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New Zealand Herald, Volume XX, Issue 6816, 21 September 1883, Page 4

The Lyttelton Times, with a moat mia . chievous mtent returns to the question of the proposed annexation of Samoa Its argument is, that our treatment of the natives of New Zealand has been so bad that the Samoans would do well to have nothing to. do with us. W e should k be afraid to rest the whole question on our dealings with the native race since the foundation of the colony, if the point were to be submitted to candid and impartial men, who would look at all sides of the question, and we would have na ; object ions to all the persons named being called mto Court, But it must be remembered that for the Samoans. it i 3 not a question whether they will or not have to do with Europeans. They have already large dealings with Europeans, and a very large area of the land is being claimed by Europeans, and troublesome complications are arising. The advent of a definite government would result in cutting down these claims This was one of the first tasks of the Government in New Zealand, and it would be also one of the Erst duties in Samoa, But even if we weretoadmitthatourruleof the natives had been bad in New Zealand it does not follow that it would also be so in Samoa. We do not anticipate that these Islands would form a place for settlement. Our population is not yet ao redundant that We have any need to look for a place for our surplus people. Neither the climate nor the industries of Samoa would be attractive to Europeans- But under administration from New Zealand, which ia the British community most closelv connected. with Samoa by position and by commercial relations, there would be stable government and a large increase of productiveness. The rapaciousness of Europeans would be checked, while legitimate commerce wpirld be promoted. There Would be no possibility of such questions of conflict between the races arising as have arisen in New Zealand.. In "the evidence given by Sir Arthur Gordon before a Commission, and laid before tie Supreme Court at Wellington in the casn | of Hunt v. Gordon, there is a picture.of | the state of anarchy which Sir Arthur | found existing on his first -visit to the ! Islands.. If Europeans c<juid be kept out of ■ Samoa thenitmight.be considered whether anything should he done, but within a few years British Governors and officers have had several times to interfere. Colonel Steinberger was. taken away by a British man-of-war, and Mr. Hfint was ; removed by Sir Arthur Gordon on the plea that he was dangerous to the peace and good order of the country. Mr. Hunt has just recovered damages for his deportation, and we arc likely to have a series of such occurrences. Samoa, wq have no doubt, would gain by a union with New Zealand. It would gain a stable government; it would gain peace amongst its tribes. New Zealand would gain a step towards the position which will be of prime importance to her— namely, that of being: the emporium of the archipelagoes of the Pacific. Commercial intercourse with these islands must in the future bo the mainstay of this colony. They are thickly peopled, and in the future will take from NewZealand all manufactured articles, return* ing to us. raw material for consumption or for manufacture here, or for re-export to London. To both parties the gain would be immense, and such evils as the Lyttelton. limes alludes to would be impossible.