A..—4

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renewed its activities in their worst form. Traffic on the road through Vaimoso and Lepea was impeded, passing cars were stoned, indecent exposures to passers-by were made, loyal Natives were intimidated, fines were inflicted on Natives who supplied copra to stores other than those owned by Messrs. Nelson and Co., Native policemen were assaulted, malicious damage was done to telephonelines and other Government property, fines were imposed on those who took cases before the Land and Titles Commission, and petty tyranny resorted to in every possible way in those villages in which the Ma a predominated. On the 28th December the Mau arranged a welcome for Mr. Smyth, one of the three men deported in 1927, whose period of banishment had expired, and who was paying a visit to Samoa, accompanied by Mr. Skelton, a solicitor employed in New Zealand by Mr. Nelson. This took the form of a procession along the Beach Iload, in which a number of men for whom warrants of arrest had been issued for some time past were prominent. Such open defiance could not be tolerated, and an attempt was made to effect the arrest of one of these criminals. The attempted arrest was violently resisted, police reinforcements were called out, and a riot ensued which resulted in the deaths of one white policeman and of eleven Samoans, including those who died later from wounds.' Among the latter was Tamasese, one of the prominent leaders of the Mau. It was at once clear that firm measures must be taken to suppress disordei, and the Administrator issued three'notices to the Mau —one calling for the surrender of twenty among those who were wanted 011 criminal charges, a second calling on fifty-eight principal chiefs of the Mau to meet the Administrator on a given day, and a third calling on the Mau to disperse and proceed to their own villages within a week's time. The three notices were disregarded, but the Mau left the villages of Vaimoso and Lepea a day or two later and proceeded to other villages farther from Apia. On the 12th January H.MS. " Dunedin " arrived to assist the Administrator to restore order, to effect the arrest of the criminals and disperse the Mau to their villages ; and the Mau abandoned the coast and fled into the bush. Some 150 Royal Marines and seamen from H.M.S. " Dunedin " were landed, and, with the police, spent the next six weeks in searching the bush, securing a number of the Mau, but not being successful in capturing many of the wanted men or important chiefs. It is difficult to estimate the number of the Mau in the bush, but, as there were many from Savai'i among them, they may at times have numbered from 1,200 to 1,500 in all, including both matais and taule'le'a. There were some important defections from them as the operations proceeded. The loyal Natives offered assistance, which was accepted in the middle of February, and it was arranged for some hundreds of them from the central and western districts of Upolu to join with the sailors in a drive which was to clear the western half of that island. The knowledge of this pending move, combined with strenuous efforts on the part of the missionary bodies, and the presence and personal influence of the Hon. Mr. Cobbe, was, however, enough to induce the Mau leaders to offer to come in to a meeting, and for this purpose immunity from arrest was granted to adherents of the Mau while the proceedings continued. The Hon. Mr. Cobbe, Minister of Defence, who had arrived from New Zealand, and was present at the meeting, which was finally held on the 3rd, 4th, sth, and 7th March. At this meeting, in which the Hon. the Minister took part, the Administrator made three demands, placed before the Mau in writing in the following terms : — " (1) The end of the Mau. This will involve the dispersal of the Mau to their own villages and conformity to the laws of the country. " (2) The surrender of persons who have committed offences for trial by the Court in the ordinary way. No organization can pretend to shield people from arrest or trial, and there must be the same law for every one—chiefs or otherwise. " (3) Chiefs to meet the Administrator in fonos whenever required. " Subject to the two requirements above, the Administrator is prepared to discuss any matters affecting the government of the country or any grievances either now or as may be arranged." The answer to the first demand was negative, but it was intimated the Mau would disperse ; to the second, that the wanted men would be given up ; and to the third no answer was received. Records of the proceedings at these meetings provide interesting reading. (See Appendix C.) At the close of the meeting on the 6th March the Administrator notified the Mau that the period of immunity from arrest would expiie on the Bth March. The men required to answer criminal charges were surrendered to the police as agreed, and before the Bth March a large number of the Mau, including almost all from the eastern end of Upolu, dispersed to their homes.. Nearly six hundred still remained at Vaimoso, of whom some were arrested, and finally after a number more had left, the last were removed by boats to their own districts on the 11th March. Since then spasmodic efforts have been made, mainly by people from the Aana district of Upolu and Southern districts of Savai'i, to assemble again, but arrests of chiefs taking part in this movement have been promptly made and have prevented such a gathering so far. The situation still calls for much watchfulness, though the power of the Mau is broken, and it is expected a strong Police Force will be necessary for some time to prevent it from coming to a head again. The Samoa Seditious Organizations Regulations, 1930, brought into force by Order in Council on the 11th January, 1930, have made it much easier to deal with this phase of the situation. The general outlook has greatly improved ; many individual Mau chiefs of importance are in touch with the Administration, and the present indications are that a steady drift away from the Mau has set in. A campaign of false propaganda in New Zealand followed the events of the 28th December. . It was founded on inaccurate statements published in the press by two persons who were not witnesses of the occurrence. The object of this press campaign was apparently twofold—first, to mislead public opinion in New Zealand, and, second, to provide material for subsequent communication to the Mau with a view to their encouragement and support. The propaganda was entirely unsuccessful as regards the first object, but met with more success in the second.