SAMOA.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 751, 25 February 1910, Page 5

SAMOA.

COMPLAINTS OP THE GEEMAK COLONISTS. I _____ A PETITION FOE AtTONOM?; By TclegraDh-Presa Assooiatioo-Copyriirht Sydney, February 24. Residents of Samoa are petitioning the Gorman Eeiehstag for autonomy. The petitioners state that tho hopes . cherished ten years ago that a more , peaceful and prosperous period of de- ■ velopment would sot in have not . been realised, and that tho measures taken by the Gorman Administration were cal- , culated to harden the lot of the sottlere and hold back the progress of the col- i ony;

; The present position of the taxpayers ii described. by-.the 'petitioners as disgraceful.":- The'.increase of ...taxation -and/of officials is not justified by .the relative in-, crease of population; '■/.,:; ■.'.:'■■-■ 'v./Uv,-

"A SMALL MINORI-Ty, u , OFFICIALS AND TAXES NOT EXCESSIVE. By Teloeranh—Pre») AssociationTCoDrrlglit. Auckland, Febrnary S4.' ' Mr. Carl Secgncr, German Consul, ia. tcrviewed on tho subject of the cable gram concerning tho petition of Samoan - residents, appeared to attach but little/ , importance to it. He eaid that Germans • objected to taxation the same as other people, perhaps more so. Ho had some • discussion on the subject with Dr. SoU, Governor of German Samoa,' when Dr. , Solf was in Auckland recently, and came to .the: conclusion that Samoan residents were by no means uufairly taied or overburdened with taxation. This was, of course, a traders' agitation, and they appeared to desire that the bulk of the , taxation should be placed .upon-the l nai: vtives. i~-;: V';\- '■■'■• :;!■''• ■■-.'. :: '• '■■■■ -■-'■■ ; ''';•-(."■''-'• , ;-/;! , .'r-.'

Mr, Kronfeld, the well-known mor- ' chant and Island trader, when interviewed this morning regarding the cable- , gram, characterised the complaints as being.: "absolute bunebmbo." ■ "I know Samoa as well as most men," soid Mr. Kronfeld, "and I know that it has never been more prosperous than during the past ten years. Tho imports and exports ■ navo increased regularly from year to year, and the country ia progressing more peacefully than at any tinoft.; previous, "As for increased taxation, the Samoan residents are, exceptionally well treated. The taxation iir Samoa is about 10 per cent,■. while'in'Fiji,-for instance, the i taxation is ncaTer 50 per cent. Ido not" '. think there are'more than a necessary number of officials in Samoa. The petition to the Eeichstag is the work of the discontented minority which exists everywhere. In Samoa it is a very Email minority."