PACIFIC ISLANDS TRADE

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XLI, Issue XLI, 31 July 1920, Page 5

PACIFIC ISLANDS TRADE

INTERESTING DEBATE IN THE

HOUSE

(BY TELEGRAPH— PRESS ASSOCIATION.)

. WELLINGTON, July 30. Resuming the discussion on the re g»rt on Island trade in the HouL of '?•? re*ntat"res tWs afternoon, Mr Sidey thought the Government should kave brought down concrete proposals especially dealing with Samoa. RegS ing education the Government slould make use of the mission schools The Government officers should be men acquainted with the, native languages Ihe grievances in the Cook Islands Ind Samoa were, to some extent, he beleved, due to the fact that spirituous liquor was permitted there. Trade with the Islands could and should be increased, an d New Zealand should have a more plentiful and cheaper supply of Island fruit, which could only be possible by a properly organised shipping service. vv"*&

Referring to tfhe labor position m Samoa, Mr Sidey said it was beyond question that there i 6 not enough Island labor available to work the plantations, and whites could not work in that climate. Ihe Commission had been informed that 3000 to 5000 laborers were required to work the present plantations and enlarge the area under cultivation. An important consideration to be remembered, if Chinese were employed, was the danger of the deterioration of the native race. He quoted suggestions by Mr a Brunsden Fletcher who, dealing with Fiji, thought the labor troubles could be solved by a proper selection of Indian labor. Mr Sidey considered that proper medical attention to improve the health conditions would result in considerably increasing Island populations, so they could supply their own labor needs. Resuming the discussion in the evennig, Mr Holland said he would confine himself to the question of labor in Western Samoa. He proposed to divide the House on the question of indentured labor, and would move that ;.ll woids after "that" in the formal aoiion be omitted, and the following substituted: "This House records its opposition to the continuance of indentured labor in Western Samoa." .

Mr Holland remarked that while Dr Solf's administration was fair to a certain point, the natives were being gradually denuded of their lands by big planters, German and other. While the Parliamentary party was at Samoa a deputation of British planters waited upon them and said the Samoans will not work and white people cannot work, and that it was necessary to import labor. The competition in labor available during war time had resulted in the wage for a Chinaman being raised to £2 10s, and for Solomon Islanders to £2 per month.

They pointed out that Captain Carter was then in China endeavoring to get a fresh supply of' Chinamen, and they further stated that if he had gone to *he right place he eouid have got labor at 30s per month. Failing a supply from this quarter they suggested labor should be got from Dutch Java, which labor wa's available at an exceedingly low rate. These people still have respect for Europeans, and would stick to their masters, which, by inference, meant that Chinamen had ceased to have respect for Europeans. They had been told that the Samoan would not work, but the reason for that was that he cou!d earn for himself as much in »>ne day as the planters paid for a month's work. What hon. gentleman, he asked, would work one month for one day's wage?

They were told last session that if indentured labor was not agreed to the mandate would be endangered, but he now found nothing of the kind was the fact, because the Imperial Government was against .indentured labor. The New Zealand Government, behind the back of Parliament, had gone to the Imperial Government and to the Australian Government and begged for indentured labor., knowing ali the time that this policy was opposed to that of the Colonial Of nee. The only people who had a right to declare in favor of indentured labor in Samoa were Samoans, and they were opposed to it, Mr Lee": Where did you get that? Mr Holland: I got it from the Sa-" moans themselves when at Samoa. They were prevented from getting officially the Samoan viewpoint on this matter, but he had got it privately, and he did not find one Samoan who favored indentured labor. They were particularly annoyed at the sight of half-caste children. The fact wa s the Samoan would work, but not on coolie conditions or wages. They said they were just as good as Europeans, and what, was not good enough for the European was not good enough for them. They said the reason Chinamen were wanted in Samoa was because they were cheap. In seconding the amendment, Mr Howard said that in taking over Samoa w ( e were taking over an immature Ireland. Why had we taken over this box ;of trouble ? If for the purposes of defence, then indentured labor was the I most unwise step we could take, because if trouble came from the north it was strategically unsound to pass a stream of yellow labor through those Islands, I thus letting Chinamen and Japs know what we were doing there. - If from a food production point of view, then there was more land fit for cocoanut growing in Queensland than in all the South Sea Islands put together. Mr Isitt said indentured labor was merely being turned into a political "stunt" by the Labor Party. It had been said that the Samoans opposed indentured labor, but he claimed it was exceedingly difficult to get at the back I of the Samoan mind. j Mr Bartram discussed the relations of Chinamen with Samoan women, and declared the chiefs had been told by the •people to declare at their meeting with members that they were against indentured labor. The chiefs did not do so, and he deliberately charged the Samoan administration with having got at the chiefs to prevent them making known the wishes of the people. Mr Potter declared that the domestic conditions existing between Chinamen and Samoan women were satisfactory. There were white women livino- with Chinamen in Wellington to-day m conditions not so good, and yet the Labor Party raised no word of protest against this practice in our midst. Mr P. Fraser strongly condemned any system of indentured la"bor. « Mr Massey said that on his arrival ha. England his first effort was to get Britain to take over Samoa, because New Zealand did not want it. It was then that the mandatory system was devised. It had been said that Samoa should be left to the Samoans, but he declared the Islands could not be allowed to remain in the hands of the natives for twenty-four hours. The position was that if w& had not taken the mandate a foreign country could have got it, because he knew.that the country put in

the strongest claim for it. The period ( of indenture was only for two years ' fu d /S? Ugh il was not gW««»lly known I the Chinese Government had consented ito some Chinese wives accompanying j their husbands. There were about a .Hundred wives on the way to Samoa now. He did not like the system «f indentured labor, and the seoner we got rid of it the better. The way to do that wa s to educate the Samoans to the value of labor. He traced the fate of the native race in the Hawaiian Islands. The Samoans were of the same race, and it was our duty to see that a similar fate did not befall them. We must take up what was sometimes called the white man's burden to protect the , native race, and see that no foreign Power ever got a footing in the Pacific

, again. j Mr Wilford opposed indentured labor, ! and would never support the introduction of any Chinamen or Japanese into j any island under New Zealand's charge. J The Hon. A. T. Ngata said that in the ; light of the experience «f the Maori race, the Samoans were fortunate in . coming under the control of the BrifcI ish Empire as represented by New Zealand.

The debate was still in progress when the House rose.