Face Calamity?

Do Samoa and Cook Is.

Fears of New Labour Adminis tration May be Premature

MISGIVINGS have been expressed in the Central Pacific Territories, con trolled by New Zealand, because the New Zealand Labour Government has been returned to office with a huge ma jority—which apparently gives it a man date to do anything it pleases.

Those misgivings appear to the out sider to be a little premature. It would be wise to await events.

When, to everyone’s astonishment, Labour went into office in N.Z. in 1935, they were a very raw team indeed, and their knowledge of the science of gov ernment —especially the government of tropical islands —could have been written with a minus sign. Some of the things they attempted to do in Samoa and the Cook Islands aroused the derision of all who knew anything of Pacific Islands admin istration.

But the Cabinet Ministers have been learning a lot, in the last three years: and they have had the honesty and de cency to realise their errors and remedy them. That fact gives one some confid ence in the future. It may not be as bad as some expect.

The ever-famous “Goodwill Mission”, for instance, repatriated the Chinese labourers from Samoa, and bluntly told the desperate Samoan planters to use local labour. But when the Govern ment found that, as the planters had stated, local labour was unprocurable, it permitted the recruiting of labour from Niue: and out of this acknowledgment a better system of providing Samoan plantations with labourers may be evolv ed.

The N.Z. Government, over-riding all advice from experienced men, put a semi-socialistic fruit marketing plan into operation in the Cook Islands. But, when the thing was found virtually unwork able, it acknowledged its mistake, and went sharply and drastically into re verse.

There were evils connected with the C.I. fruit trade —and not all on the side of the merchants —and out of all the confusion there now may emerge a more efficient system, operating more fairly for all concerned.

In Samoa, of course, there still is an administration tied in an embarrassing manner to the Nelson-controlled Mau.

At first, this arrangement was an out rage on government. Mr. Nelson, having been rescued by the Labour Cabinet from the injustice and oppression he suffered under the old regime, seemed to think he had now a license to run the Samoan administration on peculiar Nelsonian lines: while the newly-organised Mau party insisted on sticking its nose into every department of the Samoan Govern ment in a manner that hopelessly un dermined most official responsibility. The situation that developed in 1936-37 was both Gilbertian and tragic.

But, month by month, that has been changed. Mr. Nelson, a year ago, found that Wellington was not giving the same heed to his demands and recommendations —at any rate, when there was any sus picion that he was actuated by a spirit of revenge and malice. The Mau-domin ated Fono of Faipule is being more firm ly kept in its place by the Government, and has become correspondingly tamer.

Taking it by and large, the political situation in Western Samoa is improved, as a result of a better understanding by the N.Z. Labour Ministers of their obli gations and responsibilities. One sees evidence of that in the decision to retain Mr. Braisby in Samoa as officer in charge of the police. The announcement, two months ago, that he was being removed, had all the ear-marks of a Mau intrigue, working successfully upon Wellington.

The return of the N.Z. Labour Govern ment may not be, for Samoa, Cook Is lands and Niue the calamity that is feared.