INTRODUCTION

Te Ao Hou, November 1957, Page 39

INTRODUCTION Whenever men act together, certain individuals occupy positions of particular importance. These are the men who advocate definite policies of action or serve as spokesmen for a group of followers, who take decisions on behalf of all and bear responsibility for what is done. They supply the element of leadership which is essential to group activity. In major public activities … whether political, economic, social, or religious … the sources of the leaders's authority are varied and complex. In part, they are derived from personal talent, temperament, and training. But in part, also, they are determined by tradition, which gives sanction to certain kinds of leadership and, in many cases, Chief's daughters lead parties bringing gifts from the villages to prominent visitors. The distinctive head-dress (tuiga) is emblematic of their rank and status. It is made of human hair. They are carrying hooked beheading knives. (nps photograph)

by the long accepted responsibilities of particular classes and of persons with a particular status. The functions of leadership are generally performed most effectively where the factors of tradition or convention are combined with those of personal suitability. A leader who owes his position entirely to the former factors is likely to be unimaginative, ill-informed, and out of touch with the times. On the other hand, one whose position is a result only of his personal exertions, and whose conduct is not guided by a settled convention, is liable to the defects of over-ambition and of resort to trickery to maintain his power. An excessive conservatism in leadership tends to precipitate the overthrow of existing leaders and their replacement by very different men, who may have little to offer but their demagogic persuasiveness. The new leaders, in their turn, produce a renewed mood of conservatism less firmly rooted in tradition, when people have become disillusioned by their unfulfilled promises and by the decay of order. This problem of leadership is an especially pressing one among peoples who have come in recent times into contact with Western civilisation. New forms of leadership are necessary when a people is remodelling its way of life in accordance with new needs and opportunities and when individuals have gained fresh means of advancement through the spread of Christianity and education and the growth of a commercial economy. Among many peoples, the old leaders…whether chiefs, or priests, or landlords…have failed to adapt their position to changing times and have lost their authority. Those who have replaced them have often shown a superior understanding of what is required. But abrupt change, in these circumstances, cannot be made without loss. People who are struggling to adapt themselves to the conditions brought about by contact with Western civilization stand in special need of the support which only their own culture and traditions can give them. In this respect, the situation in Samoa is of particular interest. The men who are providing leadership at the present time are fully in touch with the problems of the modern world; but their authority is exercised in ways broadly consistent with long-standing tradition.