LIFE IN SAMOA

Evening Post, Volume CXVIII, Issue 51, 29 August 1934, Page 7

LIFE IN SAMOA

IMPORTED LABOUR

WORK IN PLANTATIONS ,

A brief survey of the economic ancli social conditions of the natives' o£ Western Samoa is given in the report' which has been prepared for the. in« formation of the League of .Nations and. which was presented to Parliament yesterday and the Minister of External Affairs (the Et. Hon. G. WJ Forbes).

"The social' system of the Samoa a people is such that poverty cannot exist," said the report. "All families (or more correctly ','elans") are well endowed with land, and as.the soil is very fertile they have little difficulty in growing all food supplies required. Their wants in the way of clothing are few, and although the lavalava, or loin clothj'is now of European material it is for all general purposes the only clothing worn by adult men and children in ordinary village life,. an additional upper garment usually being worn by; the women. On formal occasions, more particularly when Europeans are present, the'mean wear shirts, andin some cases even collars, ties, and jackets. The Samoans are conservative,in the matter of housing; in that they have shown no tendency to adopt European ideas as io design and eonstrijetion, as has been done by other peoples of the Pacific having the same commercial contacts. This' is due, no doubt, to the fact that Samoan native houses are of particularly good design, being large, well ventilated, and cool< They have no walls, and are quite open to the air on all sides, resembling-a-bee-hive roof of eano thatch - raised on posts, but are fitted with heavy blinds which when lowered, on:-the Venetian principle, give full protection from wind and rain. In the matter of- housing, as in other directions; the economic aspect has played a part in postponing change', as all materials for a Samoan dwelling are grown by the people'on'their own land. The native people are well and suitably housed, and it is in their interests that there should be no change.

"The Samoans are not affected: by the economic depression to , the same ex-, tent as' European communities, although tho unprecedented low prices for their main product, copra, have resulted in their relying more on the local-grown foodstuffs than formerly. Lack of ready cash has seen the demand for European goods, such as tinned meats, tea, sugar, rice,-kerosene, soap, etc^,-. dwindle* until it has almost disappeared In most districts, and it is hardly to,-.bo expected that there will be a revival for some considerable time, v

"The production of fool supplies is well attended to, and the cultivation and planting of new areas for future supplies is kept up to date. The- people generally show no particular keenness in seeking employment outside their own style of living, although during the last two years there .is more evidence of a desire to add to their incomes in this manner.

' "The engagement by Samoans in regular employment for wages is quite extraneous to tho style of living of the bulk' of the native population; and, ns economic conditions leavo the people completely free of need for. 'such employment, there is no codification of conditions. Plantation work,' when availed of, is usually arranged; by contract with the head of. those, engaged. [The work is not over arduous, -being i mainly weeding or cutting .of ■■ copra, and the total number of Samoans so employed at any one time would probably not exceed four hundred! 'These conditions apply to the reparation estates equally with bther plantations, but, as already'stated, there is' no economic compulsion ■-. on native VSamoans to accept them. : ■ : ■ "On April I, 1933, there - were 63<> Chinese labourers in the territory. During the year four died from natural causes, leaving a total on March 31, 1934, of 632.. This includes 584 indentured coolies, 47 restricted free settlers, and 1 coolie serving a sentence: of life imprisonment.. The conduct of the; labourers during the.year has been good; the number of visits .to-the. Commissioner's office was 4156, as,compared with .3518 in 1932-33: Service is ■ still contracted for periods, of three years, but a minority of labourers; of ;_good record are permitted to^ re-engage. Or tho 1191 Melanesian labourers in the territory on April 1, 1933, 20 were repatriated and 1 died during,the year leaving a total of 98, all in tho employ of tho New Zealand reparation estates.-