Maiden Speeches.

Samoan Legislative Council Meets.

From Our Own Correspondent.

APIA, April 17.

THE first Legislative Council meeting of the new period took place on March 23 and was marked by the first appearance of the newly-elected members, the Hons. I. H. Carruthers and A. R. Cobcroft. The Administrator welcomed the new members and expressed the hope that their experi ence and knowledge of local conditions would be of great value to the Coun cil and their advice would be greatly appreciated by the Administration.

Dealing with the economic position in Samoa the Administrator pointed out that trade and finances of the ter ritory were steadier in the past finan cial year than could have been expected. While there had been a drop of 35 per cent, in the trade turnover for 1931, the drop was only 7 per cent, in 1932. The financial year ending 31st March, 1933, would show an excess in revenue above the estimated amount, while expenditure will be less than estimated; so that a surplus would be shown as the result of the year’s work.

Consequently the Administration would be able to avoid further increases in taxation.

Three bills were on the order paper of the day, viz.: The Samoa Standard Time Ordinance, the Labour Ordinance and the General Laws Ordinance. The former ordinance is intended to intro duce zone time into Samoa, the Labour Ordinance to reduce the cost of Chinese coolie labour to a reasonable level, and the General Laws Ordinance to bring antiquated laws up to date by neces sary amendments.

The Hon. I. H. Carruthers then rose for his first address in the Council.

He assured the Council that he would co-operate and assist together with the Hon. Cobcroft in all efforts directed towards the welfare and de velopment of the country and that, whenever they would find it necessary to criticise, their criticism would tend to be constructive and helpful.

Mr. Carruthers then dealt with the Native Trade Debts Ordinance 1925, by which natives are not allowed to ob tain credit of merchants and traders, making it illegal to prosecute native Samoans for trade debts. He objected to this ordinance, which, in a way, characterised all natives as untrust worthy and pointed to various occa sions, when, according to Samoan fashion, it would be essential for natives to obtain a limited amount of credit in stores, especially at unfore seen events, like births, deaths, visits, etc. He suggested that debts up to an amount of £2, incurred by natives, should be recoverable by law.

The Crown Solicitor, in reply, stated that the request, which was supported by the Apia Chamber of Commerce, would receive favourable consideration.

A further important matter brought forward by the Hon. Carruthers was the heavy expenditure voted for police, £20,000 in the estimates for 1932-33.

He mentioned that the Chamber of Commerce had previously suggested a reduction of this expenditure and asked

again, in view of the continued depres sion and absence of serious trouble, to consider the abolishment of the district police posts and further reduc tions in police expenditure. The answer by the Crown Solicitor was: The European police strength has been steadily reduced as conditions be came more settled. The Administra tion believes the system of police posts is a useful one and warranted by results.

The Hon. A. R. Cobcroft, second elected member, then rose and after some introductory remarks, took up the question of the employment of local born Europeans by the Administration.

The first pointed to the difficulty exist ing in Samoa if absorbing the rising generation of young local born people of European extraction, who have com pleted their education and seek em ployment. Twenty-nine such Euro peans are employed in various Gov eminent departments at present, 16 are casual employees in Public Works De partment, and 19 are employed by the Reparation Estates. Mr. Cobcroft suggested that more local people might

be usefully and economically employed, especially in the Police Department and Reparation Estates. It was signi flcant that for the last four years an average of 146 boys and girls visited the Government Tfi Tfi School and that in addition 197 local born boys were educated at the Marist Brothers’

School. Thirty to forty of the pupils of these schools left the institutions every year and were mostly unable to find employment. While Government and Reparation Estates employ alto gether 48 local people, the three largest commercial firms of Samoa employ be tween them 98 of them, an indication that local people are trustworthy and efficient even in responsible positions, The answer of the Crown Solicitor to the Hon. A. R. Cobcroft’s request to give preference to local born people whenever vacancies occur on the Ad ministration staff, was that during the last two years the number of local born employees had slightly increased, while European officers from overseas had been reduced in numbers from 102 to 68.

A very important matter was brought

forward by the Hon. A. R. Cobcroft, when on behalf of cocoa planters he asked the Administration to withdraw the inspection of cocoa beans and the resulting fees, as, for a considerable time, the standard of quality had been well maintained and besides cocoa buyers of Samoa were, in their own interests, submitting their purchases to a rigid inspection.

The Crown Solicitor in reply stated that the Administration would prefer the inspection and fee for same to re main, as a means whereby the present satisfactory standard of quality for cocoa beans may be maintained.

A further suggestion by the Hon.

A. R. Cobcroft, to provide for the visit of a qualified agricultural expert (mycologist) from Fiji or elsewhere to Samoa, to assist Samoan cocoa planters in their fight against the black pod disease of the cocoa tree, met with a similar unsympathetic atti tude of the Administration.

The Hons. Carruthers and Cobcroft are to be complimented on their first battle for the welfare of the com

munity and for the intrepid and courageous way in which they have taken up the cudgels on behalf of their electorate. It is regrettable and difficult to understand why the Admin istration cannot see its way to accede to the moderate and reasonable re quests advanced by the elected mem bers, especially the one for a radical cut in the police cost. Contrary to the view of the Administration, the public belief that the police post in outside districts are absolutely useless and serve no worthwhile purpose at all.

The refusal of the Administration to drop cocoa inspection and fees to pro vide the service of a mycologist for the planters, European and native, is astonishing, when one considers that Samoa is a purely agricultural coun try, that all revenue of the Adminis tration is drawn from agriculture, that for years, after the abolishment of the Agricultural Department, the Adminis tration has spent nothing at all on behalf of the plantation industry, while small countries like Tonga and Raro tonga maintain an Agricultural De

partment. The cost of a mycologist’s visit to Samoa would probably not exceed £200. On the other hand the Administration, apart from the police staff, keeps an expensive and unwar ranted Medical Department, a heavily staffed superfluous Native Department and an unnecessary Harbour Master and Pilots Department, while many other highly paid official jobs could easily be done away with or amalgamated, and part of the savings used for the real benefit and development of the country.