SAMOA TO-DAY

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23499, 13 May 1938, Page 2

SAMOA TO-DAY

EVENTS SINCE GOODWILL MISSION MAU AND ACTINGADMINISTRATOR 11. It will assist to an understanding of the present political situation in Western Samoa to recapitulate briefly what has happened there since the visit of the Goodwill Mission in July, 1936. The principal recommendations ot the Goodwill Mission were that the number of Samoan representatives on the Legislative Council should be increased from two to four, that the number of fautuas (native advisers to the Administration) should be increased from two to three, that a Finance Committee consisting of three Samoans and. one European should be set up to confer with the Administrator, the Treasurer, and the Secretary of Native Affairs on matters of finance, that full information about the public accounts should be published in “ Savali,”. that the Fono of Faipule should be “ reselected ” so as to be “ fully representative of the Samoan people,” that hospital and medical services should be extended, and that there should be a higher standard of education, free tuition, and provision for secondary education. All these recommendations have been put into effect or are in the process of being put into effect. The visit of the Goodwill Mission coincided with an even more important event in Samoan political history—the return of Mr O. F Nelson, as the guest’ of the New Zealand Government. Two years previously Mr Nelson had been sentenced to an exile of 10 years for seditious activities. Although he had professed a desire to retire from public affairs, Mr Nelson became immediately the dominant political personality in the territory—the acknowledged leader not only of the Mau but of the great majority of that part of the community which is of mixed descent.

The new Fono of Faipule opened its session at Mulinu’u on September 30, 1936. It consisted of 31 Mau members and eight “loyalists”: and was from the first aggressive and even arrogant in its dealings with the Administration. It began by wirelessing a demand to the New Zealand Prime Minister that the new method of constituting the Fono be fixed by legislation, and suspended its sitting pending receipt of a favourable reply. This point having been conceded, the Fono sent a further wireless message asking that Mr Nelson be appointed fa’atonu (adviser and liaison officer between the Administration and the Samoans), that he be allowed to take part in the proceedings of the Fono, and that all . Chinese be sent away from Samoa. The Prime Minister replied that Mr Nelson could stand as a European candidate for the next election of the Legislative Council; if, however, he wanted to act as Samoan representative on the council, fa’atonu, or faipule, he must legally adopt Samoan status or act as adviser to the faipule in an unofficial capacity. Regarding the Chinese problem, the Minister announced that the Goodwill Mission had recommended that no further contracts with Chinese labourers be made.

Although the Prime Minister and the New Zealand Government were beginning to manifest some impatience with this stream of remits, the Fono was in no way daunted. Its next batch of requests included a proposal thal the Fono should send a delegation to Wellington and also a demand that Malietoa should resign the position on the Legislative Council to which he had been nominated by the previous Government. Since Malietoa is, in a titular sense, the highest chief in Samoa, this demand caused something of a sensation among the Samoans. “I have not been appointed by you Faipule,” replied Malietoa with simple dignity, 11 but by the King of England and the Governmeht of New Zealand, and my services and work for Samoa have been recognised by the award of 0.8. E.”

The Prims Minister’s reply was brusque. It was the “ considered opinion of the Government that a delegation to New Zealand was not necessary.” -Furthermore, the Government was “extremely disappointed to learn of the attitude adopted by the Faipule towards the Administration.” It wished to know “whether the Faipule appreciated the advantages accruing to them from direct association to New Zealand.” There followed a pertinent reference to the economic situation in Tonga. When the terms of this reply were communicated to the Fono there was an angry scene. Alipia, the Speaker of the Fono, blamed the Acting Administrator to his face for lack of consideration and goodwill; accused him of making trouble between the New Zealand Government and the Fono, and demanded that a wireless message be sent to the Prime Minister asking for the immediate appointment of a new Administrator. This insult to the Acting Administrator created as much of a sensation among the white community in Apia as had the insult to Malietoa among a section of the Samoans.

One consequence of the turbulent proceedings of the Fono of Faipule was the creation of two new political groups wdthin the territory. The European planting and commercial interests, alarmed by the sudden demand for the repatriation of all Chinese, and perhaps also by the growing ‘ anti-white ’’ attitude of the Mau 'and the Fono of Faipule, formed at a public meeting on October 16. 1936, the United Progressive Party, with Mr A. R. Cobcroft as president. This organisation is open only to Europeans and to persons of European descent who have European status. In the same month the supporters of Malietoa, who had in (he meantime yielded to Mau pressure and resigned from the Legislative Council, formed the National Party, usually referred to as “the New Mau.” In mid-October representatives of this party met the Acting Administrator in the Fono house at Mulinu’u and presented a long list of grievances, the substance of which was that the Mau was usurping the functions of government in Western Samoa The Acting Administrator suggested that they should place their grievances before the Fono of Faipule; but the Fono refused to receive a deputation from the new party. 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 of the new Fono, which began on April 12. 1937, eclipsed all previous records. Every day for two months the Acting Administrator 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 Welling-

ton, another was brought forward. Official business was seriously interfei'ed with by the necessity for both th** Acting Administrator and the Secretary for Native Affairs to be constantly in attendance at the Fono house and, what was worse, the attitude of the Fono towards the Acting Administrator became steadily less 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 chiefs, the Acting Administrator, in an effort 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 territory who is capable of restraining and guiding this unruly body—Mr O. F Nelson. At Mr Nelson’s request, the Faipule 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. Shortly after the end of the session of the Fono of Faipule a series of incidents occurred which showed the temper of the Mau even more clearly than the proceedings at Mulinu’u. The first of these incidents occurred on July 20. For several days members of the Mau had been assembled at Vaimoso to commemorate the death of Tamasese. At 9 p.m. the Mau police ordered a European who was passing through Vaimoso on a bicycle to dismount. He refused, and was dragged from his cycle and beaten. Next day six Mau police were arresied and brought to trial on charges of assault and obstructing a public road. The case was heard by the Chief Justice, Mr Molding, and a Samoan named Anapu who is one of three Native Assessor Judges appointed as a result of the Goodwill Mission. Of the six accused, five yrere 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 by Judge Anapu (for which he was rebuked by the Chief Justice), that “fa’a Samoa” (Samoan custom) should be considered by the court before Government law. 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 Vaimoso. 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, the 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 in war paint and all carried either axes, beheading knives, spears, or shotguns; and several shots were fired. The four men convicted received sentences ranging from three months to two weeks.

On 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 Vaimoso and said he had discussed the matter with the Acting Administrator, to whom he had expressed the opinion that the matter should have been settled by diplomacy and not taken up by the police. Mr Nelson added that he had asked the Administrator to forbid newspaper correspondents to report these incidents. Towards the middle of January, after delays made necessary by the long parliamentary session, a Samoan delegation, consisting of Mr O. F. Nelson (adviser to the Mau), Tamasese (president of the Mau), Alipia (Speaker of the Fono of Faipule), Leiatua (Faipule), Faalavaau (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, and not contradicted, that the demands were (inter alia) that all laws and ordinances passed by the 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 be 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 be appointed. If these were in fact the delegation’s demands, then clearly it was gravely disappointed. According to both Mr F. Langstone and Mr Nelson all the New Zealand Government agreed to was the repeal, ai the earliest possible date, of certain legislation affecting 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 the native Samoan members of the delegation have, since their return, appealed to their followers in the 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 towards self-government.