SAMOAN AFFAIRS

Hawera Star, Volume XLVII, 16 September 1927, Page 6

SAMOAN AFFAIRS

MINISTER REPLIES TO STATEMENTS. igF (BY TJ3LEGRAPII I’UESS ASSOCIATION.) WELLINGTON, Sept. 14. When the House of Representatives met this afternoon, at question time Mr. J. A. Lee (Auckland East) asked the Hon. W. Nos worthy whether he had seen the statement published in the Auckland papers that, according to a cablegram received from Samoa by the Hon. 0. F. Nelson, a statement made by the Hon. W. Nos worthy bad been corrected in the Fn'ato-nu, the official organ of the United States Government- in Samoa. This statement is to the effect that Gurr had never been deported from Pago Pago, and that he had not been, nor was at the present time, a prohibited immigrant there. The Minister saidi he had: seen the published statement and was prepared to make the following reply to it-: “The statement that E. W. Gurr was dismissed from the office by the. United States Administration in American Samoa was taken from an official document at Government House naval station. Tutuila, American Samoa, on October 1, 1926, prepared by Governor H. F. Bryan, and reads: Gurr was dismissed in l 1908 for malfeasance in office.

“Governor Bryan himself informed me during my recent visit to American Samoa,” said Mr. Noswort-hy. “that Gurr’s re-entry to American Samoa would be prohibited. I have never on any occasion stated that Gurr was deported from American Samoa.” At the time the Minister made his original statement concerning Gurr, he also made a reference to a certain native member of the Samoan Citizens’ Committee, one Afamasaga. The correction quoted above went on to say that as far as the Government of Pago Pago is concerned. Afamasaga is not-•-1 prohibited immigrant from Pago Pago. On this point the Hon. W. Nosworthy said: “The administration of Samoa was advised in writing by the Governor of American Samoa some years ago that Lago Lago (previously Afamasaga) would not be permitted to return to American Samoa, should he at any time wish to do so.” With regard to the number of political prisoners (18 chiefs) who were punished for participating in the political troubles of 1920, the Minister of External Affairs supported his former comment with the following statement concerning them: “In spite of the fact that the American Governor is now reported as stating that the native chiefs were punished for conspiring to kill other chiefs, and not for participating in political troubles, the official document of the American Government referred to describes the trouble that arose in American Samoa in 1920 as political unrest, and the chiefs. as disloyal in that they -had established a so-called ‘committee’ with headquarters in Pago Pago, through which they planned to run the Government-. Also the O Lee Faatonu, of March, 1925 (which is described in the Press report as the official organ of the United States Government in Samoa) reports that on March 9 these ‘political prisoners’ were pardoned. It is therefore impossible to reconcile the article published in the Auckland Herald of September 13 with the official records of the United States Government.”

FIRST .SITTING OF COMMISSION. EVIDENCE OF IMPRISONED CHIEFS. , AUCKLAND, Sept. 15. The first sitting of the Samoan Royal Commission has been convened by public notice for Saturday week, September 24, according to a wireless message received from Apia to-day by the Hon. O. F. Nelson. The taking of evidence, the message says, will begin at oneq. and the -commissioners, it is hoped, will leave for New Zealand by the Tofua on October 21. Mr. Nelson said that he had just received a telegram stating that, while the imprisoned chiefs could not be released as had been asked, reasonable facilities would -be given to enable them to attend before the Commission to give evidence. Regarding chiefs who had been -banished to villages other than their own, no agrement had been reached. He did not know the exact number of men in both classes, but it should, by now, be several dozen. The banished chiefs were scattered far and wide, which added to the committee’s difficulties in presenting its case.

-Mr. Nelson will leave for -Sydney tomorrow and will go on to Samoa by the Sierra, arriving about a week after the commissioners.