CHINESE IN SAMOA TO LEAVE

Dominion, Volume 29, Issue 264, 4 August 1936, Page 8

CHINESE IN SAMOA TO LEAVE

Goodwill Mission’s Promise INTER-MARRIAGE ONE OF BIG PROBLEMS By Telegraph—Press Association, Christchurch, August 3. The repatriation of Chinese and coolie labour at present in Samoa will be commenced by the New Zealand Government during the coming 12 months. Referring to the visit of the goodwill mission on his return to Lyttelton todav, Mr. James O’Brien, M.P. for Westland, stated that the question of the inter-marriage of races was one of the big problems of Samoa and the delegation had given the people there an undertaking to repatriate the labour that had been brought into the country during the past administration. 'Over 200 Chinese would leave Samoa for their own country in less than 12 months and other drafts of Chines© and coolies would be made from year to year until all outside labour had been removed. It was not possible to repatriate all the Chinese and negroid labour at once, as it was necessary that some of these people should be retained to complete the work on the copra plantations for which they had. been originally engaged. Mr. O’Brien added that the delegation had formed the opinion that Samoans could easily be brought to become industrious, and under proper Government supervision could be allowed to work out their own destiny.