided. Instead, by depriving the planters of labour, the Minister proposes to reduce considerably the productive capacity of the country.

"There is a large and growing body of European opinion in Samoa in favour of a transfer of the mandate to Britain. The. natives, of course, want a kind of protectorate, similar to Tonga; while the half-castes (mostly GermanSamoans) are anxious to be parted from New Zealand. All interests probably would be happy if Samoa were brought under the British Colonial Office, through the High Commissioner for the Western Pacific (who already governs or supervises Fiji, Tonga, Solomons, New Hebrides and the Gilbert and Ellice Groups in a very efficient manner.

"It is certain, at any rate, that this hasty and ill-considered decision to deprive Samoa of an adequate labour supply will soon give shape and force to the desire for separation from New Zealand."