POLICE GIVE THEIR VERSION OF THE RECENT RIOT AT APIA.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18971, 21 January 1930, Page 9

POLICE GIVE THEIR VERSION OF THE RECENT RIOT AT APIA.

80 Per Cent Of Samoans Were Armed In Some Fashion Or Other.

(Special to the “Star”) AUCKLAND, January 20. An inquest into the deaths of those involved in the Apia riot of December 28, Constable Abraham, Tamasese, Leota, Nigao, and others, was opened on January 2 before His Honour Mr Justice Lux ford at Apia. Inspector Braisby and Mr Andrews appeared for the Crown and Mr T. B. Slipper represented the relatives of the deceased Samoans. Mr Hall Skelton was given a seat at the table of counsel.

Constable E. P. Cahill said the members of the police force w r ere assembled at the police station when they heard a whistle from the arresting party and they ran to the scene of the trouble. He stood for a few moments and saw there was a lot of excitement. The Samoans were throwing at both the arresting and the supporting party. Some Samoans had batons. Fie did not see Abraham at the beginning but when being pressed back through the lane at Fabricius’s store he saw him. This was not more than three minutes after his arrival on the scene. In the lane he set eyes on Abraham for only a few seconds when he (Abraham) doubled up. He appeared to have been firing a revolver. A number of Samoans were directly in front of him and they were throwing stones into the lane. He could not go back to Abraham, as the Samoans were too strong at that point, so he retreated down the lane. That was the last he saw of Abraham. Just as he was going into the station he heard automatic gun fire, and this w s from the verandah upstairs. Armed with Clubs. Lance-Corporal Arthur Downs, who was in charge of the party of which Constable Abraham was a member, said he waited at the corner near the Courthouse and saw the arresting party move up to the head of the procession. One man crossed over to the other side, and it appeared that an arrest had been made. Witness then saw a number of Samoans armed with clubs running to the head of the procession. Some had ceremonial dancing knives, and one had a small axe or hatchet. On seeing that the arresting party was in danger he blew a whistle. This had been prearranged. The supporting party then doubled up and proceeded to where the fighting was taking place. He saw Sergeant Fell on the ground. He appeared to have been struck down. The arresting party were hemmed in and Samoans were striking with clubs and stones -were flying everywhere. Shots were fired, but he did not know when the first shot was fired; neither did he hear it. Standing at Fabricius’s store he saw Abraham running down the seaside and saw a Samoan strike him. He thought it was with a small hatchet or hammer, but could not say whether it was the butt of a revolver or a stone. Abraham fell, but managed to get up again, and while he was running he was not firing. Abraham then stood with witness alongside the verandah and great excitement reigned. Abraham was firing his revolver, and that was the last witness saw of Abraham alive. Witness was later told that one of the police was lying dead, and he found the body to be that of Constable Abraham. It was lying on its back with t.he face covered with blood. Abraham’s revolver was missing. It had been pulled off the split ring. To Mr Slipper: There had been definite instructions to arrest Karauna Matau, and another Samoan. He. could not recognise the men with the hammer and the tomahawk. Witness admitted that he and other members fired indiscriminately into the crowd and fired on their own*initiative. They had been instructed that if knives or offensive weapons such as revolvers or shet guns were used, they could fire into the crowd. To his Honor: It was a general for the past eighteen months for the police to be attacked wherever they went. Stone-throwing was a regular thing. Batons were also used. A Mix-up. Peter Clausen Fabricus, thirteen years of age. said he slept on the upstairs verandah of his parents’ house above the store. His mother woke him up early and asked him if he wanted to see the Mau procession. From the verandah upstairs he saw about eight policemen walk alongside the procession from Hellesoe’s corner. When the procession reached his father’s store a policeman jumped in among the bandsmen and immediately there was a mix-up. The policeman was hit by something from -the back. Fie saw that the policeman had someone by the waist, but did not see the policeman fall to the ground. This closed the evidence in regard to the ‘"eath of Constable Abraham. Inspector Braisby indicated that he had no evidence to offer regarding the two reported deaths of Samoans. His Honor said he would reemire such evidence before giving a finding. Mr Slipper suggested adjourning the enquiry until January 6, and his Honor agreed. Mr Skelton, when the inquest was resumed, said that shortly after the arrival of his boat, the Lady Roberts, he heard revolver shots, followed at an interval of from five to eight minutes by what sounded like a machine-gun. Nearing Vaimoso after landing, he met Tamasese being conveyed to the hospital by car. Tamasese explained to him where he had been shot. Mr Skelton stated that he examined the wounds of eight deceased Samoans. They had from seven wounds to one wound each. One man had a wound in his thigh that one could put his fist into. Fie also saw thirteen wounded Samoans. Mr Skelton, continuing, said that some of the wounds were big. and some apparently caused by .303 small bullets. One man had what appeared to be machine-gun bullet holes in his forehead, throat, body and leg. Fie saw two bursts of machine-gun fire strike the water about 100 yards from the shore. Sergeant’s Evidence. Police-Sergeant Richard H. Waterson said that on December 27 he received information that a Mau procession was expected in Apia early next morning. He was instructed to arrest any man in the procession for whom a warrant of arrest had been issued. That evening arrangements were made to effect the arrests by having an arresting party of seven men under Sergeant Fell and a supporting party of eighteen men under Lance-Corporal Downes. At 5 a.m. on December 28 these men met at the police station. About 6.15 a.m. he received a message from Sergeant Fell that Karauna Matau was in the band at the head of the procession. Witness walked from the Courthouse to the market, where he met the Mau procession in column of fours, and at the side of the procession, at intervals of about five paces, were men who were dressed differently from the rest. These,

men were Mau police, and each carried a baton. In the procession he noticed clubs and big walking sticks. Witness said he saw two men carrying knives in their belts with blades from eight to nine inches long. Some were also carrying ceremonial knives. In his opinion 80 per cent of the people in the procession were carrying something that could be turned into or used as a weapon. He walked alongside the band, endeavouring to pick out Matau, but was unable to recognise him. He was then joined by the arresting party, under Sergeant Fell. As soon as the arresting party joined him the natives became uneasy and the band started to play out of tune. lie saw two men turn round, look back, hold up their hands as a signal, and call out something in Samoan. The signal had the effect of causing the Mau police to run up, while others got in between the arresting party and the band. The procession kept • on walking until it was opposite Andrews's store, when the band stopped playing, halted, and turned to face the arresting party. About ten Mau police were between the arresting party and the band. When the band stopped one native called out something which had the effect of starting it again. When the band stopped and faced round, he recognised Matau, who had been wearing a European felt hat, unlike the others, who had head-dresses. He called out to Sergeant Fell and the arresting party, “That’s him in the felt hat.” Matau was on the seaward side in the second row from the back of the band. When he called out he and Fell moved toward Matau, Hand-to-hand Fighting. He was instantly caught by the throat by two Mau police, and held back. He saw Sergeant Fell get in among the band, and next thing he saw Fell was lying on the road apparunconscious. He saw one man striking him as he lay on the ground. Witness said he was unable to get past his two assailants, who still had him by the throat, so he pulled out his automatic pistol, took aim at one of them, and pulled the trigger, but the automatic failed to fire. During this time he could see batons and clubs flying about, and the arresting party all fighting. Three or four of the arresting party had batons. He saw what seemed to be a dozen batons being swung by both Samoan and European. When his pistol failed to fire he pushed the end of it into the face of one of his assailants who let go his grip. At the same time he knocked away the other with his hand. Witness went forward and assisted Sergeant Fell to rise, and found he was conscious and able to walk, but dazed. He then heard a shot fired, and this was the first shot fired. Sergeant. Waterson proceeded that when he got Sergeant Fell to his feet the police were mostly behind and. to the left of him, and the supporting party were using their batons. The natives were as thick as they could be, and a large proportion of them had batons and were fighting the police. The natives had drawn back when shots were fired, and left a space of about thirty yards. The police were now isolated, and the natives began to throw stones. The police were between two lines of fire. The natives were throwing from both sides. After the police had fired and the natives had withdrawn, the police, to the best of his recollection, ceased firing. There were more shots when the stones were again thrown. Lewis Gun Used. Expecting the natives to be reinforced from both sides, he called to his men to go back to the police station and get rifles and bayonets. The men, with the exception of Abraham, retreated to the barracks, some going down the lane near Fabricus’s store. To his Honor: Yes, we were able to go along the beach road, but were stoned all the way, and were shooting as we went. Continuing his evidence, witness said he thought that all his men were with him. The stones followed them to the police station, and the crowd part of the way. On reaching the station he hurried upstairs and got a Lewis gun from an inner room and took it on to the verandah facing the sea. He fired a burst over the heads of the crowd at the end of Ifi Ifi Street. He was an experienced machine gunner. No more than ten shots were fired, and these were fired about twenty feet above their heads. The gun was then turned between Market Hall and Hellesoe’s store, where another crowd of natives were moving toward the police station. After turning the gun toward the Market Hall he fired two short bursts over the heads of the advancing crowd, who then ran back to the right and left. He then heard stones landing on the roof of the station, and glass breaking on the eastern side of the police station. He took the gun to that side and Saw that a large body of natives, the foremost being about thirty yards away, between the Government stationery store and the house opposite the police station. They had not reached the road, but were advancing and throwing stones. Most of them xvore Mau lavalavas. A short burst from the Lewis gun was fired over their"Tieads, and they ran back. After running some distance some of them and turned round. He then put a" short burst into the ground between himself and the natives. To his Honor, witness said for every one of those bursts of fire he did not see one man fall. There was little possibility of there being ricochets at the angle he was firing unless a bullet struck a rock. On his return to the verandah facing the sea he saw that about half-a-dozen men were lying at the corner of Ifi Ifi Street and beach road. He could not be sure, but he fancied that two men were lying there on the ground before he went to the other side of the verandah. That was before the Lewis gun was fired at all. He also saw that several police had rifles over the verandah rail in the attitude of firing. They had .303 rifles He called on them to cease fire, and they did. Some natives were running back up Ifi Ifi Street and some were lying on the ground. , After giving his men orders to cease

fire he went down to the Courthouse corner and while there a boy came and told him that one of the police was lying in the lane at Fabricius’s store. He and others went and found Con stable Abraham lying on his back in the lane. He was dead. There was only one Lewis gun. No other machine gun was in the station, and no g n was mounted ready for action. To Mr Slipper: Witness could not tell if anyone gave orders to fire when the shooting first started. He heard no orders himself. Before the procession arrived there was a machine gun mounted in the British Club barracks, but this gun was out of action.

RESIDENT OF SAMOA GIVES OPINION.

Interviewed on board the Maui Pomare, a resident of Samoa, who has lived on the island for a number of years, stated that he did not wish to make any remarks in reference to the recent trouble, but he would say that, in his opinion, the trouble was due to the New Zealand officials being too lenient with the natives. He had lived on the island for ten years under German rule, and he knew what he was talking about. The Samoans were taking advantage of the leniency extended by the New Zealand Government and officials. ft was stated that the natives wanted to be placed under British Government, and when it was pointed out to them that the Home Government would probably be more strict with them, the natives said that they were prepared to risk it. The death of the chief Tamasese was regrettable as he was regarded as being a thorough gentleman