New Zealand

Nearly Penniless,

They Say—

W. Samoa Critical of New Zealand

A WEST SAMOA Public Servant, Mr. Alan Gordon, schools’ broad casting officer, joined the critics of New Zealand’s colonial adminis tration in the NZ press in January.

He said that while New Zealand was expending large sums on the Colombo Plan, Western Samoa, its “main colonial responsibility” was in grave difficulties because of a near penniless administration.

All developmental public works have ceased in Savai’i and 200 Public Works employees have been dis missed, Mr. Gordon says. Schools may be closed and up to 200 teachers —about a third of the teaching strength—may be dismissed. There will be no new intake to the Teach ers’ Training College this year.

Skilled New Zealand staff are being sent home or are not being replaced when their contracts end.

New Zealand is in danger of losing face in W. Samoa, said Mr. Gordon.

The carrying out of her honourable intentions was left to amateurs.

Australia, he said, spent millions of pounds annually in Papua-New Guinea but little of New Zealand’s own money went into Western Samoa.

“Now is the time for New Zealand to give practical expression to her oft-repeated good wishes by making grants for education and public works and by making loan money available at attractive rates to pro mote secondary industries,” he said.

Mr. Gordon says that the Samoans have been most tolerant for many many years but, now that they are steering the ship they will also want to plot the course. Wise guidance and practical friendliness at this time would give New Zealand a better opportunity to say to the Commonwealth in three years’ time: “Samoa has asked to join our family; we are proud of her de cision”.

(See Commentary, page 27)

suggesting bad relations between Macmillan and Menzies, and stat ing that Menzies was “hogging the limelight”. There was perceptible fury in a press statement issued by Menzies, denying such incidents or sad relations.

Watching the Macmillan pro fessions, we were inclined to say ;hat both Australia and New Zea and —both in many ways “more British than the British” —are grow ng away from the Old Country. The )3der generations, and especially hose who remember the old Empire, he Pax Britannica and the dom nant White Ensign of pre-1914, still all Britain “Home”, and contem ilate no world in which Britain is lot all-powerful.

But the newer generations pparently are not moved by these hings. The Britain they see is a Britain badgered and harassed by olitical, social and economic evils, r hich have arisen directly out of l ie exhaustions of two World Wars. ; hey think mostly in terms of their ationhood. They seem to be im lensely more influenced by a new X)n-song from America than by all le patriotic fervour of a British rime Minister, so painstakingly ?eking their goodwill.

That is how it seems. And then, ght on the heels of the Macmillans, rnies the Queen Mother—and these ime unpredictable people gather in leir countless thousands, to cheer id demonstrate. Our memories go vck four years, to similar scenes hen Elizabeth and Philip were sre.

Maybe cur focus needs adjusting.

Queen is always a Queen—and ie British of all latitudes always ive had a monarch at their head, it a Prime Minister is just another )litician—and there is no doubt bout how the South Pacific itish feel about politicians!

ie Urgent Damning

Dulles & Co.

, MAZING man, this Mr. Nikita L Kruschev. Well-informed com mentators, like America’s Time H him a bumble-footed clod pper, an ignorant peasant, an ipredictable alcoholic; but Mr. ruschev maintains his precarious rch on top of the Kremlin, and eps the Western leaders hopping ound uneasily, their moods rang g from fury to panic.

Throughout the world, nothing is )re anxiously desired than peace, that we may live out our lives tnout this daily threat of atom mb extermination. Most people rse our leaders, because they fail end the tension.

This, of course, is capitalised by 6 ignorant peasant”. Every day,

he insists that none desires peace more ardently than the Soviets. Why, he demands, will Western leaders not meet him “at the summit”, to seek a means to end the Cold War?

The Western masses turn an in creasingly friendly eye upon Nikita, and echo his “Why”. Which is pre cisely what the bumble-footed clod hopper wants them to do. The under-mining of responsible Western governments by Col d-War-weary people is the next stage in the Muscovite plan to bring the whole world under Communism.

As this is written, Dulles (in Turkey), Macmillan (in Australia) and Eisenhower (in Washington) are increasingly under fire because they ignore the jovial Kruschev hand, ex tended daily from the Kremlin.

But our leaders seek deeds, not words, before they gather at “the summit”—they want some proof of Russia’s sincerity. They dare not forget (a) that after 1945 we dis armed to the point of nakedness, while Russia maintained all her armaments, and initiated the Cold War; (b) that we are secure and safe only while our H-bombs are dry and ready; and (c) no one in his senses would entrust his life and his future to the unsupported word of a Communist.

We are inclined to hope, increas ingly, that the twinkling Mr.

Kruschev means all he says. But we dare not drop our guard, until we are sure.

On Having And

Ealing Your Cake

A WEST SAMOA public servant’s outburst in the New Zealand press about the Dominion’s approach to what he called its colonial administration, made sensa tional reading (or as close to it as the NZ press ever gets) but showed little realism. (See article page 21, this issue).

It has been obvious for the past year that W. Samoa’s finances have been sick; and in the last six months that there has been something like panic, with budget estimates being slashed in an attempt to live within income.

The event that triggered the crisis was the expected £126,000 payment from the Trust Estates Corporation that did not eventuate. (See PIM September, p. 20.) The trouble in which W. Samoa now finds herself may be due partly to the bungling of what the critic called “amateurs”, but mostly it is due to the fact that in the post war boom years, the Samoan people demanded and got more and more social services and began more and more projects of a capital nature.

But production in basic industries

was not increased to cover this soar ing expenditure, with the result that as soon as export incomes fell and NZ grants were not forthcoming so freely, Samoa fell on evil times.

When West Samoans get full self government—and they are close to it now—they will learn that govern ment hand-outs are never free, and that everything ultimately is based on labour and production. It can hardly be said that they have shown much appreciation of the situation as yet, however—having just voted in favour of a paid legislature of 46, plus Speaker, etc., for a population of about 100,000.

To compare New Zealand and W.

Samoa with Australia and P-NG, as the critic did, is ridiculous. New Guinea is a bastion against Asia— conclusively proved in 1942-45; it is a huge, rich territory with in dustries that dwarf any enterprise in W. Samoa. Australia pours millions in, but gets much in return.

W. Samoa is of little value to New Zealand; strategically it is worthless and economically it is unimportant.

There are a dozen valid reasons why Australia should stay in P-NG: few why NZ should hang on in W.

Samoa—a fact evidently recognised by the last Nationalist government which decided to give the Samoans the independence they have craved lor 30 years, and thereby at least gain some international kudos.

The freedom and independence that W. Samoa is soon to attain will be that Territory’s just so long as there are no larger and stronger Powers to fit their eyes upon it; or so long as there are larger and stronger Powers to protect it. None of the Pacific territories, now work ing towards independence, can ever be “freer” than that.

How Silly Can

Indonesia Get?

IF the Indonesians remain serious in treating the Java Sea (be tween Java and Eastern Indo nesia) as “territtprial waters”, to be used by international shipping only with Soekarno’s permission, an ugly situation could develop. This has been a maritime highway, between tne Indian and the Pacific Oceans tor hundreds of years.

If SU9II a claim could be upheld, Australia would have an equal right to sovereignty over Bass Strait (be tween Tasmania and Victoria) and T °rres Strait (between Australia and Papua), and to close those high ways to the ships of other nations.

The reasoning is in line with Indonesia’s claim to West New Guinea, which has no political, historical, geographical or ethnical foundation.