SAMOAN CONDITIONS

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 744, 17 August 1929, Page 6

SAMOAN CONDITIONS

INTERESTING REPORTS PRESENTED TO PARLIAMENT TRADE AND FINANCE (The SUN’S Parliamentary Reporter) WELLINGTON, Friday. Several comprehensive reports which deal -with the administration o£ Western Samoa were heard in Parliament today. The report of the Native Affairs Department states that a settlement o£ the native unrest has not yet been realised, and as a result the activities of the department have been greatly hampered and developmental work has been suspended. Institutions set up in out districts, such as district councils and various committees, have been undermined and unable to function, and it is now proposed to make considerable reductions in the number of native officials. There has been a revival of the High Court (Native Department), presided over by commissioners of the High Court, and this court is again functioning in Upolu and Savaii. There is a deficiency in native tax revenue owing to tho native unrest and passive resistance, but this deficiency is less severe than during the previous year. A considerable saving in expenditure has been effected, the amount expended in Upolu alone being £2,000 less than estimated. The native output of copra for the 1928 calendar year was 12,109 tons, against 9,571 tons in 1927, a most encouraging result in view of the unrest. The new banana export trade made a great appeal to the native growers, and they had been able to offer more than the capacity of the vessel Maui Pomare to transport to New Zealand. From the beginning of the trade in May, 1928, to December, 1928, 22,761 cases and 10S bunches of bananas were shipped to New Zealand.

The report of the chief medical officer, Dr. Ernest Hunt, states that with the exception of a small outbreak of enteric fever and a mild type of influenza there had been no epidemic of any kind during the year, and the health of the community had been excellent. In spite of those facts, however, the year had been a very disappointing one as far as the natural increase of population was concerned, the actual number of registered births being just under half that of 1927, namely, 863', against 1,636. The fallingoff was believed to be due to nonregistration, as it was difficult to find any other cause. The estimated population at December 31, 1928, was 39,878, against 39,215 a year previously. A total of 219 deaths was registered, against 495 in 1927. The falling-off was also believed to be due to non-registration.

A financial statement shows the ordinary expenditure for the year to have been £130,455, against £143,422 in the preceding period. The revenue for the year was £141,904, against £126,038 in the previous year. In each case the figures include a subsidy of £20,000 from the New Zealand Government.