Confession Of

Futility

N.Z. Prime Minister and Samoa

AS an outstanding example of futility in Government, we com mend the following statement by the Prime Minister of New Zealand. He was asked, in his Parliament on June 22, whether his Government proposed to appoint an Administrator of Western Samoa—it being pointed out that Mr. Turnbull had carried on there for over three years as “Acting Administrator”. Mr. Savage said:— “The question of appointing an Administrator of Samoa has not been considered by the Government. The Acting Administrator, Mr. A. C. Turn bull, has been doing good work. We have had so many other things to do and we have simply allowed the ar rangement to stand. Mr. Turnbull was acting when we came into office and he has been acting ever since.”

It may be noted that this New Zealand Government is a Socialist Government, and it controls two territories, the Cook Islands and

(under mandate) Western Samoa.

Readers of this journal will recall that both territories are in a state of economic and, to some extent, political turmoil, owing to this Government’s attempts to apply principles of socia listic control to communities which are unfitted for anything of the kind.

There is some indication that the New Zealand Administration will be put out of office at the general elec tion in November. The difficulty, however, is that the Administration which the Labour Party displaced was one of the feeblest in the history of the little Dominion; and nothing worth-while has taken its place.