He Choice: Retrogression Or

W. Samoa at Crossroads

Hard Work And More Production

Solution to Western Samoa’s current financial difficulties vas put plainly in the Financial and Banking Survey Report vhich was tabled at the September meeting of The West Samoan legislative Assembly. In a sentence it was: Produce more to :over cost of the increased social services you now expect > r return to a more primitive style of native’ economy. The Assembly, as Assemblies usually do in such cases, referred the natter to a Select Committee and then went home.

fAT the Territory’s financial position was unsound has been apparent for some years, and has been of concern to public in Samoa.

Dwever, the seriousness of it was brought home until the recent ;o over the missing £126,000 ;h the Government had counted i getting from Reparation tes—or the Western Samoa >t Estates Corporation, as it is called. (See PIM for August September). hy the government expected amount must be attributed to ful-thinking or to habit. The ster for Territories has made ear that: He could not see from the icial statements regarding Re tion Estates submitted to him, the Samoan Government I expect a grant of £126,000 1957 from the Estates profits, amount zoould not have been able even if the New Zealand mment had retained control e Estates and not handed them to the Trust Estates Corpora hough New Zealand has not bed upon Samoa the vast that Australia has given to Guinea, for years NZ has been ?ring the Samoan economy by tous grants. These apparently, been accepted as part of me by the Samoan Govern —and when one of these gifts t forthcoming the whole finan structure is thrown out of ce. s: perhaps unfair to say at this stage that the Samoan am i for political autonomy far ns the Territory’s ability to or it. But it is apparent that me at the top in Samoa a be taking lessons in facts lance, such as contained in id truism that you cannot take out of a pint pot than what •ut in to it. the report of the financial 7 team puts it, in a more manly manner: eel that the most important thing for iders of the people of Western Samoa

to decide is where the Territory is heading— what are they aiming to achieve.

Is it to be a progressive, industrious country desirous of, and anxious for, socially satisfy ing and modern standards of living, or is it to become a place in the Pacific retaining its age-old customs and traditions, isolated from the upsetting influences of the changing world?

There is a body of opinion that tends to sanction economic change in Western Samoa only if it occurs as an evolutionary process but it cannot be appreciated too soon that desire for maintenance of a communal sub sistence economy is in conflict with community ambitions for progressive health and educa tional services and for satisfying opportunities for new generations of educated and ambitious Samoans.

The survey team consisted of three men (Messrs. I. D. Lythgoe V. D. Stace, and G. M. S. Webster) •’ and they visited Samoa in May.

Their report ran into 41 pages.

After the £126,000 bombshell hit the Government, drastic pruning of current year expenditure was undertaken. But worse is in store for 1958, when Mr. A. J. Neil, acting Financial Secretary of the Terri tory, calculates that expenditure will have to be reduced from £1,048,000 to about £BOO.OOO.

In recent years Samoans have demanded more and more roads, schools, health services and social services. Capital expenditure, main tenance and staffing of all projects connected therewith have now made such demands upon the an nual budget that it is impossible to pay for them out of current revenue.

There are two alternatives: to prune back services; or to produce and earn more.

If it is to be the latter course, Samoa will have to increase ex ports of cocoa, copra and fruit; and if possible introduce secondary in dustries.

The first means working harder but should be comparatively easy.

The introduction of secondary in dustries is, under existing Samoan laws, somewhat more difficult.

Samoa does not want or like foreign companies and so far has not tolerated them. PIM readers may remember the attempt of a year or so ago when a NZ ice-cream company planned to set up in busi ness in Apia. This plan was de

feated and it was said at the time that if it had been permitted it would have taken the living away from local ice-cream makers.

The introduction of secondary industries must then be through local companies with local capital, or local dummies for overseas capi tal. Few secondary industries of any note have evolved in Samoa.

Samoa apparently does not want a tourist industry either —a com paratively painless way of raising revenue.

As the report said, Samoa has to choose very soon where it wants to go; and how much it is prepared to pay for the pleasure. t Scout Leader Ben Ellis of Mani hiki, Cook Islands, who recently represented Cook Islands Scouts at a jamboree in England, was one of the 50 world scouts selected to form a Guard of Honour to Her Majesty the Queen when she visi ted the jamboree. Scheduled to leave England for home on October 15, Scout Ellis has lately visited Scotland and France. t Interesting and unusual visitors to Apia port recently were the luxury schooner Te Vega under the Liberian flag which until recently ran a service between Honolulu and Papeete; and the Japanese whale chaser, Fumi Maru, of 600 tons, which put into Apia for fuel.