NEW ZEALAND AND SAMOA.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXI, Issue 9491, 21 April 1894, Page 4

NEW ZEALAND AND SAMOA.

The announcement that the New Zealand Government intend to recommend that Samoa should be annexed to New Zealand, or that in the event of the Treaty Powers objecting, the Government of this colony should be entrusted with the duty of. administering the afiairs of the islands for them, is not likely to be received by the people of New Zealand with anything like enthusiasm. It is, of course, not a new idea. There was a time when nearly all the islands of the South Pacific might have been brought under the direct control of the New Zealand Government. The opportunity, however, was permitted to pass by the Imperial authorities, Since then many things have happened. Foreign Powers have succeeded in establishing a footing in the islands. In the case or Samoa there has been serious trouble. The natives have been engaged in civil war. Even now they are divided amongst themselves. How could New Zealand undertake the pacification of the country without great expense? And how could she undertake the government of the country as the mere instrument of the Treaty Powers ? Mr. Seddon has not yet informed the people of this colony how he proposes to regulate the affairs of a country more than a thousand miles distant from New Zealand, and inhabited by an armed and warlike race of natives. Until he does so we are prepared to reserve our opinion on the proposal that he is about to submit to the Imperial Government. At the same time we must confess that however desirable it may be to bring Samoa under British control, we do not think that it is either prudent or expedient for New Zealand to undertake the government of that country.