NELSON TRIAL

Evening Post, Volume CXVII, Issue 73, 27 March 1934, Page 17

NELSON TRIAL

COURT'S JUDGMENT

DEFENDANT'S ACTIVITIES

"A SAD TRAGEDY"

The'text of the final judgment of Judge J. H. Luxfora in tho lengthy Nelson trial recently reached Auckland from Samoa. In delivering his final judgment, Judge Luxford traversed the history of tho Mau in Samoa and tho association with the movement of the Hon. O. 11.I1. Nelson.

"Little, if anything, need be added to justify the imposition of the sentence I jproposo to pass upon the defendant," Judge Luxford said. "Sufficient already appears in. my interim judgment, but the facts I will now relate have been considered by me for the purpose of determining whether the defendant should be sent into exile after the termination of his sentence. "The evidence satisfies me that the defendant at the beginning of the agitation against the Government acted conscientiously ana with ' the highest motives, however misguided were the methods he employed—and subsequent events have proved how misguided they were. The evidence further shows that, even at the time of -deportation and for some time after, the defendant's motives were still actuated by what he thought was in. the best interests of the country, but he had made a promise to_ the Samoahs that he would return with a victory for them, and should 'have known what the effect of such a promise would be." "DEEP-ROOTED OBSESSION." The judgment comments on Nelson's activities during his first period of deportation from Samoa and his attitude to the request from Europeans in Samoa that he should advise members of the Mau to. meet the Administrator with a view to reaching a settlement. "Defendant returned to New Zealand after his visit to Geneva," the judgment continues, "and some time..afterwards became associated with a man whose influence, in my opinion, is to some extent responsible for the defendant's subsequent conduct and has helped to bring him to his present unfortunate position. . "He became obsessed with what he considered the injustice of his' deporta-; tion for five years from his native country without trial; indeed, the most painful (to me) feature of this long trial was his frequent use of that set expression ana the emotion he exhibited each time he made use of it. It was evident that his grievanco has become a deep-rooted obsession which often dominates his thoughts and actions. A SEDITIOUS PAPER. ■ "On May 9,1929, there was published the first issue of the 'New Zealand Samoa Guardian.' What I have examined satisfies me that it is a seditious paper of the worst type. Its main purpose has been maliciously to insult and belittle the mandatory power and those to whom the administration of the country has been entrusted. There is ample evidence to prove that the paper could not have been publishea unless the defendant had supplied the necessary funds and that he has been responsible for its continued publication. "The best indication of. tho defendant's state of mind is found in the article published under-his own name in the issue of October 23, 193.0. "When a person is suffering from a grievanco, real or imaginary, he 'seeks*, tho association of those, who . will agree with' him, ana his mind becomes very receptive to suggestions for righting the grievanco or punishing those whom he thinks are responsible for his position. In this case apparently the defendant considered the Government of New Zealand and'■the Administrator of Samoa wero responsible parties, ana, assisted by the evil influence of Percy Andrews, editor and publisher of the 'Guardian,' has waged an incessant campaign of calumny against the Government and thoso connected with it, through the medium of the 'Guardian,' printed in the English and Samoan languages and circulated throughout the territory and elsewhere. Two months ago this paper was declared seditious and prohibited from coming into Samoa." LETTERS FROM ANDREWS. Extracts were given from, a letter received by defendant from Androws last Novomber, reading as follows:—"lt's murder the way the bank uro trying to keep their throttle on you through your firm, but I know how ghoulish they are when they get their talons into anyone, and when there is political pull behind the bank, like the 15. N.Z., they will stick at nothing. , . . ■ . "Talking over a quiet/ono with Pctia after tho fono yesterday, we agreed that if you were boldly to renounce the 'Nelson' and claim the 'Taisi,' it would put Hart ana New Zealand offside. . . . That, of course, is only a ■•suggestion, but with Faumui failing in •health, if you wore to do this and proclaim yourself openly a Samoan first, change the name of tho firm, make it a co-operative concern as you could with as many Samoan shareholders as you can find—so long as you hold unchallenged control—you might be able to-throw off the bank's shackles, take open charge of the Mau, and then see what the cows hero wouia do."

The Judge commented that in 1904 a man named Pullack had tried the course advocated by Andrews, and a serious upheaval was narrowly, averted by the German Government.- .In answering Andrews's letter, defendant made no reference, to the suggestion. The proposal, on the face of it, could only mean, that the defendant -was to save his firm at the expense of the Sainoaii people, ana from the defendant's failure promptly to denounce the author it couia be inferred that he thought there might bo something in it. SNEERS AT CHURCHES. In the same Jotter; Andrews had sneered at the Sainoans' devotion to their churches, and held they should pay more towards the upkeep of the Guardian. He wrote: "They can always find money in Samoa to save their souls in the next world; can't they find as much, to save them in their own little world? I suppose a good Samoan would think nothing of giving £.5 a year to his church (that's only 2s a week), but if asked for a dollar to help our fight he'd plead poverty and the (price of copra," i The defendant in his reply said:— I "The malaga of ten men each for ,Upolu and Savaii left today and will take things very cautiously. Ono or two wild suggestions have- already been ; made, but I knocked them on the head. j Regarding the . efforts of the Man to [cover expenses by contributions, you ] really must admit that they "have done their best when you realise that, with ] the exception of the small district in ! and around Apia, the Samoans have been cutting copra for the last month or two which required a quantity of 20001b dry copra, or 40001b green copra, to get but 20s cash, and when the price was reduced for a little while to 6d a 1001b double that quantity was needed to get one sovereign in currency. To cut and dry it takes ono man's good i hard, work all his time to get, 3001b or 4001b a week, which will also require a lot of time of his family tq watch tlic drying process."

The Judge said the letter did not tell Andrews that the defendant would cease pressing .the- Samoans for every penny ho could get to keep a seditious PaP?5- going* Ha-jvas-.prepared to- Ib e^

hove that after the defendant left I\ew Zealand he had endeavoured to get rid of the effect of Andrews's influence, and had thought seriously of following the excellent advice given to him by the Prime .Minister of Ne*w Zealand in a letter aatea November 11, 1932 "When tho defendant returned to Samoa on May 16, 1933, he "found himsolt on the horns of a dilemma. Ho had cither to announce publicly and finally that he haa failed, and take the inexorable consequences that Samoan custom would demand, or else devise a scheme to cover his failure." Efforts had been made to ~ hold a conference between the Administrator and tho Mau, but the former wonia not agree to the presence of Nelson as ono of tho Mau'a representatives. Tho Samoans insisted and the Judge thougat their attitude towards Nelson was this: "You have lea us into this trouble—it is for you to get us out of it." "Again, the defendant was on the horns of a dilemma," the judgment continues. "Once the negotiations with the Administrator-had aoflnitely broken' down, he abandoned the restraint he had exereisea since, ,his return to Samoa. The old obsession possessed him and, regardless of the consequences to the Samoan people, he set them in train for what was likely to end in what he himself suggested—a clash of qomc 'kind sooner or later. PIRST STEP IN CAMPAIGN, "In September preparations were put in, liana for the first definite step in defendant's plan of campaign—the senaing of the two malaga parties, one to go round Upolu ana the other round Savaii. Defendant persistently questioned the members of those parties to show that the sole, object of the malaga was the laudable object of inspecting plantations ana.the cleanliness of villages and roads. The innocent ana laudable,object of the malaga parties is best rebutted by quotations from two letters—one from Andrews to defenaant and the other from defendant to Andrews in reply. "From Andrews's letter:—'l am glad to learn from yours of October 13 to me that the Mau are going in for silent organising work to get- tho running of the country into their hands, and they are wise in doing it without any publicity until the timo comes to show their hand and prove what they havo been aoing. The whole question is very difficult and needs careful handling. A false move might be disastrous.' "Defendant replied to that as follows:—'Jßegarding the silent organising work of the Mau to run tho country, you are quite right in saying that it requires delicate handling, and a foolish move might be disastrous. The malaga of ten,-,men each for Upolu and Savaii left today ana will take things very cautiously. One or two wiia suggestions have already been made, but I havo knocked them on tho head.' ATMS COMPLETELY ALTERED. | 'One's intelligence -is shocked to think that defendant should have made a suggestion that the sole object of the malaga party was as I have previously stated. It is clear that the Mau itself decided on the malaga parties for the purpose of making inspections, but defendant made suggestions that completely altered tho purpose of tho party. "It is difficult to fix the dates of meetings when the malaga party was discussed, ana defendant advised the committee of the Mau to reduce tho sizo of each party, otherwise the law would bo broken. I pause to observe that if defendant gave such advice it could not have been honestly given. The activities of tho Mau itself, as he well knew, were illegal, and the size of a malaga party, whether large or small, couia not alter that. If he gave honest, advice, ho would havo tola the committee that smaller malaga parties would not be so^noticeable and there would be less chance of the police finding out about them. "In epite of the intention expressed in the first ana second paragraphs of the 'Pcloaiga Muamua a lo Mau,' found in defenaant's possession, the document, viowea as a whole, shows that it is the first active part .of 'the silent organising work of the Mau to run the country' ana 'a foolish move might be disastrous? to that work. It justifies my comment that defendant was leading the Samoan people, through the Mau, to a position which wouia culminate in open rebellion." "A PORCE OP EVIL." After referring to tho sentencing in, November and N December of certain high chiefs and'orators who were members of the malaga parties and his intention to iccommena to the Administrator that the balance of' their sentences shouia be. romittea, as Nelson was tho responsible party, Juage Luxford addressed defendant.

"Your present position," he said, "can be very briefly described as a sad tragedy. Tho eviaenco satisfica me, Apart altogether from the manner in which you conauetea your defence, that your outstanding ability was capable of being, indeed, actually was, a force of good to this country and to your mother's people. But you have turned the talents wherewith you are blessed into a force of ovil.

' "The sentence of the Court is that you are to' be imprisoned for eight months^ concurrently on- each charge and exiled from Samoa for a term of ten -years from this aate." *'.