INDEPENDENT SAMOA ,

Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 28920, 13 June 1959, Page 13

INDEPENDENT SAMOA ,

N.Z. Assurance To U.N. Council

NEW YORK, June 12. A New Zealand delegate said yesterday that when the trusteeship agreement for the Pacific Island trust territory of Western Samoa was terminated in 1960 the territory would be ‘‘bom self-governing and independent. The delegate, Mr A. D. McIntosh, in his closing statement, assured the United Nations Trusteeship Council that it was his Government’s intention that ‘‘Samoan independence shall be complete and unqualified.” He added that no treaty of any kind would be imposed on an independent Samoa and no treaty would make the character of its independence less real.

A treaty of friendship between New Zealand and Western Samoa has been proposed once the island has attained independence and Mr Mclntosh told the council that the termination of trusteeship would be ‘‘in no way conditional upon the conclusion of such an agreement. “A small country like Samoa in the future clearly requires further assistance,” he said. ‘‘With or without a formal treaty I cannot imagine any NewZealand Government not being willing to give such necessarv help to the independent Samoa of the future.” Mr Mclntosh said that New Zealand was ‘‘anxious and willing’’ to assist the Samoans, but it had always felt that it was most important that its aid should help the Samoans to help themselves.

“The economy of the territory can support an adequate and competent though modest, administration which the Samoans should be able to control ana pay for without leaning too heavily on outside assistance,” be said.

Samoa would face'many problems in its efforts to. match its population increase ,with greatei economic production, Mr McIntosh said. In the last 10 years the ordinary revenue of the Samoan Government had more than doubled, but the New Zealand Government agreed that an even faster rate of economic development was necessary. Mr G. R. Powles, the special representative on Samoa, agreed on the need for an acceleration in the island’s economic development.

Aga Khan Graduates—The Aga Khan, 22-year-old spiritual head of 23 million Ismailis throughout the world, yesterday completed his forma] education in the United States He graduated from Harvard University with a. bachelor of arts honours degree in Oriental history.—Cambridge (Massachusetts), June 12.