Samoan Affairs

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XVII, Issue 17, 4 January 1927, Page 5

Samoan Affairs

Address by Administrator PROSPERITY AHEAD. TRADE AND EDUCATION. A fono of Faipules was opened at Mulinuu on December 7, when the Administrator of Samoa, Sir George Richardson, addressed the assembled chiefs. In referring to the recent outbreak ol dysentry and the prompt treatment by doctors, nurses and village com- V mittees, which enabled the outbreak to be overcome in ■ -. . ■ a comparatively short time, His I'.xci point“I "Ut that the ijO lesson to he learncd was that by good sanitation, K clean villages and proper precaution, sickness can be controlled. Reference war ■ '***- i »» ** "*** made to an out- Sir G. Richardton, break ot measles, winch had appeared in one village, but by prompt action, the village was isolated, and the disease did not spread. Yaws and hookworm treatments had been curried out in every district in Samoa, and will have to be continued for some time, before these diseases can he iully controlled. Forty-nine Samoan nurses have been trained during the year, said His Excellency. There were now 14 dispensaries round the Islands, and four more will be opened in 1927. Two Samoan boys are being trained in Fiji to qualify as doctors, and two more boys go to Fiji next month for the same purpose. In the coming year it is proposed to make the Samoan village end plantation near Apia a hospital for the convenience of relatives of the Samoan patients. PROGRESS IN EDUCATION. Reference was made to education am! to the great progress in the la si four years? There are now 46 schools • in Samoa under Government teacher*, with a roll call of 1900. Four years ago pupils numbered only 100. Education is now on definite progressiva lines. A child starts m the village school and goes from there to a grade 11. school, and thou pusses into the Government schools at Malifa, Avcle and Vaipouli, where they can quality for appointment as teachers, medical cadets, clerks, interpreters, wireless operators, etc. A limited number of pupils, who display special ability, will l>e selected lor higher education in New Zealand. Special attention will be devoted to training the girls. The Government’s desire is to so educate Samoans so that they will be t less dependent on others and able to promote the welfare of their own country. Tlie Administrator referred to the Maoris and the wealth they had gained under New Zealand’s protection, and said that tho Samoans were being cared lor in the same way, but they found only advance by developing their lands. He was pleased to record that the natives were moving in this direction, anj< that in the past two years 6000 aftles of bush lands had been cleared and planted with approximately 290.000 coco-nuts. Oopra had increased by about 4000 tons a year, but the classifying of Samoana copra as South Seas had resulted in a loss of about £20,000, because of the inferior quality of the latter. Mention was made of the new ship ordered by the New Zealand Government for Samoa, so that bananas and other island fruits could be exported to New Zealand. The production of cotton hhd been increased, and it was hoped that cultivation would be further increased jji the future. His Excellency informed the Fai. pules that the New Zealand Govern, ment had invited three representatives of the Samoan race to proceed to Auckland in January, and join with the representatives of the Maori race and Cook Islands in welcoming the Duke of York. These representatives must realise that this great honour was not for them personally, but for every man. woman and child of the Samoan race under the protection of the Great British Empire, and that they would be merely th# channels through which the wellknown loyalty of the people of tlie Samoan Islands to the King and Government would be expressed.