THE SAMOAN MANDATE

Marlborough Express, Volume LIII, Issue 276, 24 November 1919, Page 6

THE SAMOAN MANDATE

STATEMENT BY SIR JAMES

ALLEN

CHRISTCHUROH, Nov. 21. Sir James Allen, who passed through Christchurch yesterday, told a reporter that active steps were being taken to substitute civil for military administration in Western Samoa. They were anticipating the mandate by removing the garrison and replacing them with police. "W© are issuing a circular to all newspapers about indentured labor," said Sir James. "There is a great misunderstanding about the position. When we took over Samoa there were 3000 Chinamen and Solomon Islanders, and we introduced none at all during our administration. They have gone down now by repatriation to 1000, and we have been hoping against hope that we might induce the Sampans to keep the the plantations going, but it is impossible for them to do so. The result is that there are 1000 indentured laborers there. We did not bring them in, but it is impossible to keep the plantations up, and they will go to ruin, some of them, unless something is done. White men cannot work there in the fields^ nor can the Samoans themselves undertake sustained labor. The only people that seem to be able to undertake it are Chinamen and Solomon Islanders. I am very anxious that members ol Parliament should go down and see for themselves. Colonel Logan went down with the idea that he might be able to, dispense with indentured labor, and he found from practical experience that it could not* be clone 1" Sir James Allen added that he hoped a Parliamentary party would go to Samoa as soon as possible after the Now Year, to learn the condition of things before next scssioa.