SAMOAN POLICY

Hokitika Guardian, 2 November 1929, Page 3

SAMOAN POLICY

SIR A. T. NGATA’S SPEECH

ARIA, (Samoa), October 12

Samoa to-day is a mu,eh more mollified Samoa than it was two years ago, but even the happiest optimist could not state that all Samoa’s troubles are over. Certainly the Man is a dying organisation, and 'the natives are amenable to the law where it does not trench on political offences, but ; underneath all is an undercurrent of hostility to New Zealand’s welljmeant administration. Logically, the ‘Samoans should not be hostile’ to New Zealand, for undoubtedly New Zealand has done a great deal for the welfare of the natives in several directions. The causes of the political troubles are hard to define. Two important commissions appointed to in•vestigate Samoan affairs have on certain points arrived at contradictory conclusions a fact which has somewhat bewildered the Samoan, who, though a wily politician himself, is unable to understand the ramifications of New Zealand’s weird and wonderful Samoan policy. And now at last a New Zealand politician, Sir Apifana Ngata, has placed his finger on what appears to he the vital point. “What we : wanted,” said I this able Minister, “wa.s tlie applicaI tion of the ‘Taihoa’ policy of the late 1 Sir James Carroll.” The Minister of Native Affairs referred to the peri.hi of administration under Major-Gener-al Sir George Richardson, when Samoa i was undergoing in the space of a few i years an assimilation of ' civilisation which could hardly he oopdd with under two generations. This' speech by Sir Apirana Ngata is one of the, very I few , hursts of oratory about Santo which has been received with .fa iff • genera] approval among those residentin Samoa who might he deemed to un Uerstand the native to any great e. - tent. It is obvious that the Minister has studied the matter very carefully and realises that the situation must be considered from the native point of view. WHITE! MAN BROUGHT TROUBLES The situation is, of course, somewhat complicated by the mandatory proviso that the native should be developed, though why the native should he developed and civilised is hard to understand. Apparently the world today is under such a powerful impulse .towards progress and development that it would be sinful to leave one small insignificant country in a happy state of nature. In .act such a suggestion might be regarded with horror, hui nevertheless there-is ample reason for leaving the Samoan in an enviable*, untroubled state of uncivilisation. The mm in reason for this,-retrograde step of course, is that Samoa is a paradise, where many may live without work : ature bus so well provided , for the wafits of man that beyond, a ; certain stage there-is not the- slightest.necessity to he developed—and it did ;not require the coming of .the, white man to show the Samoan how to enjoy the fruits of Nature. The- white man un-

doubtedly brought complications, which were not of the native’s seeking, and since me white man has assumed control these complications’ have tern’ ed to increase, whether the native liked them or not.. That some of the white man’s impositions were for the benefit of the Samoan, is beyond question. As regards health and sanitation the Samoan is infinitely better off than he was a generation ago. Old residents in Samoa can still remember when tbe natives were afflicted with numerous hideous diseases which to-day are rarely seen. In those days it was a common sight to see native children being borne to tbe river or the sea to have the scabs rubbed off ghastly -sores with stones and sand. Nowadays medico’ relief is always available to the Samoan and it is usually his own fault it he does not apply for it. In this matter, however, natives have .still to oe educated, out of their belief in. their own quack remedies. The Samoan doctor is still frequently consulted first-.: -with the result that by the time the case reaches the hospital it is hopeless. Here, undoubtedly, the Samoa! requires developing. EDUCATION AND LANGUAGE.

The matter of education is a doubt- . ..1 question, and Sir Apirana Ngata’s suggestion that the Samoans, be taught r.nglish might not be approved unanimously. The tremely useful language of their own, which answers for all the purposes for which they require the spoken word. Under the German rule the Samoans were not compelled to learn German and beyond an occasional native who can utter a few gutterals, the Samoans appear to carry little remembrance of their German masters. Samoans do not take well to a foreign language, and except for the more ambitious ones who work around and about Apia and with Europeans, there seems to be no necessity for them to acquire any language but their own. Sir Apirana Ngata’s contention that outside factors must penetrate into Samoa might perhaps warrant the acquisition of the English language, but then, it is inevitable that outside factors must compete with the native? 11 the in teres us of the Samoans are to bo considered, it is the duty of the Mandatory Power to see that outside factors do not come in. The Samoan is far from being equipped to compete with members of any other race. To use a colloquialism, it would be like “taking candy from a kid” to expose the Samoan to such competition. Tbe Samoan is indolent by nature, and generations of comparative idleness have rendered him unable to undertake bard and consistent work. Physicially he is able, but mentally he

is unable to apply himself. For this reason it lias been necessary to import labour into Samoa, to do the plantaion work. When such labour is confined to the plantations and prevented from, acquiring an interest in the country as under the present system, the Samoan will suffer little harm from it.

But should vested interest in the country ever come to the point where it is allowed to exploit ,Samoan property with imported labour, that w.ll ce the beginning of the cud for the Samoan race. To equip the Samoan to cope with outside factors will require generations of education, but so long as the interests of the native are safeguarded it seems quite unnecessary so to equip him. “HAPPIEST IN THE WORLD.”

The Sa moan to-day is perhaps .the nappiest person in world, and he lias good reason to be so. He lives in a land wonderfully blessed by Nature; be can overeat and underwork in a kindly climate; he is not quarrelsome and he loves to dance and sing. Obtaining food, is a- pastime, politics a diversion and he is not greatly interested in the doings of the world. His main, worries are his immediate pleasures, and as these are usually of a mild nature he cannot harm himself by over-indulgence. Why, then, should a mandatory power, in the name of progress, subject a people so blessed to the doubtful benefits of a white man’s civilisation acquired, by necessity ? The Samoans do not know noressitv.

The political requirements of Samoa to-day seem to worry certain members of Parliament a great deal. The Samoans also arc a little vexed over the question,-though exactly what; they want is a doubtful point. The - fact that they will now have representation on the Legislative Council may appease them somewhat, as it is something they have talked themselves into desiring. Sir Apirana’s statement: “Let us run them, but lot it appear that they are running themselves,” is quite sound, but the Samoans are too shrewd not to see through the guile. Nevertheless a little practical exper:ence in administration may convince the Samoans that they are not yet capable of running “Samoa for tbe Samoans” but the same experience, gradually broadened, may be the beginning towards that desirable end. In the meantime the “taihoa” policy which Hie present Administration seems to be following is making slow atonement for the past rapid civilisation.