WESTERN SAMOA

Dominion, Volume 20, Issue 56, 30 November 1926, Page 10

WESTERN SAMOA

NEW ZEALAND’S ADMINISTRATION “EVERY RIGHT TO BE PROUD OF IT” Dominion Special. Auckland, November 29. - “New Zealanders have a right to be proud of the work they are doing at Samoa, where they are administering the native race in accordance with the best traditions of the British Empire.” This is the verdict of His Excellency the Governor-General, as delivered today to the members of the Auckland Rotary Club. When Sir Charles Fergusson, who is an honorary member of the Wellington Rotary Club, last addressed Auckland rotarians, it was just prior to his visit to the islands, wherefore lie deemed the occasion appropriate to give a brief, account of that trip and his impresssions thus gained. Sir Charles Fergusson said that he felt justified in stating that the mam ner in which New* Zealand was dealing with the trust placed in its hands at Samoa commanded the admiration of the world. The Administration was under a New Zealander, Sir George Richardson, to whom he was glad to pay the highest compliment possible. There were other islands,; such as the Cook Islands and- Niue, officered by New Zealanders who, like Sir George Richardson, were playing a remarkable part in building up the nation. Referring to Samoa, His Excellency said it was not so hard to run a country in the interests of those who controlled it. The essence of the mandatorv system, however, left no robin for the national interests of the administrators, but demanded . the ultimate benefit of the inhabitants must be the deciding factor. This inevitably brought complications and sometimes bitter criticisms from people who did not understand the point of view of this trust. The old German system involved exploitation of the natives and the products for the benefit of the Germans He had been at Samoa for nine days, and had carefully examined everv detail of the administrateion, in which the natives had tliefnllcst confidence. Sir George Richardson had, in the three years he had been in Samoa, not only learnt the native language, so that lie could converse, but had even mastered its idioms so that he could speak to natives in their own language and in their own way. (Applause). New Zealand, concluded His. Excellency, was not making anything out of Samoa, but was actually spending £20,000 a year, which, with profits now being made on plantations, were being expended in development. She would not do it for ever—there was no reason why she should—but some day it would return a hundredfold in one form or another the benefits New Zealanders were now bestowing .and .in any case there was the satisfaction that New Zealand was administering a native race in accordance with the highest traditions of the British people. (Applause).