SAMOAN SITUATION.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20292, 28 December 1927, Page 9

SAMOAN SITUATION.

COMMISSION’S REPORT. mau natives disappointed. (Special to Daily Times.) AUCKLAND, December 27. The Herald’s Apia correspondent, writing on December 15, says that news of the report of the Royal Commission appointed to inqunire into the Samoan unrest was received very quietly as far as could be judged. The Citizens’ Committee naturally was very disappointed. Although it was generally agreed that the case against the Government was very weak, it was not realised, of course, how woefully weak it was until the evidence was taken on oath. The natives did not seem to have changed much in their attitude, and reports indicated that they intended to carry on just the same. There was no giving in at the moment. Recently two arrests by the police were resisted by Mau natives, who made a demonstration outside the police station, threw stones, and behaved like hooligans. Later the same night a very cowardly assault was made on a native policeman as he was on his way tp duty at the Customs. Five or sis natives attacked him with sticks, one using a knife. The man was badly knocked about, but his injuries were not of a serious character. News of these incidents soon went round, and numbers of natives started to move into Apia. Matters had quietened again, although some ugly rumours were floating about.

Some excitement seemed to have arisen by a report being circulated that Mr Nelson was to be deported by the Tofua, and Mr Nelson himself had to allay the fears of a bunch of natives who came in presumably to resist the deportation, Apia was always full of rumours, and one could not rely on everything that was heard, but there was no doubt of the fact that the natives were not reconciled by the decision of the Royal Commission. Some natives had actually gone over to the Mau since the report of the commission was published. The curious part of the whole affair was that these natives all knew that what they were doing was wrong. Loyal natives found it difficult to stand out, especially in a village which had nearly all Mau natives in it. They were jus,t fed up, and wanted to be with their own people again. ’They could not stand sitting on the other side of the fence waiting for the Government to make the country right, and so they pulled in with the crowd so that they could enter into the village life and be one with the others. The strain had been too much. It was a wonder they had stuck it so long. People at Apia were in many instances surprised that only a decision came from the commission. Many expected that there would be a recommendation of some kind, and were now wondering what is going to happen next.