CHRISTCHURCH NEWS.

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXV, Issue 17772, 7 October 1927, Page 8

CHRISTCHURCH NEWS.

(From Our Own Correspondent)'.

CHRISTCHURCH, Oct. 6

THE. SAMOAN TROUBLE. The Samoan trouble was discussed to-day, by Mr J. J. Dougall, a prominent Christchurch barrister, who has just returned from a visit to the Islands. “It seems to me,” said Mr Dougall, “that the Government must be supported, otherwise there will be chaos. General Richardson has certainly , dons all that any man could possibly do in the interests of the natives. Like children, the more the natives got, the more they wanted.” Mr Dougall thought that the probable cause lying behind the trouble ■would be found in the copra trade. The Government plantations were far and away the best, and they were on a good paying basis. The Government financed the natives, and paid to them any surplus that accrued. This took business away from the traders. “In my opinion,” said .Mr Dougall, “that is one of the prime factors in the position. It is the traders who are creating all this trouble. It seems to me that the Government are doing a very proper thing, for the natives get better prices than they would if they dealt through traders.” Fijian copra, he pointed out, brought £l4 per ton, hut the Samoan traders would pay only £lO per ton. When the natives sold through the Government, copra usually brought a better ' price than the traders would pay. The trouble had been working up for some years, and it came to a head nearly a year ago, and since then the natives had adopted an attitude of passive resistance. They would not work, and they would not -hunt for the rhinocerous bettle that caused such havoc among the cocoanut trees. They just lolled about the villages. They were not producing any copra at the present time. The refusal to hunt the rhinocerous beetle was a serious matter. Though this pest was not committing such ravages,as, it did a few years ago, the trouble would soon be intensified again If the natives continued their refusal to hunt for it.

“I think,” said Mr Dougall, “that a month or so after the Commission gives its report, they will probably settle down. Authority must be vested in the Government, if not, trouble will recur.” THREE ALL-BLACKS. The Christchurch Football Club Is the only Club in the Dominion to claim three members (Scrimshaw, Robilliard and McGregor) in. the AllBlack team to tour South Africa. The Old Boys’ Club in Christchurch has Dailey, while Barrows and Alley, who now play for Varsity, are ex-mem-bers. The Ponsonby Club, Auckland, the Wellington Club and Timaru Old Boys’ Club all have two members in the final selection, while the . Brownlies are both regular members of the Hastings Club. It is a notable fact that the Canterbury province provides the largest provincial quota, no fewer than jiine players being selected.