[?]. Samoa Adopts Self-Government

[?]th Mataafa Dissenting Bitterly:

[?]. Samoa Adopts Self-Government Plan for Submission to NZ

In six weeks of mighty oratory, 170 delegates to the Consti itional Convention of Western Samoa, have battered into shape a ■eliminary blue-print of their future governmental set-up.

Apia, Dec. 23.

IE Convention was the culmina tion of over 18 months of pre paratory work since New Zea l announced, in the early months 953, that Western Samoa would, he end of 1954, be asked to de its own future administration, le Constitutional Convention ;d on December 22, 1954, with a ch by the High Commissioner n. G. R. Powles). From No ber 10 it sat on 31 days, and he 170 delegates at the Con ion the majority took part in discussions. i December 13, it began dis ion of the most important sub before the Convention—namely, appointment of the Head (or is) of State —after the two pre s subjects, relationship with Zealand, and suffrage, had been Dsed of. total of 90 persons made :hes. ith the exception of a small >rity, representatives of the valasi family; supporters of l Chief Mataafa: a few dis ?rs who wanted the appoint t of only one Head of State; rs who wanted the four para at chiefs of Samoa —Tamasese, etoa, Mataafa and Tuimalea le—to either elect one of their ber Head of State or else form ouncil of High Chiefs to act eads of State, the great majority leakers agreed that to preserve 3 and unity in Samoa, it would ivisable to appoint for life, the present Fautua, Hons, asese and Malietoa, joint Heads tate and allow them to carry ladership of the Samoan people eretofore. e oratory of the Samoan speak vas, as usual, on a very high , though the continuous repeti of the same sentiments and ses was somewhat tiring to the lers. However, the delegates had given a promise that they d be given every opportunity to sss thek- views and the chair exercised great patience in nng the representatives of the icts and the various organisa > to speak at length. th the Hon. Tamasese and etoa absent, the resolution on Heads of State, based on the »rity opinion expressed during debates, was voted on by the r ention on December 21. An

overwhelming majority supported it

and only about half a dozen voted against it. It read: “The present Hon. Fautua should together he the first Head of State.

They should act together and with equal power. Their term should he

for life hut legal provision should

he made to permit them to resign at any time. Future vacancies in

position of the Head of State

should he filled in a way to he de cided hy the Parliament of Western Samoa when the time comes.’’

Then, with Tamasese and Malietoa back in the Chair, the remaining six points embodied in resolutions drafted by the Steering Committee were submitted to the Convention for approval, and were unanimously

passed:

Control Of Public Service—(A)

The Government of Western Samoa should control its own Public Service, (b) This control should be exercised by a Public Service Commissioner appointed by the Government of Western Samoa and sub ject to any directions on policy matters that he may receive from that Govern ment. • LEGISLATURE.—A single legislature should replace the present Legislative Assembly and Fono of Faipule. This Legislature should be presided over by a Speaker elected by the House and should for the time being consist of the following members: 41 Samoan members, five European members, two Official members (Ministers of Justice and Finance). Elections should be held every three years, and the Legislature should not be dissolved save for these three yearly elections. The Legislature should have full power to make all laws necessary for the peace, order and good government of Western Samoa, subject only to the restriction of the suggested suspensory veto of the Head of State, and to any restrictions which may be advisable due’ to the relationship with New Zealand.

The reserved subjects and enactments should remain as they are for the present, but should be reviewed as constitutional changes take place. The Legislature should eventually have full power to amend the Constitution, but subject to some delaying or restrictive procedure, which must be worked out.

CONSTITUENCIES.—The present 41 Faipule constituencies should be the Samoan constituencies when the new Legislature is first established; but the new Legislature should at an early date review the matter of Samoan con stituencies with a view to increasing the number from 41 to 45.

Executive Government.—A Premier

and Cabinet should control the Executive Government from the time that the new Legislature is established. The Legislature should choose the Premier by a procedure which it should settle itself. If it could

not arrive at a single nomination by dis cussion, it would then be necessary to have a ballot for the Premier. The Premier could be dismissed by the Head of State only after a vote of non conndence passed by two-thirds of the Members of the Legislature, but could resign at any time. Parliament should not be dissolved just because the Premier resigned or was dismissed: it should elect another Premier. The Premier should choose the Members of his Cabinet from the elected Members and refer them to the Legislature for approval. For the time being there should be two Officials (Minister of Justice and Finance) in the Cabinet.

Special Relationship With New

ZEALAND.—The special relationship be tween Western Samoa and New Zealand should be maintained indefinitely although Its form may change with changing cir cumstances and constitutional develop ments. This relationship should eventually be based on an alliance or agreement somewhat similar to the arrangement at present existing between the United Kingdom and the Kingdom of Tonga, but it is recognised that the Trust Status of the Territory may make special pro visions necessary. There should be a Representative of New Zealand resident in Western Samoa. The status, powers and functions of this person will depend upon the nature of the relationship be tween New Zealand and Western Samoa.

New Zealand will no doubt have its own suggestions to make as to what these status, powers and functions should be but it is clear that in some way they should concern defence, foreign affairs and seconded officers.

SUFFRAGE.—In the Faip u 1 e con stituencies only Samoan matais should have the right to vote or to be nominated as candidates for election. A Register of Matais should be established for each Samoan constituency, listing the matais entitled according to Samoan custom to vote in that constituency. In any Faipule constituency, if any candidate is nominated by a majority of the Matais of the constituency, he should be declared elected, but if there Is no such majority nomination a secret ballot should be held among the Matais of the constituency.

In the case of the European elections, the suffrage, the method of election, and the qualifications for candidates should re main as at present.

Dramatic Statement By

Mataafa

THE last day of the Convention was marked by a dramatic in cident when, after the resolu

tions had been passed, High Chief

Mataafa addressed the Convention

in a passionate speech in which he

strongly protested against the de

cision of the Convention in electing Hons. Tamasese and Malietoa as Heads of State, and disregarding his claim, as member of the Royal

family of Mataafa, to equal con

sideration.

He announced his intention to

completely withdraw from public

life and participation in the future Government of Samoa.

The speech of High Chief Mataafa came as a bombshell after the com

paratively quiet and peaceful de

bates throughout the meeting.

A large number of delegates rep resenting all factions of the Samoan

community rose and appealed to

High Chief Mataafa to respect the

nearly unanimous wish of the Con vention and place the interest and welfare of the country and the re alisation of Self-Government before personal ambition.

Several speakers suggested an ad journment of the Convention until next day, so as to discuss this matter, but this suggestion was de feated when the Chairman, the Hon. Tamasese, pointed out that a large number of delegates from Sayai’i and other remote districts desired to have the Convention ended, as otherwise they would have no opportunity of spending Xmas at home with their families.

It was decided to ask the High Commissioner to attend and declare the Convention officially closed.

The Next Steps

The High Commissioner (Mr.

Powles), in a farewell speech, con gratulated the Convention on the splendid work performed during the long weeks it had been sitting, and on the wonderful spirit of unity, co operation and good fellowship dele gates had shown. He read a message of congratulation from the new New Zealand Minister of Island Terri tories (Mr. Macdonald) in which he announced his intention to pay a visit to Samoa, arriving in Apia on January 30.

The resolutions of the Conven tion will be forwarded to the NZ Government, for consideration.

The plan then will be submitted to the Trusteeship Council of the United Nations.