CONTROL OF SAMOA.

Gisborne Times, Volume LIX, Issue 9574, 27 July 1923, Page 5

CONTROL OF SAMOA.

A DMINISTR ATI.VE READJUSTMENTS.

WELLINGTON, July 26. The Hon. C. J. Parr moved the second reading of tlic Samoa Amendment Bill, which he said made administrative readjustments, the majority of which, had been suggested by the governor of the mandated territory. The feature of the Bill was the appointment of a Legislative Council to advise the Administrator, the council to consist of six official and -five non-of-ficial members, three of whom would bo Europeans and two Samoans, a net who would be elected. A further advance towards local government was the power given to the Legislative Council to provide by ordinance for municipal government„ for the town of Apia when the time was ripe for that experiment. Mr Sidey said lie had hoard a. general complaint that there were too many officials in Samoa. The place was over-governed. He would' like to hear what the Minister had to say in reply to that objection. The Bill generally was one which the House . had to leave to the Minister, who y must take the responsibility. Mr Holland took objection to the ' power given in clause 4 under which the Administrator may from time to time appoint such Samoans as he thinks fit to he “faipules.” This scorned to him to he going over the head of the Native 1 custom, under which Samoans chose their own “faipules. ” He also thought the representation in the Legislative Council was di-proportionate, the Government having too much power. He wanted to know when the system of indentured labor was going to cease, for in spite of anything its apologists might say, it was a system of slavery under the British flag. Mr. Isitt declared that Mr. Holland was pursuing a vendetta against jnden- j tured labor not in the interests of the Samoan people but because it was the j most profitable political trick he could j play until the young Samoans could j be taught work. Indentured labor j could not be dispensed with unless the j islands were to be allowed to go back j to a wilderness. !

Mr. Witty condemned the Bill generally. He thought the Samoans should be left like the. Tongans to manage their own affairs. The Bill was not in the right direction and showed that the Minister did not understand the people concerned. Mr. E. J. Howard said Mr. Isitt had led the House to believe that Chinamen were employed to ke?p plantations belonging to natives clean. That was not so. They worked on ex-German plantations, which we took over, therefore they worked for us. He regretted that Mr. Jsitt had indulged in half truths. Mr. W. D. Lvsnar protested against the drastic penalties provided in Hie Bill, lie desired to know whether the Samoan people understood the Bill and suggested that it he referred to a committee. where more information could he obtained as to the necessity for the Bill. Sir Maui Pomaro said the Samoans had asked for many of the provisions in the Bill and the Bill was an effort to introduce them to the influence and discipline of the law.' He tlntended the Samoans against the allegations of immorality. They were the most moral of all the Polynesians and that was saying a good. deal. There was nothing they did which was worse than was . done by many Ettro•peans. If the law of any country was to he made effective, then it must bo respected, and that could only he done by imposing penalties which would compel respect; that was why dhe penalties had been fixed as they had been in the Bill. The debate, was continued by Messrs. Bertram, Potter, Horn, Vcitch, O'Brien and McCombs. The Minister, in reply, said that the. hulk of the matters discussed had no relation to the Bill, which was almost entirely a. machinery measure. To his knowledge, there was the. greatest satisfaction in Samoa with New Zealand's administration; discontent existed almost entirely in the New Zealand parliament. He regretted that the Bill, which would ho welcomed by the Samoans, was not received.in a, better spirit by a certain sectioi? of the House. The Bill was read a second tune on the voices and*the House rose till to-to-merrow, when the business will be the consideration of the Estimates. — P.A.