Critic of Samoa

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 226, 13 December 1927, Page 1

Critic of Samoa

SIR JOSEPH CARRUTHERS ANSWERED Mr. Coates Speaks Plainly (From Our Resident Reporter.) WELLINGTON, Monday. ‘“SS7ITH the remark that ‘it takes some courage V? for a man in my position to condemn the actions of the Government of a sister Dominion,’ I am prepared to agree,” said the Rt. Hon. J. G. Goates, in a statement replying to Sir Joseph Carruthers’s criticism of the Samoan Commission’s report. “I think it will be commonly agreed by all who are in a position to judge that it takes not only ‘some courage,’ but an unparallelled want of courtesy, combined with an equal want of knowledge of the circumstances, or a deliberate refusal to consider the facts.”

'J'HE Prime Minister says that he is not prepared to enter into a controversy with any person who is inclined to .express ap. opinion on a subject with which he has no concern, but, in view of the circumstances, he supplies a comprehensive answer to Sir Joseph’s comments.

“I am quite prepared,” says Mr. Coates, “to leave the actions of the Government and the findings of the commission to the judgment of all impartial observers, who will, of course, understand that methods of administration appropriate to enlightened communities cannot be applied In their entirety and with equal success to backward people, whose need of guidance and control is indeed reognised by their status under the mandate. IGNORANT OF REPORT “If the report to the Samoan Commission is ‘just, as Sir Joseph Carruthers expected,’ then either Sir Joseph must be very ignorant of the terms of the report or his previous expressions of his views have been widely misunderstood. 1 am prepared to believe that the former explanation is, no doubt, the correct one. “Sir Joseph’s statement that ‘the terms of reference were so narrow that no other report could have been anticipated,’ shows an entire want of knowledge of the actual circumstances. The actual fact is that tne commission was specifically Instructed to inquire into every one of the complaints that had been made either to the Minister of External Affairs in Samoa, or in the petition presented to Parliament. In addition, it was required to inquire whether in any other direction the Administration could have been held to have exceeded its duty to have failed to exercise its respective functions honestly and justly, and whether the power of the banishment of Samoans could properly be repealed. BANISHMENTS JUSTIFIED “On the subject of banishment the commissioners inquired, as they were bound to do in accordance with the terms of reference, into all the details of the complaints made, and also whether it would be prudent and safe to repeal wholly and abrogate this power to require a Samoan to remove for a definite period from one place on the islands to another. On this head, it would in ordinary circumstances be unnecessary to make any further reference to the findings of the commission, but in view of the extraordinary attitude taken up by Sir Joseph Carruthers, I feel that I must, in justice to the Administrator and indeed to the New Zealand Government, repeat the following passages from the commission’s report: “ ‘We are satisfied that these (banishment) orders were made upon a proper procedure and that no objection can be made to them. We are w-holly unable to see that in the circumstances which obtained the Administrator w-as not justified in exercising such powers as he possessed to discourage the organisation of the Mau and to compel the dispersal of the natives to their respective homes.

It is clear to us that the Administrator was right in his opinion that the organisation of the Mau, as understood and used by the natives, could not exist alongside of and concurrently with the administration of the country under the mandate. One oi' other must give way We are of the opinion that it is not prudent or safe to repeal wholly the power which we are considering, and further that no demand exists for such repeal.’ ” “NOT ALL PLEASANT” SITUATION IN SAMOA ADMINISTRATOR AWAITS REPORT (From Our Resident Reporter.) WELLINGTON, To-day. It is understood that the Government is likely to consider the Samoan report before Christmas, with a view to taking any action necessary. There is no indication at present of what is likely to be done or when a decision will be reached. Although Sir Joseph Carruthers’s criticisms in Sydney “are poo-pooed’’ in official circles it is gathered that the situation at Samoa is not at all pleasant and General Richardson may bo awaiting the report with some anxiety.