Voice Of The People

NZ Truth, Issue 1104, 27 January 1927, Page 6

Voice Of The People

I ""milium iiMiiiiiiii.il iiiiiiiimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiu niiiiiiii i iiiiiini m iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinii limn miii mini imiimitjmiiiun mimiilf "llllllllililllMlliiilllilllllliinililMilllMlilllllliiiiiiM.iiiilililiiilillliiiMiiiiiiliiiiliitniHliliilii.liiiiiiiniiiiiiiuiiiMiiiiuiiiiiiiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiii mm I iiimiiiiiilimiimiiimimimimimiiiimiiimil^ vBRITISH PLANTATIONS IN SAMOA V To The Editor, — "Sir,— ls' it not remarkable that since the New Zealand occupation of Samoa, that .probably .a quarter of a million (£250,000) invested profitably by British planters during Ihe German Administration, was compelled to go into liquidation. : -. < - .... "This is due primarily to a bjundering policy pursued by the Administration m New Zealand and the Administration here, and the appointment to this Territory of incompetent receivers, who played havoc; with the imported labor and rendered impossible the profitable working of the plantations. "Meanwhile the seized properties, the plantations owned by the New Zealand Government were losing heavily, obviously at public expense, but private enterprise could not, of. course, do this, and had .to liquidate.' "The Administration after considerable loss were enabled to work 'profitably only after a return to modified V labor conditions which had been denied a few years before to the British interests. v ''Probably the bursting up of the British Planting Companies was caused more" by bringing Samoa into New Zealand party politics than anything else. "So far as the' writer can ascertain, New Zealand is the only country m the British Empire.that is still holding on to and making no effort to dispose of private properties seized from the German nationals." ' yours, G. E. L. Westbrook, (Apia, Samoa).