HAPPY SAMOA.

Auckland Star, Volume LXXI, Issue 205, 29 August 1940, Page 11

HAPPY SAMOA.

RELATIONS GOOD.

BUT FINANCES ADVERSE.

Wellington, this day

The Government functioned well and relations between the Samoan Administration, the Samoan people and all sections of the community were satisfactory, states the annual report of the Samoan mandated territory, which was presented to the Houee of Representatives yesterday. Finances, however, were adverse, the accounts showing an excess of expenditure of £4232 over receipts. After reducing loan indebtedness by £5130 the Administration's accumulated surplus totalled £41,873.

It was to be regretted, stated the report, that a further recession in the total trade of the territory had to be recorded. The total trade figure of £415,145 represented a reduction from £444,877. This further drop could be mainly attributed to the fact that there was no cocoa crop during the major part of the year, nearly 1000 tone less being exported, with a drop in value of £34,547.

Copra export figures showed an increase of 11.52 per cent over the 1938 export, being 12,536 tons, valued at £108,078.

Export of bananas, whilst still high, showed the small drop of 5810 cases, with a consequent fall in the value of exported fruit of £2175.

Discussing the supply of labour, it was pointed out that the Sainoan was averse to continual or prolonged employment for wages. It was, however, on this aspect that the whole question of plantation labour depended. An experiment with Niuean labour had proved unsuccessful, ae most of the recruited labour had to be returned to Nine. The Xiueans disliked cocoa-work and rubber-tapping, preferring work on copra plantations near the sea. The Cook Island natives were no<t interested in plantation employment away from their own country. Tokelau Islanders were few in number, and, apart from the real difficulty of transportation, it was questionable whether their labour value extended beyond the atolls to which they were native and where they were peculiarly suited.

The question of repatriation of the remaining Chinese coolies was receiving consideration, added the report. Unfortunately the outbreak of war had made improbable the availability of transport and the fact that the coolies' home country had been occupied by the Japanese further complicated the situation.— (Parliamentary Reporter).