History of a Quaint

Samoa's Home-Brew

History of a Quaint Problem

AMONG the many absurdities which New Zealand’s Old-Granny Govern ment fastened upon Western Samoa is that of total prohibition of alcoholic liquor. Europeans there can get a limited supply of liquor, sold to them through the Customs Department, if they are prepared to go through the farce of solemnly interviewing the medi cal officer, and receiving from him a certificate that liquor is necessary and/or desirable. Otherwise, the making and sale of liquor are forbidden.

It is a very good thing that alcohol should be kept away from the native Samoans; but the system of denying liquor to the small European and very large Euronesian communities in order to “protect” the Samoans (when they could more easily be protected in another way) is akin to the process of erecting a steam-hammer to kill a mosquito.

The system has created a really seri ous liquor problem among Samoans, while it makes the New Zealand Adminis tration ridiculous. Being forbidden legal liquor, the Euronesians brew their own.

For the last 20 years, anywhere in Samoa, one might buy very excellent home-brewed beer, with a “kick” in it equal to anything produced by “Old Granny’s” New Zealand breweries.

Everyone—Europeans, Euronesians and natives —being forbidden legal beer, drank and enjoyed the illegal article, which could be procured at dozens of little cafes. The local police, quite pro perly, closed their eyes to the traffic. The wrong came in the fact that the con sumption of the potent home-brew soon spread out among the purely Samoan connections of the Euronesians, and thus many natives became addicted to alco hol, who otherwise would have been unaffected.

But “Old Granny” (otherwise, NZ officialdom) never would recognise the fact. Whenever the question arose, she buried her silly head in the sand, and all one could read from her agitated behind was that “there was total prohibition in Samoa, so there could not possibly be any liquor problem.”

But, now, the little chickens are com ing home to roost. There now are more European people in Samoa than ever before, and the Europeans demand beer.

Consequently, the long-established home brew industry has been disrupted by the quick-profits motive. It has been greatly expanded; and lately the Samoan police have become very busy, tracking down illicit breweries and distributors, and prosecuting numerous offenders. The Administration lately has somewhat dis couraged home-brew by prohibiting the importation of malt and hops.

But it has been discovered that a very potent spirit, resembling gin, can be made from cocoa-beans, which is one of Samoa’s principal products. Despite the efforts of the NZ Government, there still are a few Chinese plantation coolies in Samoa; and it is said that these lads are experts in producing the new spirit from cocoa, and that a large traffic in it has developed, to take the place of home-brewed beer.

Any other country but New Zealand would deal with the situation in the obvious way. But this little Dominion— so small that it should never have been given any colonial responsibility in the tropical islands—has been blundering so long in Western Samoa that it cannot be expected to institute sensible reforms now.