SAMOA.

Otago Witness, Issue 3429, 2 December 1919, Page 61

SAMOA.

THE LABOUR PROBLEM. WHY WORKERS ARE NEEDED. A statement has been issued by the Prime Minister from •which the following are extracts: Labour leaders and Labour candidates are grossly misrepresenting the Government in the election campaign with respect to the use of indentured labour in Samoa. The word "indentured" has been flagrantly misused to insinuate that the Government of this country* has countenanced a form of "slavery." It is very obvious that the word "indentured" is being used as an electioneering bogey. The plain facts of the case show that this ruse of the Labour Party is utterly contrary >to truth. After all, what, in effect, is indentured labour as it applies to Samoa? It is merely a farm of .contract the same, for instance, as an apprentics enters into when learning a trade.

. It is notorious that throughout the war period the ar-tivities of the extreme Socialist Party, which now, under the guise of the New Zealand Labour Party, is out to capture politfical control of the dominion, were chiefly devoted to impeding and thwarting our war efforts. It is hut _ a natural 'sequence to this policy that. its members should in our hour of victory endeavour to prevent New Zealand from reaping any benefit from its tremendous war sacrifices. Apparently they regard the hogey of "indentured labour" as the readiest means to this end. for they are now engaged in a campaign of misrepresentation and untruths with respect to it, in the hope no doubt that public opinion will be so shocked and repelled by the lurid pictures they conjure up about the horrors of serfdom, slavery, etc., that the Samoan Administration will be denied the only means by which the group can be made to develop and prosper. The most frequent form of this misrepresentation is the suggestion that the New Zealand Government introduced indentured labour into Samoa after the group had been captured by the New Zealand Expeditionary Force, and that its introduction in Samoa is merely to pave the way for flooding the industrial life of this dominion with cheap Asiatio labour. The Labour leaders who make this statement do not need to be enlightened as to its falsity, but there is a real need ttftlt the general body of electors should be aware of the actual position, so that they may not be misled by the gross misrepresentation of these disloyalists. There are two principal points which the Government desires to emphasise:— (a) That when the occupying force took Samoa there were about 3000 Chinese and Kanaka indentured lubourers at work on the plantations there, and tha. at the present time there are less than 1000 of these labourers ; and (b) That the electors of New Zealand mustfcclearly understand that, for at least a generation to come, and until the Samoans can themselves be educated up to the necessity to work, a reasonable supply of imported labour is an absolute essential for the maintenance and proper development of the plantations.

As to (a), a significant fact to be noted 13 that practically the whole of 4ndenfcured labourers now at Samoa are timeexpired coolies, who have voluntarily agreed to reindenture themselves for a further period of two years. The original indentures ran out during the last year o£ "war,

when it was very difficult to geoure transport for the repatriation of the coolies, and with the consent of the British and Chinese Imperial authorities they were given the option of reindenturing: for a period sufficient to ensure a return to normal times. The fact that the vast majority of the labourers readily availed themselves oi the opportunity to reindemtoire at once disposes of the fairy tales about "slave traffic." "atrocities," "inhumanities," and bo on ad nauseam

As a matter of fact the most complete precautions are taken to promote the wellbeing-, and to protect the interests, of tbe indentured labourers. Very stringent regulations are in force providing for efficient sanitation, proper accommodation, with sufficient air space, ample food, which must be up to a stipulated standard, medical attention, and repatriation at the end of three years. In'addition, when the men were first • obtained, it was stipulated by the Chinese Government, and has since been faithfully observed by the British authorities, that the Chinese indentured labourer should stand, far the purposes of all criminal or other matters that might be brought against him, on exactly the same footing as a European. It has to be remembered, too. that these labourers have full access to their own Consul, who has been specially stationed at Apia by the Chinese Government to look after their welfare, and that the Samoan Administration has an officer, known as the Chinese Commissioner, whose particular function it is to stand between the planters and the indentured labourers in the same way as an inspector of factories does in New Zealand between employer and worker.