THE REPORT ON SAMOA.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21102, 12 August 1930, Page 8

THE REPORT ON SAMOA.

Two facts stand out in the tenth report of the New Zealand Government upon Western Samoa, which is to be submitted to the Mandates Commission of the League of Nations. One is the reassuring statement that the situation in the Territory is now greatly, improved, and that no difficulty is being experienced in enforcing law and order, and the other, which makes gratifying reading in present times of economic stress, is that as a result of economies the Territory was. self-supporting, except for the cost of the police, during the year ended on March 31 last. Samoa has proved something of a burden to New Zealand for both financial and administrative reasons, and the removal of the first of these difficulties will bo welcome, even if the second and greater has not yet proved entirely tractable. The serious outbreaks of rioting which occurred in the Territory at the end of last year are a matter for regret, but they may appear to have been not entirely unproductive of good, for the meetings held by the Administrator _ and the Minister of Defence with the leaders of the Mau in March apparently served at least to clear the atmosphere somewhat. The Administrator remarks that the maintenance of a strong police force will be necessary for some time to come, to prevent the development of any future outbreak into a rising of moment, but he adds: “ The general outlook has greatly improved; many individual Mau chiefs of importance are in touch with the Administration, and the present indications'are that a steady drift away from the Mau has set in.” The native leaders who met the Government representatives, it will be remembered, were presented with three demands: the end of the Mau, the surrender of persons wanted by the police, and an agreement that the chiefs should meet the Administrator in fono whenever required. The answer to the first demand was in the negative, but the natives agreed to disperse the Mau, the demonstrators returning peacahly to their villages. The second demand Vas acceded to, and no answer was

vouchsafed to the third. At a cursory, glance it might be concluded from this bald statement .of the meetings that their result was not satisfactory. The accompanying report of the speeches that were made does seem to show, however, that the f onos were useful in creating a better understanding among members of the Mau of the intentions of New Zealand in regard to their territory. The retort of the venerable Tuimalealiifano to the Administrator, at an early stage in proceedings, that the Man would not disband, but would go away and “pray for the Government until such time as the Mau gets what it wants," revealed an attitude of mind that became modified as the. fonos progressed, and at the last meeting Faumuina tacitly expressed the willingness of the Mau to discuss matters with the Government's representative. The Samoans are .a proud people, and could not be expected straightway to capitulate to the terms offered them, but they seem to have recognised the reasonableness, if not the justice, of the Administrator's demands. More than this could not have been expected at the initial fonos, but it is to be hoped that the framework of goodwill there established may be strengthened at future conferences. The Times, in a recent article upon the Samoan question, suggested that possibly the rule of New Zealand has been “the right thing done in the wrong way,” this assumption apparently being based upon the goodnatured estimate of the Samoans made by the writer of the article as a delightful and incalculable people. The generalisation is not, however, particularly trenchant. That the Samoans are a race possessed ,of some fine attributes has never been denied by New Zealand in its dealings with them, though on the occasions when they have proved intractable punitive methods have been necessitated. That the policy of the New Zealand Government is the right policy has been confirmed by the Mandates Commission on more than one occasion, and the only comment made by the Commission upon the pursuance of the policy has been that the Administration has erred on the side of leniency. Justice tempered with Consideration can hardly be characterised as a wrong attitude to adopt, and it may be assumed that the Mandates Commission, in reviewing the latest report upon Western Samoa, will have no reason to reverse its previous judgment that the Administrator is doing the best that can be done in difficult circumstances.