ISLANDS DEVELOPMENT

Evening Star, Issue 17311, 26 March 1920, Page 6

ISLANDS DEVELOPMENT

C. , 1 SDENTUEED LABOR ESSENTIAL. SIR JAMES ALLEN SUMS UP. OX THE SAMOAX PROBLEM. [Special to thk ' Stab.'] AUCKLAND, March 26. " Can he summed up in one word— '■ Labor. That is the outstanding problem '■ of the Islands," said Sir James Allen to- j day. " That question is not so prominent • in llarotonga as in some other islands, bub ; even there it is intimately associated with • the development of the Cook Group." "The object of our trip," the Minister continued, "was to enable members to see For themselves the conditions prevailing in ihe islanda, and especially to make a 6pe:ial study of the Labor problem. That problem is probably the most acute in t>amoa. where ao much cultivation was accomplished by the Germans." He could not say what the members' opinions were, but had' gathered that most of them were of the conviction that we must face the responsibility of keeping the Islands in a condition which could produce and distribute products. It was not right to allow the rich islands of the Pacific to lie idle when so many people were wanting things which they produced in such lavish profusion. _ Members had seen ' for themselves thatit was impossible to keep up the production of Samoa with native labor only. The European-owned plantations must either be abandoned or labor procured from outside. _ They also knew that so far as present information went it was impossible to get either Javanese or Solomon Island labor. No one wished to deal with Samoa in the same way as Fiji had been dealt with by the importation of coolies and their_ wives, which meant the ultimate ex- .'. tinction of the Samoan. He gathered that the bulk of the members were convinced that the simplest solution of the difficulty was to continue- the introduction of Chinese labor. The point troubling some of them was so much the introduction of I tabor as the question that it opened up a i problem which seemed almost insoluble. I The Government's present information was | that the Chinese would not be allowed to j bring in their wives. New Zealand could not contemplate with eouanimitv the pros- I pect of Chinese marrying Samoan wives and taking them to China. He hoped and believed that a period of short indenture—< pay, not more than three years—would be a partial solution of the difficult question, though it could by no means be regarded as a complete solution. As far as he could see, the Chinese lived quite contentedly in Samoa. They were not a serious menace to the Samoan race so long'as they were not allowed to remain there in perp'etuity. He could see no better way to preserve the Samoan race and to keep'the Islands productive than to continue policy lines existing. When the question of the disposal of the D.H. and P.G. plantations, some thousands of acres of which had been brought to_ a stage of complete cultivation, was i raised Sir James said that after • seeing j these plantations he was convinced that it ! was not wise to attempt an immediate I policy of settlement upon them. Trained I men who knew how to manasie copra pro- j duction were not available. It was necessary, for some time at. all events, to work , these plantations as community concerns, ' in order to make the best use of the drying machines and other plant. He favored Using the big plantations as training grounds for people who would eventually •; take tip land. Any man of intelligence i and vigor should have the opportunity of getting this training, with an opportunity i j later on of taking up 200 acres of land. He had thought that a hundred acres i would be sufficient, but after going into I the question on the spot he believed that j the area_ should be double that size. Any ! man taking up land in Samoa should have I the- opportunity of making a really good { living. His prospects should be' better than in New Zealand. He believed that it would be achieved under the system ha had outlined.