SAMOA TO-DAY

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 23037, 14 May 1938, Page 19

SAMOA TO-DAY

PROLONGED FONO TWO MONTHS IN SESSION UNPLEASANT INCIDENTS

BV LEICESTER WEBB

No. 111. ! The session of the Fono of Faipule which began on September 30 lasted till November 4, the normal period for such sessions in the past having been about a week. The second session oi tlie new Fono, which began on April 12, 1037, eclipsed all previous records, iiver.v day for two months the actingAdministrator had to go to Mulinu u to discuss the grievances and .requests which the Fono brought forward one by one. As fast as one point was settled or referred to Wellington, another was brought forward. Official business was seriously interfered with by the necessity for both the acting-Administrator and the Sec-

retary, for Native Affairs to be con- | stantlv in attendance at the l'ono I house, and, what was worse, the attitude of the Fono toward the actingAdministrator became steadily loss courteous. It would seem that the Fono was deliberately testing the patience and the good temper of the acting-Administrator. After two months had been spent in a laborious discussion of such relatively minor matters as the remuneration of the Faipule, and the number of local official positions which should be available for distribution among the-duels, the acting-Administrator, in an cllort to end what had become a deadlock, asked the Faipule to bring forward the whole of their remits. This the Faipule refused to do, preferring, so they said, to "unfeather one bird at a time. The, acting-Administrator then turned to the one man in the tointory who is capable ot restraining and ing this unruly body—Mr. <). I'. Nelson. At Mr. Nelson's request, the J;aipule agreed to shorten their session, and disclose the whole of their remits. Possibly they were influenced by the Government's decision to allow a delegation to proceed to Wellington. Arrests and Trial Shortly after the end of the session of the Fono of Faipule a series of incidents occurred which showed the temper of the Man even more cle;ul\ than the proceedings at Mulinu u. Ihe first of these incidents occurred on July 20. For several days of the' Man had been assembled at V aiinoso to commemorate the death of Tamasese. At 9 p.m. Man police ordered a European who was passing through Vaiinoso on a bicycle to dismount. Ho refused, and was dragged from his cycle and beaten. Next day six Mau police were arrested and brought to trial on charges of assault and obstructing a public road. The case was heard hy the Chiet Justice, Mr. Morling, and a Samoan named Anapti, who is one of three native assessor Judges appointed as a result of the goodwill mission. Of the six accused, five were discharged and one sentenced to a month's imprisonment for assault, a decision which aroused much indignation among the European community. A significant episode during the trial was a remark bv Judge Anapu (for which he was rebuked bv the Chief Justice) that "fa'a Samoa" (Samoan custom) should be considered by the Co.urt before Government law. Inquiry from New Zealand Just before the conclusion of the trial a large party of Mau adherents from the Falealili district, wearing war dress and paint, passed the Court building on their way to \ aimoso. They were shouting and singing, and outside the courthouse two shots were fired.

On July 24 occurred the incident in the main street of Apia involving Mrs. Braisby, wife of the inspector of police, which has already been reported at some length in the New Zealand newspapers. The number of Samoans concerned was about' 150; they were iu war paint and all carried cither axes, beheading knives, spears, or shotguns; and several shots were fired. The four men convicted received sentences ranging from throe months to two weeks. Oil July 29 the New Zealand Government sent a wireless message to Mr. Nelson asking about the disturbances. He read this message to a Mau meeting at Vaiinoso, and said he had discussed tho matter with the acting-Administra-tor, to whom he had expressed the opinion that tho matter should have been settled by diplomacy not taken up by tho police. Mr. Nelson added that he had asked the Administrator to forbid newspaper correspondents to report these incidents. Delegation to New Zealand

Toward the middle of January, after delays made necessary by the long Parliamentary session, a Samoan delegation, consisting of Mr. O. F. Nelson (adviser to tho Mau), Tamasese (president of the Mau), Alipia (Speaker of the Fono of Faipule), Leiatua (Faipule), Faalava.au (.secretary of the Mau), and Miss Olive Nelson (legal adviser), left for New Zealand. What the delegation asked for, what it was granted, and what its status was, no one seems to know. It was reported in the Western Samoa Mail, anil not contradicted, that the demands were (inter alia) that all laws and ordinances passed by tho Legislative Council be submitted to the Fono of Faipule for approval, that Mr. Nelson be appointed official adviser to the Administration, and be made a member of the Legislative Council and the Finance Committee, that Miss Olive Nelson bo given an official position, that the salaries of fautuas (native advisers) be £3OO, that Samoans be represented on the banana export control committee, and that more Samoan plantation inspectors bo appointed. If these were in fact the delegation's demands, then clearly it was gravely disappointed. According to both tho Hon.' F. Langstone and Mr. Nelson, all the New Zealand Government agreed to was the repeal, at the earliest possible date, of certain .legislation affectnig Western Samoa which has been a dead letter for several years. This was an inadequate return for a very expensive mission. Both Mr. Nelson and tho native Samoan members of the delegation have, since their return, appealed to their followers in tho Mau to be patient, and have emphasised that the New Zealand Government is overloaded with work. It is certain, however, that the Mau will not long remain content with the present rate of progress toward self-government