There were reasons enough why

A. Samoans went conservative

From a Pago Pago correspondent

Why did the American Samoans, contrary to most expectations, reject by a margin of more than two to one, the proposal to elect their own governor and lieutenant-governor and other constitutional changes which would have put some power into their own hands and more money into the politicians pockets?

Many reasons have been advanced, Some have contended that there were no qualified Samoan leaders to take over. Others have argued that Samoan holders of high positions would not be as effective as Caucasians in obtaining funds or grants from Washington. There are those who say that Samoans would tend to abuse their positions and cncourage things like nepotism.

There is some basis for all these arguments. Giving evidence some time ago to a US Congressional Committee investigating proposals for constitutional changes, I pointed out that there were qualified Samoan leaders, highly educated, very experienced in administration and politics, who could hold their own anywhere in the world, and, perhaps, succeed better than their American counterparts in winning more funds for the territory. But the basic problem was a voter one. Which leader to elect?

The question was not so much the

availability of leaders but the need for a better-educated electorate, able to analyse each candidate and then make a good decision on their find ings. j n Samoa, as anywhere else, there wou d be good and bad candidateS; narrow-minded leaders indifferent to proper p i ann i ng and good bookkeep ing; leaders who were callous over the people’s interests and needs, and, perhaps, would-be dictators, i wou ld like to think the voters turned down the proposals for consti tutional change because they were basically uncertain of themselves and their ability to choose aright. This k f a j r enough. Change for change sake is no use . voters should not be hurried. Maybe, they are not yet ready for change, It is not surprising that they re jected the increase to the lawmakers’ salaries who now get about $6,000 (US) per annum, the issuing of bonds by the legislature and granting of more government authority to the villages. It seems this is also tied to the decision to reject the proposal to elect a Samoan governor and lieutenant-governor, With US imperialism on the one hand and a fistful of imponderables on the other, the voters probably made a good choice by going con servative.