Affairs in Samoa.

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXVI, Issue 20425, 2 October 1934, Page 6

Affairs in Samoa.

Running Smoothly

Lawlessness Gone, Says Former Judge. r ]MIE LAWLESSNESS of the past in Samoa has been replaced by respect for the law. according to Mr J. 11. Luxford, formerly Chief Judge of the High Court of Western Samoa, who arrived at Lyttelton yesterday by the Maui Pomare. He said that the administration was now functioning smoothly and efficiently. Mr Luxford. whose term in the Islands has expired, left last night for Wellington. “ Unfortunately,” he said, “ the mass of pernicious propaganda of the last seven or eight years has seriously affected the prestige of New Zealand overseas and even made many New Zealanders doubt the ability of their Government to control properly the mandated territory. Far from that one cannot help but feel proud of the way the New Zealand administration has tackled the difficulties which have arisen and the patient way it has dealt with them and succeeded in overcoming them. Critical Period Passed. “ During my term of five years.” said Mr Luxford, “ Samoa has passed through a critical period politically—the most critical that the New Zealand Government has experienced since it was given the mandate and the most critical that it is I’kely to experience in the future.” When first he went to Samoa in 1929 the law was openly defied, and only with difficulty could the administration function. At the present time the whole situation had changed and he could not imagine an administration functioning more smoothly and efficiently. ** The problem of the Government of the Western Samoan islands is complex in the extreme. There is no need to discuss the complexities in detail, however, for that has already been done in a most comprehensive and profound manner by Dr F. M. Keesing in his recent work, ‘ Modern Samoa.’ The New Zealand Government and the people of New Zealand are under a deep debt of gratitude to Dr Keesing for the fair and impartial way he has dealt with Samoan affairs, for propaganda had seriously affected the prestige of the Dominion oversea. “ T have event seen a leading article in a New Zealand newspaper refer to the Mau movement as something brought into being as the result of the maladministration of the New Zealand Government. Study of the Mau. “ The roots of the Mau are buried in antiquity and to understand the movement a long and careful study of the political evolution of the old Samoa is necessary, to the extent of going back to about the thirteenth century. The study is extremely interesting and is an indispensable background to enable a correct view to be gained of the Mau uprisings that took place during the regime of the German Government as well as of the New Zealand Government. “ I disagree partly with Dr Keesing, who looks on the movement as progressive as well as retrogressive. In my opinion it is wholly retrogressive, for its true aim is the revival of the old kingship. The invariable result of that,” said Mr Luxford, ‘‘ is a reversion to the state of civil war as obtained for centuries previous to 1900. In that year the high chiefs of Samoa agreed to the abolition for ever of the kingship, but some generations have yet to pass before that question will cease to interest many of the chiefs and orators of the Samoan people. Until that happens the roots of the Mau will still have life. “ Perhaps the most difficult problem of the administration is the future of the large number of Europeans who are of part Samoan blood. The area of Samoa is so small comparatively that very few have any chance of commercial prosperity. The Samoan population is increasing rapidly, and their lands will be taxed in the future to provide foodstuffs for themselves. Ownership of Land. “ It is fortunate that most of the European land is owned by the New Zealand Government, for I feel that the proper settlement of that land by the people of mixed blood will go a long way towards solving their problem in the future. ” The overseas and local personnel of the administration has reached a high standard. That is reflected in the budget of the Territory. In spite of the depression from which Samoa has suffered in common with the rest of the world, the budget has been balanced during the last two years, and expenditure has been reduced to nearly half what it was five years ago. My sojourn of five years in Samoa has been full of pleasant interest. The respect at all times shown by the Samoan people—Mau and otherwise— to the two Courts over which I presided, convinces me that they appreciate the administration of justice according to British principles.”