Western Samoa Reviews a Year’s

Activities

THE Annual Report on the Territory of Western Samoa for the year ending March 31, 1949, which has just been published, contains some interesting statistics on the social, administrative and economic position of the country.

Crime in Samoa, though to an im partial observer it seems on the increase, is not serious according to official figures.

There were two convictions for murder during the year: none for attempted murder or manslaughter. There were 110 convictions for common assault (99 against Samoans and 11 against Euro peans) and 284 convictions for theft. The personnel of the Police* Department is composed of 12 Europeans and 65 Samoans.

The total number of village trading stations in the Territory is given as 241, of which 190 are operated by the four major firms.

Receipts of public revenue reached the total of £500,338 and payments totalled £464,520. The total accumulated surplus of the Territory at the end of the period stood at £642,973, of which £554,050 was invested in New Zealand Government in scribed stock. The Territory has no pub lic debts.

Out of the revenue of £500,338 the amount of £475,659 was received through the Treasury and Customs Department— £234,339 being from import duties, £79,950 from export duties and £65,835 from Store Tax.

Of the expenditure of public revenue (totalling £464,520), £165,987 were spent on

Public Works, £89,707 on Health, £55,090 on the Treasury and Customs Depart ment, and £46,855 on Education.

In the Post* Office Savings Bank 5,823 depositors had deposits totalling £280,188 standing to their credit at March 31, 1949.

LAND holdings in Samoa are divided into 103,630 acres of Crown Land, 581,370 acres of Samoan native lands and about 40,000 acres of European lands (35,000 acres owned privately and 5,000 acres owned by various missions.) The Territory has about 228 miles of motor roads, an increase of 24 miles over last year.

The number of motor-vehicles in the Territory has jsteadily increased during the past three years from 438 in 1946 to 618 in the year under review.

The population of the Territory as on March 31, 1949, is given as follows: Europeans 297 Part Samoans 5,406 Samoans 69,426 Chinese .. .. 180 Melanesians 72 Total 75,381 Population growth between the census of 1921 and that of 1945 represented an average growth of 2.5 per cent. During the year ending March 30, 1949, recorded births among Samoans were and deaths only 674. Among Part-Samoans

the ratio of births to deaths was even higher than amongst full Samoans—there being 263 births recorded against only 7 deaths.

At present there are approximately 800 persons of Samoan descent in New Zea land.