Hokitika Guardian & Evening Star MONDAY, APRIL 19th, 1920. NEW ZEALAND’S MANDATE.

Hokitika Guardian, 19 April 1920, Page 2

Hokitika Guardian & Evening Star MONDAY, APRIL 19th, 1920. NEW ZEALAND’S MANDATE.

There is a good’ deal of divided opinion about the New Zealand mandate over 'Samoa. When Parliament meets and the execution of the mandate is taken up in real earnest the flood gates of talk will be let loose. Ho"'e.Ver, it is interesting to have an independent opinion on the matter, and this we have from Dr Scholfield, a distinguished Dominion pressman who will be remembered here as a visitor at the time of the celebration of the late Mr Seddon’s political jubilee. Mr Scholfield has made the Pacific question a study, and has published works on the complex matters arising out of the international settlement of the isles of the Pacific. Last week the returned pressman, absent for several years in England, was entertained at Wellington by the New Zealand Club. In the course of his remarks on that occasion he went on to say in dealing with New Zealand’s mandate, that in the war, to use the words of the chief of the French General Staff, “the New Zealand banner was held very high,” and it behoved us to continue to uphold our war-time ideals. This brought Viim to the question of the Samoan mandate, and in this connection he referred to the existence of two schools of thought upon the subject. Of the’ two schools, lie questioned which was the more dangerous. One school held that New Zealand should not be in Samoa at all, because the country belonged to Samoans. What would be the result of selfgovernment in Samoa ? To his mind, if left entirely to their own resources, the Samoans would become a. prey to all sorts of adventurers. The Polynesian had not a. vestige of competition in him.. It was quite impossible for the Samoan to stand alone, and what country had a more natural right to govern in Samoa than New Zealand? The second school of though favoured the handing of the mandate back to Great Britain because it would he a “white elephant.” A “white elephant” was something that did not bring in lunch money. The European war was a “white elephant,” but no one would question the stand the Empire took in the great struggle. The question of finance did. not alter the question of righteousness. We should be in Samoa whether it cost us money or not. He, for one, refuesd to believe that the social welfare of the native race could be found in the ledger book. We bad to take the mandate up because in the last six years we had taught the Samoans to lean upon us. Samoa was paying fairly well in German hands, but the Germain methods of economic administration would not appeal to us. At the present time the native Samoan was producing three-quarters of the exports of Samoa, and it was quite reasonable providing lie was given pro- | per encouragement—to suppose that he I would in time make up the other fourth The German plantations on account of the serious deficiency of labour, were all going back to their wild native state. It had to be borne in mind that it was becoming increasingly difficult to obtain indentured labour. There was no guarantee that we could get even Chinese labour to work the plantations, and even if this was resorted to we should be up aainst the question of the admixture of tbe Samoan and Chinese races. From this it will he seen that the obvious course is suggested for Now Zealand. In point of fact we have to help the Motherland bear the White Man’s burden—the greater portion of which, now as heretofore, falls to Great Britain. We have accepted our responsibilities as a nation, and we must not shirk them, just because there is monetary cost involved. We did not count the cost when entering into the Great War, and just as we volunteered to help Britain then, so can we do so now effectively by carrying through the mandate given, us. New Zealand is capable of performing the task better than any other nation, and our natural interests in the progress of civilisation demand that we should go through with the task and no doubt we will with further credit, to New Zealand