London Meeting Proposes

Samoa's Entry To SPC

. ve member nations of the South Pacific Commission met m London in July for a round-table talk on future develnn ments in the Commission.

jl/TAIN purpose of the meeting was to discuss the entry of Western Samoa to Commission membership.

It was proposed that Samoa should be admitted as a full member, but ratification of this has to be made by the various Governments.

No official announcement has been made by any of the five Governments involved about the London talks—nor, in fact, has it been announced that talks took place—but it is expected that a firm announcement on Samoa’s position will be made before the next session of the SPC, in Noumea in October. Developments will be dis cussed at that meeting.

Samoa became an independent State in January, 1962. The question of her future role in the SPC had been discussed by member Govern ments both before and after indepen dence, but no firm policy had been arrived at.

As a full member, Samoa itself would benefit directly from the work of the Commission and thus would be in a somewhat different position

from any of the present five members —Britain, the US, France, Australia and New Zealand—all of whom are metropolitan powers, whose terri tories benefit.

General Talks The London talks also ranged over general proposals affecting the Com mission’s future development, includ ing ways of allowing the indigenous people to take a more active part in the work of the Commission through a re-arrangement of functions. Pro posals have had to be referred back to the member Governments.

The talks also discussed a re arrangement of financial quotas, made necessary by the departure of the Netherlands from the SPC last year and the new proposals affecting Samoa.

The Secretary-General of the SPC, Mr. W. D. Forsyth, was not at the talks but he flew to Canberra for dis cussions while the talks were still continuing, and later flew to Apia for discussions with Samoan officials.

Although the London talks were not designed as a review conference of SPC activities, they did fulfill that role to some extent and it is now possible that a formal review con ference will not be held. Presumably, many of the member Governments believe that the occasional changes in direction the SPC needs to keep it an active and important force in the South Seas can be made through constant liaison via normal Govern ment channels, and not through any big and formal review conference of the type held in Canberra in 1957.

AN OLD FRIEND RETURNS: US businessman Mr. Fred Hargesheimer, who was shot down over New Britain during the war while serving with the US forces, was visiting Rabaul again in July to check progress on the school he is having built for the villagers who helped him. He founded a trust fund in the US to do it.

With Mr. Hargesheimer this time was his son Dick, 18 (left). Mr. Hargesheimer is explaining to two Nonga Hospital orderlies how his aircraft was shot down.

Photo: C. H. Meen.