SAMOA TO BE GOVERNED

Dominion, Volume 21, Issue 98, 24 January 1928, Page 10

SAMOA TO BE GOVERNED

TIME FOR ENFORCEMENT OF AUTHORITY ' REASON FOR THE DEPORTATIONS MORE ABOUT MAU INFLUENCE “LOSS OF MANY INNOCENT LIVES” The New Zealand Government, according to a statement made by the Prime Minister (Right Hon,. J. G. Coates) yesterday, has determined that the time has arrived for the enforcement of authority in the mandated territory of Samoa. “It is our duty to govern Samoa, and from this point onwards we intend to govern Samoa,’’ declares* Mr. Coates, who, in the course of his remarks, justi- ' fies the line of action followed by the Government throughout the trouble. In laying emphasis on the detrimental effects of the Mau influence, the Prime Minister declares that one direct result must be the loss of many innocent lives through the confidence of the natives in our health administration having been destroyed. • The full text of the Prime Minister’s statement is as ■ follows:—

“There seems to be some misapprehension throughout the country as to tlie reasons underlying the Government’s action in approving of the deportation . from Samoa of Messrs. Nelson, Gurr, and Smyth, and I feel it desirable to state plainly the considerations which have, in the opinion of the Government, rendered necessary the .course that has been taken.

LARGELY INEFFECTIVE < ADMINISTRATION. / “In the first place I think it is not generally recognised in New Zealand that our administration of Samoa has for many months past been very largely ineffective. In Samoa to-day the native people are seriously disunited; a large section of them are in a state of passive resistance to constituted authority; so far as they are concerned the King’s writ is not running; they are refusing to obey the orders and summonses of the court, even though serious indictable and criminal offences are involved; they are refusing to pay their taxes; i they are failing to search for beetles I or to account for those collected; they are neglecting their plantations; they 1 are keeping their children from the | Government schools and, perhaps the most serious of all, they are rejecting medical help and neglecting sanitary ( precautions.

It Is impossible to ignore the serious position that exists to-day and’has existed-for some months past, and it is not too much to say that sufficient mischief has already been done to prejudice the prosperity ot Samoa and the Samoans j for many years to come. DEFICIT IN FINANCES. "The failure of the natives to collect - beetles, for example, must have an exceedingly detrimental effect on the production of copra, on which the prosperity of the islands so largely depends. During last financial year ; no fewer than 5,308,531 beetles, larvae and 'eggs, were collected and destroyed, and the potential menace of this neglect to a tree that is vital even to the existence of the Samoans is a very real danger. It does not appear to .be generally appreciated also that we in New ■Zealand had to take authority in the ' Finance Act last session to advance to . the Samoan Treasury a sum up to £30,000 to meet the anticipated deficit - in the Samoan finances, directly due to - the activities of the Mau, and the loss to Samoa will undoubtedly be considerably increased in the future owing to the decline in both the import and export trade ,which must ’ necessarily foll low the disruption of the normal life of the country. It must not be forgotten,’also, that the amount we will be called upon to advance to meet these deficits will be in addition io the sum of £20,000 whic hwe regularly vote to supplement the Samoa revenues. ' DEPLORABLE EFFECT ON HEALTH. “The effect of the Mau activities upon our health administration has been most marked and most deplorable. Dr. Hunt, -i our acting-cihef medical adviser, testified before the Commission as follows: * —Tn 1925 child welfare work was / commenced. . . . The results have been ' most gratifying, the infant mortality rate having been practically halved ip three years. Unfortunately the. present unrest has, I fear, resulted in the ’ disbanding of- many of these committees, and if so, there will be an increase, this year in . infant mortality/ 44 One of our European inspectors in Savai’i testified that the native mothers subject to Mau influence were not bringing their babies to the child welfare officer, and also that in certain villages (which lie named! sanitary measures had been so neglected that the-places were no better than cessi pits, and that he expected an outbreak of disease during the ensuing hot season. Dr. Hunt also said that if the Medical Department does not hold, the confidence of the natives our effort in the campaign of preventive medicine against disease is to a large extent I nullified. UNRESERVED WITHDRAWAL. “The Citizens’ Committee, in their report on the Medical Department, which was translated into the Samoan language, told the natives: ‘We want a Medical Department that commands respect and confidence, not one which creates more or less ridicule.’ Although Mr. A. Williams, M.L.C., who was the author of this report, when confronted 1 under cross-examination by tributes ; of impartial experts of international standing to the wonderful success of New Zealand’s medical services in Samoa ‘in brilliantly answering the vital question as to whether the decline of native Pacific races can be checked and their number brought back,’ unreservedly withdrew his - report, and : apologised for having made it; and alI though the senior counsel f or the Citizens’ Committee, in his list of for- ’ mal charges, specifically stated 'Hospij tai Department: no charge,’ Mr. Nelson, I under cross-examination, persisted. He said, ‘I still agree with, that passage, and take full responsibility for it. . . . I still say it is true.’ 1 INNOCENTS SUFFER. “Wth a due sense of responsibility,” continued the Prime Minister, “I sav that, as a direct result of the Mau influence, which has so largely destroyed the confidence* of the natives in our health administration, many fnnocent lives must- be lost in Samoa. A COMPARISON. . “Before proceeding to inquire into the and the possible remedies of the

state of affairs in Samoa we might contrast the present position with that existing before the activities of the Mau. Though in the. past we have had some minor difficulties with Samoa, these have long been successfully surmounted, and in recent years it is not too much to say that the Samoans have been a united, contented, happy, healthy and prosperous people, . undoubtedly grateful to the administration for all the many benefits derived from schools, hospitals, dispensaries, sanitation, water supplies, roads and other, public services and all the privileges that are accorded by settled and orderly government. In fact, the administration of our trusteeship over the Samoans had evoked admiration practically throughout the world.

So far as the present Administrator is concerned, I think it might fairly be said that there never has been a more successful Governor of native peoples, and at this point I think I might also say that there can never have been a more complete vindication of an administration than that afforded by the report of the . Samoan Commission.

“The cause of this change, in the attitude of the Samoans is not now a matter of doubt. The Commission has said that ‘The actual coiisequences of the Mau organisation were really not in dispute before us’ and it is not surprising that the Commission has declared that ‘the Mau cannot exist alongside of and concurrently with th? administration of the country under the Mandate. One or other must give way’. RETALIATION BY INTRIGUE. “As long ago as 1892 the then British Consul at Samoa (Sir Berry CusackSmith) in an official despatch to Lord Salisbury, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, summed up the Samoan situation of that day in the following pregnant words: —‘When discontented, the white residents have always' retaliated by stirring up intrigues, revolts and wars amongst the Natives. When contented, the white residents take no interest whatever, in. native affairs, except commercially, and would leave the white officials a free hand in dealing with Native matters. Without the moral support of the white residents, I believe that no Samoan Government can ever be successful’. “The leading European members of the Citizens’ Committee, when under cross-examination before the Commission, admitted the'substantial accuracy of these observations and also their applicability to Samoa to-day just as much as in 1892. Nor could jthey have done otherwise in the face of past and recent events in t'amoan history. LIQUOR AND COPRA. “The two chief causes of white discontent in'Samoa since the institution of Mandate administration under New Zealand are beyond the region of doubt. European discontent with our policy of prohibiting liquor was the root cause of the agitation and native unrest in 1920, 1921, 1922, and to a certain extent of the more recent disorders. But undoubtedly the menace to the business and wealth of the traders, of whom Mr. Nelson is the largest and most influential, of the. Administrator’s experimental native copra selling policy, was largely, responsible for the present movement. The fact that this white discontent, due to policies entirely in the interest and for the benefit of the indigenous people of the mandated territory nevertheless manifested itself in most serious native intrigues and resistance to the Administration, throws a significant sidelight on the peculiar psychology of the Samoan race. It is true that their European leaders protested to the Commission that in openly and deliberately and for the first time allving natives with their political agitation they had no thought of causing dissatisfaction with, or of opposing or hindering, the Administration, but it is equally true that they were aware of the peculiar susceptibility of the Samoans to political intrigues of this kind and knew of the disastrous consequences to the natives of previous similar agitations. This they admitted under cross-examination. IMPARTIAL INQUIRY. “Happily I am no longer called upon to prove the facts of this sorry business. Thev have been investigated bv n Commission of whose integrity and impartiality there can be no possible doubt, and to which the ‘Samoan Guardian,” the newspaper promoted and issued in Samoa by the European leaders of the Mau movement, bore testimony in a' leading article on October 6, 1927, in the following words: ‘The hearings are patient, and from all indications the scope of the investigation is broad. The incredulous should now believe that all complaints or objections in the petition* of the Samoans, and 'in the reports, of the Citizens’ Committee will receive impartial treatment unaffected bv any party or political feeling. Its membership is a full guarantee of all these. The integrity of Sir Charles Skerrett and fudge MacCormick is above suspicion and bevond reproach. The petitioners can vest complete faith in their sincerity.’ There can be no possible doubt that the position is as I have sttaed it, and that the present unfortunate state of affairs is due to the activities of the Mail. “Our Duty to Govern.” “Now, our duty in New Zealand is to govern Samoa. The Peace Treaty in instituting’ the system of mandates makes it quite clear that those nationsundertaking a mandate accept.a sapred trust on behalf of peoples who are not

yet able to stand by themselves under the strenuous conditions of the modern world.’

It is our duty to govern Samoa by the terms of the mandate issued to us, and quite apart from this it is our duty to govern Samoa on humanitarian grounds In the Interests of the Samoan natives.

During the past six months the administration and the .Government of .New Zealand have shown limitless patience in most difficult circumstances, and have carried toleration to such an extent that it might even be said that, our administration of-the country has been ineffective during that time. Even to-day we are advised that the Mau has actually set up a police force of its own, equipped with uniforms. and that members of this ‘force’ in uniform actually accompanied Mr. Nelson on board the Tofua prior to his departure from Samoa. POLICY HENCEFORTH. “With a full recognition of the dangerous situation that was developing, the Administration and the Government held their hand, and at the request.ot the Administrator the fulest inquiry was'instituted into the Samoan fjosition. Now that this inquiry has been concluded. and the Administration vindicated in every essential particular, we have determined that the time has arrived when authority must be enforced. It is our. duty to govern Samoa, and from this point onward we intend to govern Samoa. REMOVIN GSOURCE OF TROUBLE. “The question that then arose for decision was as to the method to be adopted to reintroduce a settled condition of law and order in the Islands. We had ample power, if we chose, to enforce the law in the same manner as the law would' be enforced in New Zealand —by force. The objections to this course were, of course, many and obvious. It would have involved inflicting grave hardship on many natives who have been, in our opinion, merely the dupes of others more directly responsible. It might even have led to bloodshed and the loss of innocent lives. Fortunately, we had another alternative —to remove what was in our opinion toe source and origin our opinion the source and origin of ttie trouble, in the confidence means would gradually, of their own accord, realise the position and co-operate with the administration as in the past.

“The necessary steps under the Samoa Amendment Act 1927 having been taken by the Administrator, the Government of New Zealand approved of his recommendation that the best means of remedying the trpubles of Samoa would be to remove the three persons whose deportation has already been announced. AN EXECUTIVE ACT. “It cannot be made too clear that this step is not in any way a punishment for a crime or an offence. It is not in the strict sense of the term a judicial act—it is an executive act, taken not as a penalty but as a preventive measure to facilitate the good government of the territory. There is nothing unprecedented or unconstitutional in this course, and I have been greatly surprised at the uninformed criticism that has been directed against the Samoa ‘ Amendment Act, which authorised the course that has been adopted. Neither the Act nor the form of procedure under it infringes in any degree the fundamental principles of British administration. This power of deportation by the executive, as distinct from punishment by the judiciary, is possessed and has been exercised by the Pacific administrations around us; it is a power vested by the Government of the United States in the discretion of the Governor of American Samoa—our adjoining territory. It is a power granted by the British Government to all their Governors controlling Native races, including the Governor of Fiji, and exercised by them whenever the necessity arises. It has been legally decided in a British Court that such a power is contemplated even by Magna for a Parliament to say that a man may for aParliament to say that a man may be punished for his acts or prevented from repeating them, and that judicial procedure would be the proper method in the first case and executive action (even, possibly, on considerations not susceptible of definite proof), in the second case. THREE COURSES OF ACTION. “To sum the matter up, we had three possible courses of action—firstly, to allow, the administration of Samoa to remain ineffective, which was, of course, , unthinkable; secondly, to inflict grave hardship on large numbers of probably innocent natives by the application of force—this we discarded; or, thirdly, bv removing those who were in our opinion primarily responsible, to prevent any extension of the mischief and so enable the Administration to put in hand those conciliatory methods which we believe will ultimately prove successful.' This was the course we adopted, and we already have good reason to believe that the object we all desire will be achieved peacefully and . gradually in this way. “ABSTRACT PRINCIPLES OF JUSTICE.” 'Tn the circumstances I have, found it hard to understand the solicitude that has been shown for Mr. Nelson and his European colleagues by the Leader of the Labour Party and by. a section of our own Press and public. Do the health, welfare, and prosperity

of the Samoan people, their lives even, count for nothing with these critics?

Are they prepared to sacrifice all these in their devotion to what they conceive to be abstract principles of justice, which are entirely in applicable to the circumstances of this case?

“These critics have ignored . the weight of opinion of the most highlyqualified colonial statesmen in the world, whose experience and judgment teach that it is impossible to deal promptly and effectively in a purely native territory with a trouble which may involve life and death issues, according to the standards and principles which are laid down for the government of democratic and educated communities.

I say without hesitation that if we are to be forced to apply exactly the same methods and government to -a territory ■ inhabitated, in the words of the Treaty, by a people , ‘not yet able to stand by themselves,” as we apply to our own educated democracy. New Zealand will either have to abandon the Mandate or resign herself to face the constant danger of disorder and disruption in Samoa. AN OBJECT LESSON. “Owing to the very serious situation which has been created and to the general lack of knowledge of the great dangers involved, I feel justified in shortly referring to an object lesson from Eastern Samoa which has been constantly in our thoughts. .A, Parliamentary partv visited American Samoa in 1920. Within a few months of their departure certain European interests poisoned the minds of the Sanftjans against their administration. -It can be said for them that they were not very familiar with Samoan character and psychology. The unrest spread, and eventually reached the stage of revolution. What was the aftermath.? A battleship was dispatched to the territory; the European civilian concerned was summarily deported; a high naval officer who joined with him was courtmartialled and dismissed from the service ; a large number of leading chiefs were imprisoned, with hard labour, for varying terms (a general amnesty was granted a couple of years ago).; and the Governor, under the strain of events, ended his life. A Naval Court of Inquiry subsequently found that, the Governor’s administration, financially and constitutionally, had been good, but that he had shown weakness in. not dealing with the trouble with firmness when it arose. “We have decided, after the most careful consideration and the most lengthy inquiry, to take a stronger course. We have felt it advisable to prefer the interests of the large number of natives to the interests of a handful of Europeans, and we are satisfied that the course we have adopted was correct, and that it will be justified by the event.” “PEACEMAKERS ALL ALONG” HON. NELSON INTERVIEWED. Dominion Special Service. Auckland, January 23. The Hon. O. F. Nelson and Mr. A. G. Smyth, who lately left Samoa under order of deportation, arrived at Auckland to-day bv the Tofua. “I 'have nothing to say about Samoan affairs at present,” said Mr. Nelson when asked if he had any comment to make on recent 'happenings there. ‘Mr. Smvth and I will go on to Wellington in a day or two. to confer with our counsel, Sir John Findlay. When we have done so’, perhaps we shall be free to say something. We have, been peacemakers all along. New it is for General Richardson to keep order, if he can.” In reply to a question about his future movements, Mr. Nelson said his "Dians had not been changed by the deportation order. He had been on his way to Europe when .the appointment of ’ the Royal Commission compelled him to return from Svdney to Samoa. Mr. Smvth stated that after visiting Wellington with Mr. Nelson, he in-‘•-nded to- leave bv the Aorangi on February 14 for Suva, where he now held a position with A. <M. Brodziak, ‘Ltd., one of the largest mercantile firms in Fiji. Asked about the boycott of New Zealand goods alleged in various wireless messages to have been declared by Natives of Samoa, Mr. Smyth said that about the time of the Tofua’s departure, the Natives had declared a boycott, not merely of New Zealand goods, but of all imported goods except soap, sugar, kerosene, and matches. These were regarded as necessaries. . The Natives did not stand in any real need of other commodities such,as clothing and textiles, and had decided not to buy them. Not having been allowed any communication with the Mau in the neriod just before he left Samoa, Mr. Smvth could not say what .was the Natives’ reason for declaring a general boycott of this kind. They had not paid their last year’s taxes, and were refusing to pay the fines. However, they were continuing the production of a certain amount of copra. ~