Samoa's Problems
p. 19 · Read in the full issue
How NZ Mishandles Samoa's Problems
From Our Own Correspondent
Apia, Nov. 3.
THE recent Fono of Faipule (Native Parliament) petition to the NZ Gov ernment to impose the death penalty upon Samoan murderers is another in stance of how New Zealand wrongly deals with Samoa’s problems.
During the past two or three years, there have been a large number of mur ders committed in a brutal manner and for trivial reasons by natives against natives. Whenever the murderers were caught, they have been tried by judge and jury and mostly sentenced to death by hanging. But the NZ Labour Govern ment having abolished the death penalty
in New Zealand, has in every case com muted the sentence to life imprisonment.
The Samoans, following the biblical “ a ijf e f or a ufe” principle, fail to under stand such an attitude, knowing full well that imprisonment is no deterrent to serious crime.
Misplaced humanitarianism has also caused the NZ Government to veto the placing in irons of dangerous criminals in Samoa. As a result, two of the most notorious Samoan convicts, Osea and Simaile, serving prison sentences for life and 12 years respectively and who have hgured in previous gaol breaks, have again escaped from custody. They have been roaming the country, making and Samoans afraid for the safety of their women and children. —TT: .
Corporal Epenen Dakuitoga, of the Fiji Police Force, has been awarded the Colo nial Police Long Service Medal.