THE New Zealand Mail. PUBLISHED WEEKLY. FRIDAY, MARCH 1, 1895. SAMOA.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1200, 1 March 1895, Page 20

THE New Zealand Mail. PUBLISHED WEEKLY. FRIDAY, MARCH 1, 1895. SAMOA.

The death of Robert Louis Stevenson, which -'the latest English papers to hand are discussing at great length, has drawn fresh attention to the Samoan question. That thelate novelist took a deep interest in- the /affairs of that very unhappy people is v now matter of island history. 'How he took it is a matter of general haziness out- . side the' boundaries of the Navigator Group. Most people remember that in one of the books which he wrote he made some serious reflections on certain people high in power, under the provisions of the Berlin it was at one. time feared would be tlie deportation of the injudicious novelist to a sphere more in accord with his duty in life, and less dangerous to his personal safety. But the most prominent official resigned, and the novelist settled down permanently among the people for whom he had spoken out, and came to be recognised as one of the most powerful advocates for justice to the Samoan race. The Samoan r appreciation J of him is attested by the funeral obsequies. At these numbers of chiefs- of .high rank assisted. They watched by the remains of their friend all the night before the ceremony, the road to the summit of the hill he had selected for his burial place was cut by their own hands, no menial being permitted to join in the work, they gave their rarest mats ito form his shroud, and the coffin was carried up by them to the burial place. The native, feeling may be guessed by the lament of an old chief, who thus gave vent to his feelings as he was taking his last look at the body. I am only a poor black man and ignorant. Others are rich and give Tusitata the parting presents of rich things. I am poor and give nothing this last day that Tusitata receives his friends. Yet lam not afraid to come and have a last look at my friend's face. Behold Tusitata is dead ; is also dead to us. These two great friends have been taken by God. When Mataafa went who was our support but Tusitata ? We were in prison and he cared for us. The day was no longer than.his kind-; ness. You: here are great folk and full of love. Yet, who is there here so great as Tusitata P Who is there here more loving,compassionate ? What is your love to his love ? O Tusitata, this is the "last time I see your face till we meet with God together. The words < ape singularly beautiful and touching. But before we can realise the depth of their import we must recall to our minds the bombardment of villages with which the triple Protectorate preaches peace to these Samoans, and which are followed by inter-tribal wars of apparently Interminable character, tempered by further bombardments. What Stevenson's views were he himself communicated to the Times and other papers with explicitness, as well as passion. But the business of Samoa is the business of a remote people, who offer no great pageantries to the eye ; neither have they a standing army which some day is sure to take part in some hideous human holocaust. The race only presents the usual problem wrapped up in the usual conundrum. "What are we to do to be saved from the decay that threatens to make this nation quickly a thing of the past?" As the only interest in the world is in nations who are not threatened with decay, we hear a great deal about the amazing richness' and glorious climate of the, ; various groups of fairy lands out in the Pacific. We hear it in conjunction with grandiloquent terms about the destiny of the Teuton and the Anglo-Sa.xoh—the English speaker he .is now becpming—the Latin and others* But re hover hear a from missionaries and philanthropists—a class popularly supposed to suffer from softening of the brain- -about the rights of the people in possession. Even the masterly pen of Robert Louis Stevenson failed to command abiding attention. Thousands will discuss with you the adventures which never happened of his heroes who never existed, and they will dwell on the theme for hours at a time. A large proportion take up their pens from time to time and tell the world of the secret springs which guide the conducts of these perhaps the most remarkably well-polished puppets to be found in all the toy-boxes of fiction. But when the master coins his heart into words about the wrongs of an oppressed people, who live and move and breathe and get blown up by the newest, the biggest and the most de- ' structive shells of the modern arsenal, the popular idea amongst an enlightened people is that "Stevenson is falling off, don't you know."

# To throw some light on Stevenson's views and feelings we quote from the letter of a recent visitor to Vailima. Speaking of Stevenson's relations to Samoa, he says:—. But the thing that struck me most was the absorptiotf of Lis mind, I will not say in island politics, but on the injustice and cruelty which was being committed on that splendid race by the impossible attempt of a government by the consuls of three Powers. He lamented the necessity for war, the bombardment by English and German men-of-war and the burning by his countrymen of the native villages, the destruction of the breadfruit trees, and especially our acts of breach of faith, all with the object of supporting the wrong man as, king,

The same authority tells us that he found Stevenson " far more influenced by a desire to save the native race from injustice than by literary ambition." Another writer quotes Stevenson as having not long ago said that as it was too late to reconcile Mataafa and Laupefa, he could see no hope of safety except in a British Protectorate, but that for that he could see no hope in the then temper of the German Kaiser. To " pass into the hands of Great Biitain " he looked on as the natural destiny of Samoa. The question was raised by the New Zealand Premier last year. Perhaps the noise made in the world by the death of Robert Louis Stevenson may wake Lord Rosebery and his colleagues out of the almost miraculous morass of carelessness they have got into with regard to their duty to a fine race and an important country. The matter is decidedly worth probing.

THE MINISTER OF LANDS AT DUNEDIN.

Mb McKenzie made a very excollent, practical speech at Dunedin, not the worst point about which was that it did not aim at covering too much ground. He wisely confined himself to the ground the. country expected him to cover. Mr McKenzie, as Minister of Lands, was expected to talk about the land policy of the Government, and that part of the financial policy with which the Department of Lands is particularly associated. That is practically the whole financial policy of the Government, which is based upon the working of the land, in its various aspects. Intimately connected with that is the banking legislation ; intimately though indirectly. Therefore the banking legislation had a place in the Minister's speech. The labour legislation, past and present and future, is a solid plank of the Ministerial platform. But that has been referred to by the Minister of Labour with a completeness that leaves nothing to be supplemented by his colleagues. Mr McKenzie was, therefore, quite right in saying nothing more of the labour policy than to mark his general accord with what has been done and remains still to be attempted. It is beyond our power to understand the criticism which pretends that there was a want here in the speech of the Minister of Lands. Does the Opposition really expect that Ministers are to repeat one another's speeches for ever and ever ? The supposition is too ludicrous for serious attention. On his own line, the line which Mr McKenzie reserved for himself, he was clear and strong. In brief, the case is that the country, having declared for the forward policy with which Ministers are identified, is bound to approve the policy which has provided the means necessary to give that policy practical effect. It comes, to this; if the policy is good, the means for carrying it out must be tested by results. When the results are bad, it will be time enough to condemn the policy. For the present the means provided for securing the end cannot be condemned by arguments which are essentially prophetic. The country will not - accept prophecy from anyone, under any circumstances. It is not fair to ask it to do anything of the kind. The fairest thing is to wait for the results. That the results will not be good the Opposition has given many reasons for anticipating. To these reasons Mr McKenzie has replied fully. First is the reason that he has given way enormously to nepotism. This he has dispelled with considerable force. The black list of his supposed ap-' pointments he has met by the statement, firstly, that a large numbers of these are not his at all, but appointments made by the Railway Commissioners before he took office; secondly, that some of the alleged appointments are not in the public service at all; thirdly, that those which are in the.. public service are not in excess as to number of the appointments of the former Government, which were not in any way excessive; fourthly, that the balance are not permanent appointments. It is a perfectly 1 strong rejoinder, and in view of the fact that the work required to keep pace with the increased settlement of the land the rejoinder is irresistible. The nepotism scandal we can fairly conclude dead, killed by the simple explanation of the Minister. Then there is the adverse argument drawn from the purchased properties. Mr McKenzie showed that these are returning a fair interest already. This throws some light on the criticism of the Banking and Insurance Record, which dealt with figures quoted in Mr Ward's last Financial Statement. But that statement is not now up to date, whereas Mr McKenzie's figures are. Thirdly, we have the Horowhenua case. In dealing with this we will follow the Minister's commendable example of reticence as to the point which is before the Supreme Court, and will require judicial decision. As to the position of the Minister, the case is somewhat different, admitting of some degree of comment. Mr McKenzie has explained the reason why his department paid the <£2ooo to Warena Hunia. It has been objected I that the legal technicalities do not I bear out that explanation. They mayor they may not. But the explanation will clear the of all doubts as to his bona fides in the matter. Whatever the fact may turn out to be as to the question of judgment, as to whether the course followed was or was not an error of judgment —and that fact we must leave to the Supreme Court to determine —no man can impugn the Minister's honour in the matter. His explanation settles that question. For the rest we can wait. "V\ hen the regulations under the Native Land Court Act of 1894 are published, the strong desire of the Government to do justice to the Native owners of land, in conjunction with their wish to get the Native lands .into profitable occupation, will be made manifest, notwithstanding Horowhenua. And that is the main question, so far as the general Ministerial policy is concerned. On the whole, Mr McKenzie's speech has stripped the prophets of the special force

on which they relied for the sustainment of their predictions. We can leave the unaided predictions to the effect of time.