SAMOANS ON THE COUNCIL

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 163, 30 September 1927, Page 9

SAMOANS ON THE COUNCIL

WISH OF CITIZENS’ COMMITTEE COMMISSION HEARS MORE EVIDENCE rAT the natives shonld have seats on the Legislative Council of Samoa, was the opinion expressed hy members of the Citizens’ Committee when the Royal Commission continued its sittings. Several witnesses said of prohibition that evil things had come in its train.

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Reed. 9.20 a.m. APIA, Thursday. \yHEN the Samoa Commission continued its sittings, Mr. Baxter, counsel for the Citizens’ Committee, wished to re-examine Mr. E. W. Gunregarding his dismissal at Pago Pago; but Sir Charles Skerrett (chairman of the Commission) said that, in view of the unqualified admission by Mr. Gurr of the truth of the American Governor's statement concerning his malfeasance in office, it was useless for Mr. Baxter to reopen the matter. Edwin William Gurr, licensed accountant, had submitted figures relating to the revenue and the population, which were directed to show that sal- ; aries in Samoa were excessive, especii ally in comparison with those paid in ' Fiji and Tonga. He criticised the expenditure at Vailima as being extravagant. Robert Louis Stevenson's old home was, he said, only a small portion of the present building. Even on the high present expenditure the I Road of Gratitude was neglected. The chairman. Sir Charles Skerrett, said he had seen the road when it was only a few years old. and as a road it was quite contemptible then, so its present condition was no new thing. ERRONEOUS REPORT Under cross-examination by the Crown counsel. Mr. V. R. Meredith, the witness admitted that the finance report of the Citizens’ Committee, which had been prepared by witness, was erroneous when it charged New Zealand with foreclosing on Crown estates which had been mortgaged, and with not paying to Samoa £20,000, the amount of the mortgage. He believed the report was true when he made it. He based it on statements that had been given to him by M,r. A. G. Smyth and also by Mr. Cobcroft. Witness admitted that certain statements as to the Samoan Public Works Department and the Post Office, which he had prepared, were inaccurate in their figures (which were discussed and analysed at length). Another comparison made by witness was shown i to be erroneous to the extent of £6,800, and that it was based on figures not shown in the Blue Book. The statement made by the then American Governor, Mr. Bryan, that witness had been dismissed in 1908 for malfeasance while in office, was admitted by him to be correct. NATIVES ON COUNCIL Arthur Williams, a member of the Legislative Council, thought that natives should be put on that Council. Personally, he would like to see a majority of the members elected. Ninetyfive per cent- of the people, and all the responsible natives he had spoken to requested it. He knew his scheme was utterly inconsistent with the Mandate. Mr. Williams later withdrew some of his strictures in a report on the Samoa Hospital Department, and admitted that some of the figures were incorrect. He undertook to assure the Samoans of the good work of the Department in the treatment of yaws, as testified by Dr. Buxton, of the London School of Medicine, Witness also gave evidence of the birth and development of the Mau (Samoa League), and said the League's intentions were purely peaceful.

George Westbrook, a Legislative Councillor, thought two members of the Council should be Samoans elected by the heads of families (Matai). fa’a Samoa, after consultation with the high chiefs. The collector of customs, Thomas H. Bates, submitted statistics of the importations of liquor into Samoa in the year 1926-27, and gave particulars of the permit system at Tonga, where, he said, his experience was that the liquor obtained by the natives was supplied by Europeans. The Commissioner of Labour, Robert Joseph Carter, submitted a scheme which had been formulated by the heads of departments in Samoa for the alteration of the existing scheme of medical permits for the use of intoxicating liquors, and the substitution of a Board of Control. William Henry Gibbs, a planter, said he favoured the institution of the permit system as the arduous work of the planters necessitated the use of stimulants. Paul Oscar Hoerlich, who has been for 35 years a resident in Apia, said that in the old days there was no drunkenness amongst the natives, but nowadays owing to the vile stuff that was brewed he frequently saw natives drunk. SYSTEM BECOMING DANGEROUS Samuel Vernon Mackenzie, a storekeeper and a resident in Samoa since 1874, said drunkenness among the natives was unknown In the old days, but it was known now. He was compelled to stock “all in one,” because of the demand from the Samoan customers. The present system was, he thought, growing dangerous. He would like to see the importation of such things prohibited. Norman H. Macdonald, surveyor, who has lived in Samoa for 35 years, said prohibition was not a good thing for the natives as they imitated the whites and brewed liquor at home. He knew no reason to justify the imposition of prohibition by New Zealand. Faumuina, a Samoan high chief, said he saw no excessive drinking among the Samoans before the introduction of prohibition, but they drank now, and the increase was considerable. Natives now brewed liquor, and he had himself brewed it. He said he drank before prohibition and he drank now. Leua, a native District Judge, said faamafu had caused deaths among the Samoans. Siuao, an agricultural inspector, said there was no trouble before prohibition. but there had been plenty after its introduction. The Samoans drank faamafu, which nowadays the young girls, as well as the young men, drank.