The Sun TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 1919. GOVERNMENT OF SAMOA.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume VI, Issue 1786, 4 November 1919, Page 6

The Sun TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 1919. GOVERNMENT OF SAMOA.

Samoa, or that part of it which! comes under the r New Zealand Mandate, is to become part of our political selves. The Mandate carries with it grave responsibilities; responsibilities which are accentuated by ethnical and geographical problems of a peculiar nature. So far, we have not made a great success of the Cook Islands; things will have to be more wisely ordained if we are not to fail in Western Samoa. The provisions in the Order-in-Council—circulated in the House yesterday—which prescribe the form of civil administration for the islands suggest that fhe*nativcs will have nothing to fear from the change of supervisors. The Samoan Public Service is to form part of the Dominion institution. A Public Health Department is. to be established, a Treasury installed, a Prisons and Police Department provided, and an education system based on the New Zealand example. Provision is made also for giving the Samoans a voice in legislative affairs: through the medium of the chiefs and through possible direct appointments to an advisory chamber, the Legislative Council. Politically and otherwise, therefore, the natives promise to be well cared for. They are to be civilised by modern and humanitarian methods—a change, surely, from the repressive processes of German colonisation. The task before the administrators is no easy one, particularly as we are comparatively new to this business. But there was no alternative; at least no practicable alternative. Britain's burden already is heavy enough. It was impossible that the islands should Be allowed to revert to the Germaps, who are docile now onty because they have to be. As a nation vitally interested in the defence of the Pacific, New Zealand was the logical holder of the Mandate which the League of Nations had to bestow. Western Samoa is a very important point d'appui: a strategic base which should prove of the utmost value in the event of a struggle in these waters. Moreoverf the islands can be converted into a useful asset under careful management. In this connection a great fuss has been made by Labour politicians and sentimentalists over the proposal to work the plantations with indentured labour. The member for Grey has attacked the scheme with hard words backed up by hysterical references to the Putumayo and Congo scandals. Wellintentioned people, overflowing with solicitude for our coloured brethren, be they black or yellow, have deluged the newspapers with protests against the indenture system which is variously described as slavery, Prussianism, and other sorts of iniquities. It is admitted that the Putumayo revelations, shocked the world: that the red rubber of the Belgian Leopold was dyed with the blood of victims callously sacrificed by savage overseers. But Western Samoa is not Putumayo, nor is" Mr Massey the graceless Leopold. In the bad old days of "blackbirding" and "Bully" Hayes, the natives of the Pacific Islands were treated like dogs, and worse than dogs. On the Rand, too, in more recent years, the system of indentured labour was flagrantly and brutally abused in the interests of the big financial organisations which owned the mines. These episodes are not pleasant to recall, and we mention them only for the purpose of expressing the opinion that they are impossible of repetition under the Flag to-day. Anyway, even if this un-Imperialistic little country of ours were suddenly to develop insanity, and try to run Western Samoa on German-African lines, the League of Nations would scarcely permit it. The point that the local agitators overlook is that the islands cannot be made productive without imported labour, and that there are thousands of coolies ready and willing to be indentured under the conditions offering. These men are not torn from their homes and compelled to toil under and for alien masters whether they like it or not. They are to be paid for their work, to be decently looked after, and re-

patriated -when their services are terminated. There is to be no tyranny, no nigger-driving, no permanent exile in a foreign land ! against their will. It has been found necessary to save the Samoan from himself. Normally he is an indolent, feckless fellow with primitive ideas on the subject of economic development. Hence the need for importing coolies. Without them the chances of making the islands selfsupporting are negligible, and we have quite enough to do with our money at home without being called upon to subsidise unprofitable administration elsewhere. It was suggested when the Order-in-Council was before Parliament that members should be enabled to visit our new territory and obtain a firsthand grip of the situation. If the tour is arranged, we hope that some of the political critics—if they are then in the House—will be included in the company. A personal scrutiny might redress their present faulty perspective.

RESURRECTING PERSIA. To most of our readers, we are afraid, Persia is just about as interesting as Alaska or Siam. What is happening there politically will worry them neither more nor less than municipal developments in Timbuktu. But as a matter of fact Persia is destined to play a very important part in the history of the next 50 years. Whatever measure of stability the Peace may have secured for Europe we are little less than lunatics if we suppose that it has done much for Asia. Actually the War has unsettled Asia by eliminating Turkey and Russia, and the great task of statesmanship in the East for all European Powers is to establish as many ordered and settled communities as can be made capable of standing on their own legs. For that reasoh, therefore, and not in the least because of its spectacular possibilities, the Shah's visit to King George is worth watching. In reality it is being watched with considerable envy in more than one European capital, and with openly expressed uneasiness *even in Paris. What is John Bull up to again? Has he, in his recent treaty with Persia, converted the world-settlement at Versailles into an opportunity for further aggrandisement? There can be no question at all that when the conclusion of the agreement was announced about the middle of August France displayed a good deal of concern. On the other hand it is clear now since we know the terms that our ally has been needlessly disturbed. The agreement is not a protectorate. British officers go to Teheran to reorganise the army, British gold—largely from India—re-establishes Persia's economic existence. But the agreement guarantees also the complete independence of the country both politically and commercially, promises support at Versailles to Persia's claim for reparation damages against Germany and Turkey, and undertakes to back her demand for a strategic rectification of her frontier. Into the bargain Earl Curzon, who is at once Government leader in the House of Lords, and that member of Cabinet who would be particularly entrusted with the nine months' negotiations which preceded the agreement, has announced publicly and emphatically that he would have had nothing whatever to do with a protectorate. He would not even, he said, have accepted a mandate. Britain's hands are full, and more than full, already. She is not going to Anglicize the country, or Europeanize it, or even Indianize it. The War has left "a great vacuum in this area," which it will take years of anxious time and trouble to fill again with the elements of order. All Britain wants or will attempt is the restoration of Persia to independence and life again. In such circumstances we must all devoutly hope that the banqueting in London will leave a savour in the Shah's mouth and mind which the years will never again entirely remove.