THE SAMOA BILL.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19699, 27 July 1927, Page 13

THE SAMOA BILL.

MEASURE BEFORE HOUSE.

OPPOSITION OF LABOUR.

THE DEPORTATION QUESTION.

[BY TELEGRAPH. —PRESS ASSOCIATION.] WELLINGTON, Tuesday.

The House went into committee to-day on the Samoa Bill, for which the Prime Minister, Mr Coates, moved that urgency should be granted on the ground that the Government desired to pass it through all its stages at that sitting. To this the Leader of the Opposition, Mr. 11. E. Holland, objected, and asked what was the need for such haste.. He suggested the bill was being rushed through because the Government had discovered that all its deportations were illegal. Oil the question being put a division was called for, when urgency was granted by 48 votes to 12, and the bill went into committee. The Leader of the Opposition continued, his contention that tho Government had been acting in Samoa without constitutional authority in making deportations. To cover up their tracks they were forcing "terroristic" legislation through Parliament. The Leader of the National Party, Mr. G. W. Forbes, discussed two amendments he proposed to move later:—(l) That some person appointed by the GovernorGeneral shall act with tho Administrator ! in the exercise of the powers conferred on him by tho bill, and (2) giving accused persons tho right to employ counsel for their defence The Deportation of Natives. Mr. W. D. Lysnar (Gisborne) asked tho Prime Minister to make it clear in the bill that there would be the right of trial before deportation took place Mr. J. A. Leo (Auckland. East) contended there was no warrant for framing the bill on lines which put the onus of proof of innocenco on an accused person. The Leader of the Opposition said he had made charges that the Government's action in making deportations was illegal and unconstitutional and to thoss charges no answer had been given. The Government's silence was tho explanation for rushing the bill through. Mr. H. L. Tapley (Dunedin North) twitted the Labour Party with denouncing capital and yet supporting capitalists in Samoa. The exploitation of natives had been going on in Samoa by the commercial community, yet the Labour Party was supporting the" exploiters. He had every confidence in the Administrator to bo fair to all parties in Samoa. The Prime Minister said there was no doubt the Government had power to deport natives. He could give an assurance, however, that natives would not be deported from Samoa, but it might be necessary to banish them from one village or from one island to another. This legislation did not validate any existing ordinance or Order-in-Council; all that it did was to bring directly before Parliament the powers for which the Government was asking, viz., power to banish and deport residents of Samoa by Order-in-Council. The jßight of Trial. The Prime Minister said the bill provided for' trial and the Government was agreeable that accused persons should have the right to call in the aid of counsel. Mr. Lysnar said what was in the bill did not amount t,o trial. He asked the Prime Minister to put the right of a fair trial fairly and squarely in the bill. Mr. J. Horn (Wakatipu) suggested that perhaps it was not altogether wise to have a military Administrator in Samoa, and he asked the Government to consider whether the time had not arrived when a civil Administrator should be appointed. Mr. M. J. Savage (Auckland West) argued that already there existed powers in the Samoa Act sufficient to deal with every form of crime, but now they were asked to condemn the criminal before his case was investigated. Every form of the House should be exhausted before such power was given to any man. Mr. P. Fraser (Wellington Central) said he did not believe the Prime Minister would support tho Administration in threatening Mr. Nelson, chairman ,of the Citizens' Committee, with deportation because he came to New Zealand to represent the state of his country. The Minister of Labour, Mr. G. J. Anderson, said much had been made of the statement of Sir Joseph Curruthers, but Sir Joseph had been only two days in Samoa." Ho had given praise for Samoa in an interview at Suva, but apparently he had changed his mind on his way to New Zealand. It would be interesting to learn who he travelled 1 with. The debate was stilt in progress when the telegraph office closed. ■ " I LABOURERS IN SAMOA. ALLEGATION OF ARRESTS. [BY TELEGRAPH. SPECIAL REPORTER.] WELLINGTON, Tuesday. The Leader of the Opposition, Mr. H. E. Holland, asked the Government in the House, to-day whether it had received any information concerning the arrest of some Island labourers in Samoa. He understood they were from the Solomons. He also asked if these men had been withheld without bail for refusing to work. Was it that they had asked for the same treatment as the Chinese in connection with the expiration of their period of service ? The Hon. W. Nosworthy replied that the Government had not received any such information from the Administrator. EX-SOLDIER'S TROUBLES. DIFFICULTIES ON A FARM. [BY TELEGRAPH. —SPECIAL REPORTER.] WELLINGTON. Tuesday. A story of persistent misfortune is told by an ex-gunner of tho New Zealand Field Artillery, Frederick Charles Murdoclc, formerly of Gisborne, and now of Hamilton, in a petition presented to-day to tho House bv the Minister of Public Works, Hon. K. S. Williams. Invalided home from the war, Murdock took up land under the Returned Soldiers' Settlement Act, at Ngatapa, in 1917. During the first year nine floods swept over the farm, depositing silt which covered all feed. Tho same thing happened more or less every year. Petitioner held on for eight years, losing all lie had and becoming heavily in debt. Having to go into hospital for treatment he gave up the farm on the orders of the doctors. After leaving Ngatapa he worked for the Gisborne Harbour Board for 12 months until he had to leave owing to his health. His war pension was stopped and bis appeal to the board was unsuccessful. Ho has since been unablo to obtain employment suitable to his disability and ho is petitioning for a loan of £250 to enable him to start a mechanical repair shop and so earn a living and pay his debts.