Liquor System

World Laughs at Samoa’s Liquor System

FOR 30 years, most travellers in Polynesia have laughed at the “Old Granny” liquor law which New Zealand imposes in Western Samoa; but the farce still goes on.

Officially, Western Samoa is “dry.”

Quite properly, liquor is kept away from the native Samoans. But the Europeans see no reason why they should be deprived of a common amenity. The NZ Administration was sympathetic—but afraid, in typical politico-bureaucratic fashion, to make an open distinction between Euro pean and Samoan.

So it devised the extraordinary system of medical certificates. If you are in Samoa, as visitor or resident, and you want liquor, you go to the medical department, and make application. The medico solemnly gives you a certificate that, for the good of your health, you must have certain liquor each week or month; and then you go to the Government storekeeper and—not so solemnly— buy what you want.

Samoans don’t get such certificates merely by asking. They have a different kind of inside, apparently, which must be cured by other means.

“Old Granny” in Wellington, NZ, has stubbornly refused to be laughed out of the system, but maybe the yell which went up at Lake Success when statistics were presented there sarly in March will put an end to the silly business.

It was shown that in nine months there had been imported to Western s>amoa, as “medicine,” the following:

A delegate: Do you really assert hat the Samoans (70,000 of them) ire entitled to receive this for nedicinal purposes? (Laughter).

Mr. J. B. Wright (NZ delegate): I suppose it depends on what one terms nedicine.

He indicated that, in recent times, he government was a little more ‘liberal,” which apparently means hat selected Samoans are being illowed a little European liquor.

There are only a couple of hun- Ired Europeans left now in Samoa, presumably, in regard to liquor, the »,000 Euronesians (part-Samoans) are low treated in the same way as

Europeans. 250 Europeans might get through all the liquor in nine months, if they really applied themselves to the pleasant occupation; but we have had no reports of anything of the kind, A perfectly honest liquor system, applied as in Fiji, and New Guinea, with proper safeguards for natives, should be possible in Samoa.

Bulolo Gold Dredging Co. staff members who returned to NG in April included Mr. Jack Beauchamp, Mr. D. R. Webster and Mr. P. W.

Evans.

Mr. V. Pycha, a qualified dentist, formerly of Czechoslovakia and for the past two years resident in Aus tralia, has joined the staff of Bulolo Gold Dredging Co., New Guinea.

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