Back, And Bows Out,

Mr. Levestam Looks

After 14 Years

From K. F. Rankin, in Apia.

Samoanisation of the Western Samoan Public Service moved another step forward on August 1 when the retiring Secretary to the Government, Mr. H. A.

(“Ash”) Levestam, was suc

ceeded by 36-year-old Tofa

Lauofo Meti, a part-Samoan.

A KEY figure in the crucial years during the changeover to inde pendence in 1961, Mr. Levestam came to Samoa from New Zealand in 1952 as Assistant Secretary to the Government, and succeeded Tom Smith as Secretary in 1959.

He was a keen sportsman, was president of the RSA, and was popu lar and very competent.

Mr. Levestam married a local girl, nursing sister Pat Moore, in 1958 and they now have four children. They left Apia in mid-August for a holiday for awhile before “Ash” seeks a new job, perhaps in the international field.

In an interview with Samoana be fore he left, Mr. Levestam said he was convinced that efficiency within the Public Service had improved and that services had been expanded and were being provided reasonably well without an equivalent expansion in staff.

He attributed the improvement at lower levels to the steadily rising

standard of education; and at upper levels to the scholarship and staff training schemes.

Mr. Levestam thought much good had come out of expert advice, par ticularly in the fields of constitution and law, health and education. On the other hand, expert advice had not received the attention it warranted in the field of economics.

Expert Advice

“Sometimes advice does not take into sufficient account the political facts of life,” he said.

Mr. Levestam said he did not agree with recent critics that Cabinet had been usurping the authority of, or disregarding, Parliament.

“I think Cabinet has been acutely conscious of the fact that it is answerable to Parliament,” he said.

He was critical, however, of the lack of publicity given to prospective legislation.

Mr. Levestam saw possible pitfalls in the future in the continued neglect of agricultural development, and in pushing young educated Samoans, with little actual experience, into positions of responsibility too quickly.

He was confident, however, that the country would eventually prosper.

“With its abundance of natural resources and the natural prudence of its leaders, Samoa would seem to have a very bright future,” he said.

O The population of Nauru in creased from 4,613 to 6,056 between June 30, 1961, and June 30 this year.

Norfolk Island’s population is now 1,152. These figures are shown in a bulletin issued by the Commonwealth Statistician, Mr. K. M. Archer, which gives preliminary figures from the June 30 census.

• Members of the GEIC Advisory Council study papers at the seventh meeting of the council in August