“REPAIR THE DAMAGE”

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 106, 26 July 1927, Page 8

“REPAIR THE DAMAGE”

ATTITUDE OF GOVERNMENT ANSWER TO COMMITTEE (.From Our Resident Correspondent.) WELLINGTON, Monday. THE outcome of the interview between the Prime Minister and the chairman of the Samoan Citizens' Committee, the Hon. O. F. Nelson, is revealed in statements made by Mr, Nelson and Mr. Coates to-day. Mr. Nelson said: “In reply to the remarks made by me to the Prime Min* ister on July 21, in an interview whereat the Minister of External Affairs and another Minister of the Crown were present, Mr. Coates stated 9 among other things, that the New Zealand Government is not prepared to discuss with the Citizens’ Committee the suggestion of a further investigation, until the Citizens’ Committee has done its very best to get the natives and the conditions in Samoa back to normal. The Prime Minister stated that the members of the Citizens’ Committee were ‘off-side,’ and it was necessary that they should get ‘on-side’ and trust to the New Zealand Government to investigate the matter v.'hen conditions were normal again.” Replying to the statement quoted above, the Prime Minister said: “Generally speaking Mr. Nelson’s remarks are correct. His reference, however, to a promised investigation is inaccurate. What I said was that the Citizens’ Committee must show their bona fides in some more substantial manner than by a mere statement in the Samoan Press requesting their supporters to remain tranquil and to obey the laws. The committee were advised that they must be as active in repairing the damage done as they had been in creating it. I added that when that had been done those concerned must rely on the New Zealand Government’s sense of fair play.”