COOK ISLANDS CONTROL

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVII, Issue 17594, 6 October 1920, Page 8

COOK ISLANDS CONTROL

QUESTION OF DEPARTMENT.! • " ' - -': i \ SEPARATION FROM SAMOA. • ' ' * "• '■ :- LAST YEAR'S ACT REVERSED. f£BT TELEQEAPH-r-SPECIAI. B2PQ|IT?»-1 ' :%'";. : ; l -WELLINGTON. Tuesday. ..The second reading. of the External Affairs Amendment BUI was taljtn in: the House ;■ of Representatives * this . afternoon; The, Minister in charge of the measure, the If on.. E. P. Lee, said the Bill provided for taking the administration of the Cook Islands from the Department of External I Affairs and restoring : it' to the Cook Is- ! lands" "The Act of, 1 brought all the island?, under the one conI trol. It was. how found expedient to go i back to tlio old system and leave the administration of the Cook Islands in the hamfe of the, member of thef Executive Council ■ representing .the ; Natijfe : race?'- The administration !of "the "two' islands, ->«was quite '. divisible: ? They ; were not interdependent in any way and there was no necessity for the two; groups to be under the same control. , The. clauses of the-Bill were merely of a machinery; nature to effect the ; change"he had outlined." : ; The Leader of the Opposition, Mr. T. M. Wilford, protested-against ihe contemplated change.;. 1 . He, wished to know what was. to be the function of tli,« Minister for External Affairs, If he was not to administer these islands was he to have diplomatic intercourse with America and japan? ; "He suggested that the islands should remain under the External Affairs Department anal that Dr.'Pomare should represent the people of the Cook Islands in the Cabinet in the same way as' he did those of . the natives of this Dominion.

QiU U10&9 UI. bUU UttUVCB VI vuu> jnowmuu. 1 Criticto/irom IStaabers. '\J Mr. Downie Stewart. (Duhedin ; 'West)' said the Minister 'might have given a clearer idea of the reason for the, change. It seemed to him that the term ,Minister .for External Affairs was something of » misnomer. He might much - better bj called the Minister for' Pacific Affairs. During the trip to Samoa various experts were taken to the Islands. They belonged to different departments and it seemed to him that there would "/need to be very f . skilful .' co-ordination betor.&. the work » these experts could be co-ordinated uridtr one; department. .•••„■. It might be right to separate these departments,", but .- if would probably be more satisfactory if all Pacific affairs were controlled! by- one department*. Dr.: A. ;K. Newman (Wellington East) said" he thought the'Bill- of last year, bringing all these islands under one. do-, partment was an excellentjpne. He w*s at a loss to know why this'reversion was contemplated. :'- Mr. G. Witty (Riccarton) protested that the Bill was a retrograde step, and said he .proposed to divide the House on it. 5 The - Hon. J. A. Hanan- (Invercargill) sajd the "Bill created another department and tended to greater administrative expenditure. Mr. L. M. Isitt (Chrifltchurch) deprecated, the introduction of party issues into discussion concerning the Pacific Islands. He emphasised the delicacy of the problems to be solved, particularly, in connection with conflicting claims by -the two races. For that reason he suggested "that the Minister for External Affairs should not' divest himself of all control over the Cook Islands. ~ :\ '■•■ -.:' : - ; Mr. C. E. Statham (Dunedin Central) said that while he was heartily in'support of New .Zealand's control, he maintained" that the interests of the natives must come-first. He deprecated the division of control on the -lines,of the objections made by "other speakers.

Statement by Mr. Massey. •The Prime- Minister said "the' cut painter" sentiment in Britain - had been enunciated by .men of great prominence. There had been*: "Little Euglanders" for centuries past', and he was, afraid that there ;'were -.■*' Little 'New'* Zealanders" today. ' He /confident that in ; 'years to come it would be: recognised that the taking over of tbe--Cook Islands Sand - Samoa was a wise thing for New Zealand to do. The Cook Island* were. really part of New Zealand, and the Department -of External Affairs was. not , intended to' control ; any part of New Zealand. ' : Dr." Pomare's control of the,, Cook Islands as Minister; had been a .success. Though the Bill last year had divided.the control, the affairs of the Cook Islands had been administered for most, of the" time since! by j Dr. i Pomare. He hoped to visit not only the Cook Islands, but Samoa himself, and obtain first, hand information about the questions involved. V : ■-.'■■■:■ The Resident Commissioner. - Replying to questions, Mr; Massey said

the present Resident Commissioner -would come to this country about Christmas. The Government had a successor in mind, but hie name had not yet been made public. The recommendations of the Trade Commission the Parliamentary party, proceeded Mr. Massey,' were of great value. .He proposed to ask the Cabinet to give effect to a great many of them. Some were in operation' already. A great deal of work remained to be' done in connection with Islands trade. He did not agree that we were losing trade which we had, but there was trade which should come to New Zealand, which nev&r had done so. He instanced the New Hebrides in particular. . \ - Increase in Trade. Dr. Foraare said he thought the Bill was a good one, but in saying that he was pleading his own cause in a way. He did believe, however, that the move made in the Bill of last year was a mistake. The two groups of islands were very widely separated, jujd_ their interests might often clash. One shipping scheme could not be devised to cater satisfactorily for both groups. It had been said that the Cook Islands were going back, yet in 1902 the imports were £27,623. in 1905 they were £36,000, in 1909 £67,000, in 1913 £110,000, in 1916 £85,000, in 1919 £142,000. In 1902 the exports were £34,000. in 1906 £45,000, in 1911 £91.000, in 1916 £68,000, and in 1919 £127,000. " These were in value and not in quantity. Despite the alteration in values the trade ' had cer-

tainly not gone back. The revenue had increased steadily since 1902. Dual control had been suggested .with a Minister to look after the European interests, and another to look after the natives. He

had a happy solution. They had at present a Minister who fortunately or unfortunately, as the case might be, was half a European and half a Polynesian. A Member : 'Half a politician ? (Laughter.)

Dr. Pomare: No, half a Polynesian. Mr. Lee in Reply. The discussion was contributed to by several other members, and Mr. Lee in reply, emphasised that the Bill - dealt purely with the question of departmental administration. # The Act of 1915 dealt exhaustively with the principles of administration. A Cook Islands Bill was tinder way, but it was to be submitted to the natives, and it was doubtful whether it would be back in time to be considered this session. . ' s A division was called for on the motion for the second reading, which was carried by 35 votes to 18. The Bill then went through Committee, and was read a third time without discussion.