SAMOA

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 154, 19 March 1918, Page 6

SAMOA

Sir,—ln the advertising columns of tho Press appears a uiiuco from the Mayor convening a meeting on' Thursday next to consider a resolution of protest against tlie restoration of tho Herman, colonies in tho i'aciiV.. May I that, if tlivi question mustbo considered, the motion should bo so framed as to permit a perfectly free discussion. It is certain, I think, that if the meeting is purely one of protest, some who have given this problem much thought will remain away—they do wish to attend public meetings to protest against a protest and possibly to have theii action described : u opprobrious terms. The problem of the Uerman colonies is not a simpio one; it is not a separate one; it is part of the larger question of conquered territories (whether captured by the Allies or by our enemies). Resolutions such as have been passed recently in New Zealand will either be of no effect or will play into the hands of the German diplomats, wlio could wish nothing better than to attend »• peace conference with many pawns to barter with, and to know that tho resolutions of the British Dominions beyond the seas had robbed tho British plenipotentiaries (?) of any power to bargain. We can imagine the smile on the face of the Ge.vnian representative as he offered the "'British diplomat the restoration of Belgium for the restoration of Samoa. Is it fair to risk the possibility of leaving the Belgians and Serbs under the heel of the oppressor, even for a moment, because we, who have escaped the real terrors of war, desire either loot or a supposed security for the future? —I am, etc., NEW ZEALAND. Wellington, March 17, 1918.