How Samoa Faces Up

[?]W Parliament

October

How Samoa Faces Up To Nationhood

NE of the most interesting Apolitical changes in the South Pacific occurs this year, when stern Samoa will take another inite step forward towards com te self-government. ’he Fono of Faipule and the fislative Assembly will be dis ced in September; and a general jtion in October will complete the iblishment of a House of Repre tatives. n the House there will be 49 mbers and a President —3 official, Europeans (elected by voters of opean status, male and female, r the age of 21), and 41 Samoan nbers elected under the Matai em (by the heads of Samoan lily groups). he present Executive Council will replaced by a Council of Min rs; and in the Council (presided r by the High Commissioner), :e will be 3 official members, 2 lourable Fautua; and 4 Samoans [ 2 Europeans elected by the ise of Representatives, i this way New Zealand, hold the Trusteeship of Western 10a from the United Nations, will have a directing voice in government of Samoa; but the loans actually will enjoy a very e measure of self-government.

ESTERN Samoa thus has travelled a long way, in a political sense, since the early 5 of the Mandate, and the Mau llion, and the tragedies of -35 le uninstructed people who de ed the Mandate system after Id War I gave New Zealand a Mandate over Samoa, although Zealand knew little more about oa than did the Grand Llama Tibet, and the “C” Mandate designed for primitive people pable of governing themselves, the natives of New Guinea, le designers apparently were vare that the Samoans were nesians, and that Polynesians— n the case of Tonga, or the Zealand Maoris—were capable ccepting at once a considerable sure of self-government. ie Samoans bitterly resented the idate conditions, and appealed atedly to New Zealand for more ideration. !w Zealand replied by sending idministrators a series of stiff ed soldiers (Generals, Brigadiers Colonels) who from 1920 to the r Thirties treated the Samoans f they were in fact primitive ges.

The Samoans became sullen and unco-operative, and formed their subversive, anti-NZ Mau. The Ad ministrators tried to break up the Mau. Prominent Europeans (O. F.

Nelson, A. G. Smyth, Judge Gurr), who ranged themselves beside the Samoans were arbitrarily seized and banished.

The inevitable clash came in December, 1929. One European policeman, and 11 Samoans, includ ing High Chief Tamasese, were killed.

A restless armed peace lasted until 1936, when New Zealand elected its first Labour Government. The latter immediately changed the

Samoan policy; cancelled the edicts of banishment and sent the Samoan leaders back home with full honours; and made many con cessions in local government to the Samoans. It deported the few sur viving Chinese labourers —W. Samoa now is the only large Pacific Terri tory without an Asian community.

Since then, the Territory has made extraordinary progress. The 40,000 Samoans taken over by NZ in 1920 have become 100,000; and the new nation —for that is what it is—is prosperous, self-supporting, 80 per cent, literate, peaceful, and within a couple of generations probably will be entirely in dependent.