THE COOK ISLANDS

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 288, 1 September 1919, Page 6

THE COOK ISLANDS

RECENT PRESS CRITICISMS

HON. DR, POMARE IN REPLY

The following statement has been mads for publication by the Hon. Dr. Pomare, Minister in charge of tlio Cook Islands, in reply to recent criticisms:— l,ly attention has been called to several articles which have appeared in the Auckland "Star" in reference to the Cook Islands. It seems to me that it has 'been 'the set policy of certain newspapers to publish ex parto statements in regard to the administration of the Cook Islands, and they argue and form conclusions from these statements whioh are erroneous and damaging to this country. The article states that the policy of the Government has been as far as possible to suppress, the criticisms that have beon levelled at the Cook Islands administration by residents of the islands. This is not oarrect, and that is evident bv the fact that articles full of criticism hava been' appearing in a number of newspapers in this country during the war period. A year or two ago, the sociillod "Progressive Association" of the Conk Islands published their critical report, which was actually minted in New Zealund, and has been widely circulated. There has been no deliberate attempt to j muzzle the Press, as suggested by the I Auckland "Star. 1 ' As a matter of fact, j the newspapers of this country were invited to send a reporter on the recent island trip, as was previously done, but tbey did not think that the news they, would get from the islands would make payable copy, so .they refused to send one, hence an official reporter was sent bv the Government. Sir Francis Ball's letter to me, I think, will be sufficient on this point. ' It is a follows:— There is no foundation for ihe suggestion that the Government preferred to send in the 'I'utanekai to the Cook Islands and Samoa an official reporter. The arrangements for the voyage of the Tutanekai wore under mv control, and I am therefore able to speak positively upon the point. At the time when the arrangements for the voyage were first made, and when I began to arrange for the provision of accommodation for reporters, it was not publicly known that t.he Governor-General had been asked by tiie Imperial Government to. include Samoa in the tour. I was not at liberty to divulge that fact except in strict confidence, but it was still necessary to inform the newspapers of that special circumstnnco not merely because the voyage would thereby be lengthened, but also by reason of what I assumed might appear to the Press to be special matter of public interest. It was the desire of His Excellency ,-of the Government, and of myself that the pre-. cedent of the voyage of His Excellency in 1914 should lie followed, and that two reporters should have passages in the. Tutanekai, one such reporter to be appointed by that section of the Press of which the Auckland "Herald," Wellington Dominion, Christchurch "Press," and "Otago "Daily Times" are representative, and tie other to be chosen by. tho other section, of which the Auckland "Star." "NW Zealand Times," "Lyttelton Times," and Dunedin "Star", are representative. I could not communicate formally with either section of the Press for the reason (relating to Samoa) which I have above referred to, and I took the 'course of writing a confidential letter to the Hon. Mr. Geddis, editor of the "New Zealand Times." As a result of my communications with Mr. Geddis it appeared that while two of the principal newspapers of his section of the Press were willing-to provide a reporter, the others two principal newspapers considered that the probable material to be supplied was not such as to justify expense in the matter, 'and it was thus made clear , to mo that a reporter could not be ap--1 pointed to represent tho whole of that section of the Press. That being so. I consldnred it undesirable to approach tho other section _ of the Press, and therefore determined to adopt the only possible alternative of sending an,official reporter appointed bv the Government. I repeat that that method was not favoured by the Governor-General, by the Government, or by me,-but was adopted because it appeared to be the only al-

ternativa. Dr. Pomare continues: I quote the Auckland "Star":—"The islands have stagnated under Now Zealand administration, and in many important particulars, retrograded," but no statement appears, as lo how they have stagnated 'and retrograded, The> charge made that tho Arikig had consented to representation of the whites on tho Council is denied by the letters which I have before me from those Arlkis, and;also by their own utterances which they made me, as a deputation, asking, among other things, that the Resident Commissioner should ( be allowed to stop there till 'lie died, as he was such a good man, and they refute the suggestion that they had wished for' Europeans to sit with <them on the Council. It is suggested by my critics that I warned tho soldiers against file white residents as bad men. This is absolutely untrue. I did warn the sioldiers, when; they wero about to depart for the front,' to have nothing lo do with bad white men, as wci'.l as bad white women. I wont further, and hdvised them how to look after themselves. To say that I had classed the whole of tho white population of those islands as beach-combers is, upon th? face of it, ridiculous, as anyone who thinks for a moment will know. There are good .white men on those islands, and numbers of them are uny personal; friends, to say nothing of the officers of the Administration. Mr. Allport, who waited upon me,i in my office, makes the following statement in _ the "Civil Service Journal," which my critics do not even quote correctly:— "Tim-ins the course of the interview the Minister stated that Mr. Eogsrs was connected with an association :>t Iturotonga which comprised, amongst others, persons alleged to be beach-combers, and which was usually.at variance with the Administration." The "Star" t.-ives what it considers, a substantia l ! list of grievances:

(li "Perhaps the most important is that it is feared the policy of the Commipsionar lias engendered a feeling of antagonism and • distrust in tho native mind towards local traders."

T want to givo the sinister meaning of this an absolute denial. When T was there,' the natives met me and stated that they wanted Mr. Pktts. To qunto Ihpir own, words: "We find that the Heslawit Commissioner is a good man for us. Wo want him to live hero as long as lie. lives." This was expressed to jric _in every island that I visited. The feeling of antagonism and distrust in flhe native mind towards the local trader has, been brought about by that trader himself. Tho native has been in the trader's hands for many years, and knows that two prices are being charged in the islands for tho trader's goods, tlio native having to pay a higher price than any European.

He has learned Hint by shipping his fruit direct to New Zealand instead of through the trader, he gets a better return for his produce, and therein lies the so-called antagonism.

(2) Eveu now_ I notice thnt certain traders are claiming that they only shall ship fruit and they would block ttie Nat.ivo food producers of the right to ship their fruit to New Zealand if they could, and thus force them to sell io tile traders at the traders' own price. Thoy argue that because they get goods from Auckland by tho Flora and tho Natives do not, tliov should therefore have preference in space over the outward cargo. Because a farmer in this country does not cot. tea and sugar on (lie ships from England, therefore lie must, not get ally space for his mutton on the outward shins. What an argument! What are the goods for, I would like to know, that they get from Auckland by the Flora except to sell to the Natives? Tliev complained some lime ago that tho fruit industry was g"in& to t.he dogs. Of course it was, when tho real producer, the native, was not getting a fair orico for his produce, and thoro was no incentive to produce. (3) Next, the shipping arrangemoiitn are coinolained of. "As tho main line is subsidised by the Dominion Govern(Con tinned on next column).