A. -4

60

The British Empire is very wide spread, the people under its flag number more than those under any other flag in the world. It comprises peoples of all colours and races, of all nationalities and creeds. In the Empire of India there are many millions of Hindus, in Eastern dependencies there Eire many thousands of Chinese, In Africa there are many millions of black men, in Polynesia —in New Zealand, and Fiji, and in Other islands —there are some thousands of people akin to the Samdan race, and in all those countries and dependencies there is no race, no people, that does not take some part in the government of its country under the British Empire. The Samoan people have taken a certain part in the government of their country, and one considerable section of the people is still Continuing to do so, but there is that large section to which you belong which alone of all the peoples under the British flag refuses to take any share or any part in the government of its own country. In refusing to take any part in the government you have blocked the way of progress, and you have prevented Us from giving that share in the government of the country to the Samoan people that we have wished to do. In addition to that, as an organization you have prevented the working of the laws of the country, you have broken the law in many different ways, and most serious of all you have harassed and interfered with the rank and file of the Samoans —the poorer folk —-in all their ordinary concerns of life by the regulations which you have framed amongst yourselves restricting sales, and restricting the purchase and sale of copra, fining people who have come to the law-courts, fining those who have given evidence before the Land and Titles Commission, and even during the last week when by all our understandings you had agreed that the operations of the Mau should be suspended you have fined persons at Solosolo for selling copra to stores other than Nelson's, and you have fined persons at Falefa (including one old woman with a sick husband who was fined a keg of beef) for breaking your regulations. I need not recount the many breaches of the law which have been committed by the Mau or the way in which the peace of the country has been disturbed. I need only point to the pile of coconut logs which is situated at the entrance of this village, which is a standing memorial to the way in which the traffic past this village has been interrupted during the past twelve months, while cars and their drivers have been pelted with stones. I need not mention more, except perhaps the beating of Native policemen which has occurred while they have been passing this village, or the occasion when the eye of one of them was lost on the day of the return from New Zealand of Tuimalealiifano and Faumuina. Ido not want to dwell longer on these unpleasant features which have characterized the Mau organization. Now, the time has come for you to choose, and I would ask you to weigh very carefully the words which I have spoken. You stand now at the parting of the roads, and it is for you to choose which one you will follow, and I ask you to weigh the matter carefully and consider your decision. No Government can allow such an organization as the Mau to continue on its present basis—an organization which is used not for the advancement of anything that is good or right or proper, but for criminal purposes. I would ask you whether you wish the Samoan j)eople to advance and prosper, whether you wish them to take part in the government of the country, to unite with those who are already assisting in that government, to take a larger and larger share in the government as time goes on and education advances, or whether you prefer to remain in an organization which is used for the purposes of harassing and intimidating the people, of sheltering those who have committed crimes, and of bringing discredit and disgrace upon the Samoan people. I have no wish to hamper your discussions or to limit you in any way, because the matter is too important. If you wish for an hour to two longer to discuss these matters, say so, and I will consider the point. If on the other hand your answer is definite and final in regard to the end of the Mau 1 do not see how we can continue our discussion, though I am quite open to listen if you can suggest any way. Faumuina: Everything is now clear and fully understood by the Samoans who have listened. I put the matter before Your Excellency for consideration. Ido not want to put any matter which the Samoans might consider to be untrue, so I put before you what the Samoans have decided. We have decided that the Mau will not end, because it is by the Mau that we can meet. We have put before Your Excellency our decision so far in regard to these points. We are still discussing the other two, and in accordance with your wish we shall consider further this morning. I think that is all we can do this morning, and we shall think the matter over, and Your Excellency will also consider on your side, and we shall also consider your remarks of this morning. May Your Excellency live, and the Minister and the officials of the Government, and the two Fautuas. May God also bless the majority of the Samoans who are on this side. Hon. Mr. Cobbe : Although lam a member of the Government of New Zealand, I have only been here a few days and Ido not pretend to know everything about Samoa. I should like to ask Faumuina two or three questions which I hope he will answer. I should like to ask him : What arc the objects of the Mau, what does the Mau want ? Faumuina: The Mau did not tell me what their objects are, they only asked me to inform you that the Mau will not end. Hon. Mr. Cobbe: What I want to know is, what does the Mau want ? What are its objects, what is it striving for ? Faumuina: I cannot answer, because the Samoans did not give me the answer. Hon. Mr. Oobbe: I understand Faumuina is one of the leaders of the Mau, that he is spokesman for the Mau. He is supposed to understand everything about the Mau, and lin my ignorance am asking him to tell me what are the objects of the Mau and what the Mau wants. Faumuina: lam the leader of the Mau in accordance with the wish of the Samoans, but lam like a gramophone. When they wind up the gramophone, so it will S2>eak. Hon. Mr. Cobbe : Yes, but we want the gramophone to work. Faumuina: The gramophone says lam to speak that the Mau will not end.