The Guardian And Evening Star, with which is incorporated the West Coast Times. FRIDAY, AUGUST 23, 1929.

Hokitika Guardian, 23 August 1929, Page 4

The Guardian And Evening Star, with which is incorporated the West Coast Times. FRIDAY, AUGUST 23, 1929.

SAMOAN ADMINISTRATION. The annual report on the administration of Western Samoa will not furnish the members of the Permanent Mandates Commission at Geneva, to whom it has already been .tf or warded, reflects the Otago limes, with anything”' in the'fehape of sensational reading. The prist year has not been productive of any seriously untoward political developments in the territory, though it unfortunately cannot be recorded that the Man has yet been Drought to a reasonabe frame of mind. Discussing the unrest the Administrator admits—or admitted at the date when his report was prepared—that, while the attitude of the Mau is more subdued than it was. the same difficulty in dealing with it persists. While observing that a by no means satisfactory position is thus cren-ecl. be deprecates exaggeration of tlie difficulties of the present situation. In the June issue of the Round Table the contributor of the New Zealand article, after expressing Lis regret that it'is not yet possible to omit from it rnv reference to the vox°d question of Samoa, goes on to say: “Meanwhile the rhinoceros beetle and the weed grow apace in the plantations, the re-

venue of the country lias shrunk alarm-! ingly, and the native children throughout the affected region are being kept away from the schools and medical services provided for their benefit at the expense of the New Zealand Government.” That is a somewhat discouraging view of the situation to circulate abroad, but it is not b .rue out in the main by the official review. While, on account of the 'altitude of the Mau, the revenue from native taxes was rather less than one-third,of the estimate for the year tnat ended in March last, there is no reflection in the returns of the “alarming” position that was suggested in respect of the revenue. The. trade of the territory shows, a very healthy increase, and the revenue for ihe past financial year was appreciably better than that for the preceding year. Nor is the sta'ement that the native children are being kept- away from school verified by the official !statistics... The number of nnpils enrolled at the end of March last, and the average attendance at that date both showed a substantial improvement on the figures for the beginirng of the year and a corresponding percentage of increase. The average attendance bears to the roll-num-ber no relation that can be regarded 10 extraordinarily low. The withdrawals of children from the sclio .-Is. would appear to have been but spasmodic. The Administrator etnphas ses the point that despite the diminution in the Native tax, receipts the activities on behalf of the Samoan population in the way of edueft ion and medical treatment have been fully maintained, while the report upon the health of the community is that it 1 has been excellent. There would seem to be ample justification for the official claim that, save for the collection of the native taxes, the. Administration, may be regarded as functioning with reasonable efficiency. The official statement that', with negligible exceptions, the country is quiet and orderly, is borne out of course, by the absence of news of any serious disturbance in Samoa—a fact that in itself seems io suggest that ;the political unrest, tlinigh still presenting a problem is less pronounced than it has been. , Were the leaders of the Mau left to their' own, counsels and preserved from external influence there might be better prospect of their abandonment of the unfortunate attitude which they have assumed. The circulation in .Samoa of a publication issued in New Zealand that is antagonistic to the Samoan Administration doubtless contributes to keep the dissatisfaction alive in the • territory. But it is satisfactory to note that the trading figures for the. past year show that the Mau movement has had no seriously detrimental effect upon tlie material prosperity of the natives, or upon • that of the country as a whole.