The Maikato Times With which Is Incorporated The Walkato Argus. MONDAY, APRIL 14, 1930. SAMOAN DOINGS.

Waikato Times, Volume 107, Issue 17995, 14 April 1930, Page 4

The Maikato Times With which Is Incorporated The Walkato Argus. MONDAY, APRIL 14, 1930. SAMOAN DOINGS.

The latest news from Samoa is that a chief and 72 other Samoans have been arrested and convicted of wearing the Mau uniform, and have been sentenced to three months’ imprisonment. This will come as a surprise to poeple who thought that Mr Cobbe had instilled some common sense into our administration. Who is it that is responsible for the methods that are pursued which are.no credit to our management? We are told that the Samoans are a childlike people incapable of governing themselves, if this is meant seriously we should treat them accordingly. Children are not punished like adults in any civilised country, and should not be in Samoa. If, however, they are not childlike, they should bo treated as reasonable human beings, and not punished for offences which are apparently invented as excuses for locking them up. The Prussians were always supposed to be a people greatly given over to red tape and regulations. It would be interesting to have the opinion of the Samoans whether they were as much given that way as ourselves. What is the particular offence in wearing Mau uniform? If Samoans do actually commit some criminal offence by all means catch, them and punish them, but do not invent offences for the purpose of locking them up. To do Mr Holland justice, he has protested vigorously, and Mr Coates should do the same, although his Government set the example of harsh measures by defending and condoning the banishment of men without trial. If tins can be done with impunity in Samoa it may come to be done in New Zealand, and a leader of opposition who is making himself awkward may be sent to Samoa as Samoans have been sent here. Is the Mau anything more than an opposition party? It may seem a very dreadful thing to soldiers that anyone should hold views different from their own on the question of government, but after all Samoa was not supposed to come under a military code. New Zealand is widely celebrated as a country that handled its native problem with magnanimity and prudence, and thereby established good relations between Maori and pakeha. Our record in Samoa will destroy our good character entirely. How is it that we have so entirely lost the capacity to deal with a race like the Samoans, who do not differ so widely from the Maoris as to account for our failure? Those in authority should learn from what is taking place in India. Mahatma Gandhi is conducting a pacific boycott with the avowed object of making British rule impossible. If the authorities in India had behaved like our representatives, India would have been aflame, and Moslems and Indians, native princes and untouchables would have been united in denouncing British rule. In India, however, the authorities are men of the world and knew better than to make a hero of the man who opposed them. Gandhi’s proceedings are ignored and his -movement has become a fiasco. Whatever may have been the rights or wrongs of the trouble at the start, our rulers put themse’vcs definitely in' the wrong by banishing men without a trial. Whether the Samoans are childlike or not, they know' that that is wrong, and wo cannot hope to recover their respect until we have rectified this injustice, All sorts of side

issues are raised, such as the price of copra and similar matters, but these, have nothing to do .with the injustice of punishing men without a trial. W;hen they were banished there was no difficulty in holding a'trial, either in Samoa or in New Zealand, and if any offence could be proved a suitable penalty could have been inflicted. Now, of course, the question has become political, and people who usually distinguish between right or wrong, support the action of the Government with the idea that to confess an error would damage our prestige. It is too late to think of that. Our prestige was damaged by the injustice and cannot be made worse by admitting the error. It cannot be said that there has been no opportunity of retracing our steps. When Sir Joseph Ward succeeded Mr Coates as Prime Minister he might have made a new departure, but preferred to stick to the old formula that the natives could have everything if they would approve our rule and admit their wrongdoing. Exactly what Sir Joseph Ward had in his mind it would be hard to say. The natives are convinced that we have done wrong, and our shootings and imprisonments arc not likely to lead to any change of opinion. The. object is to make the Samoans a contented people, willing to accept our rule. How many years f>f our present methods will be required to bring this about?