STICKS TO HIS STORY

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 875, 20 January 1930, Page 11

STICKS TO HIS STORY

SAYS SNIPERS WERE ON VERANDAH MR. POLLEY RETURNS Claiming that the contents of his message to Mr. H. E. Holland were true in every respect, Mr. Frederick Polley told a SUN interviewer of his impressions of the Apia shootings on December 28 when he arrived at Auckland on the Tofua this afternoon. “I did not know till now that my message to Mr. Holland had been published in the New Zealand Press,” he said. “A month ago I went to Samoa for employment under the Public Works Department. I come from Tauranga, in the Bay of Plenty, where I was a builder for some time. I had met Tamaeese and others, but I had nothing to do with the Mau, nor did I have any particular interest in and sympathy for the movement. ‘‘l was in Samoa long enough before the shooting to see the disastrous effect of the Administration. On the day of the shooting I went to see the procession, like any other person might have done, and the story I sent to Mr. Holland, which has already been published, is perfectly true.” Mr. Polley then replied to questions based on the points of his original story which subsequently have been questioned or denied by the Prime Minister, Sir Joseph Ward. ‘‘Tamasese was appealing to the police In English, so 1 understood perfectly what he said,” said Mr. Polley. ‘‘Certainly he spoke to his followers in the native tongue, but it was obvious from his gestures that he was attempting to restore peace in their ranks and to keep them back. Besides that, he used repeatedly a word —“Uina,” I think, it is—which means “Finish!” He was using this in the sense of an appeal to stop fighting. In any case, my statement as to Tamasese’s attitude when he rushed forward has been substantiated by others. “In regard to my statement that boys were short, I was using the word in the native sense which, of course, means Samoan males of no particular age. “I was ‘in a good position to see what was going on, and it must not he assumed that I was necessarily In the same place all the time. “I was so close, in fact, that my shoe was brushed by a bullet.” Mr. Polley pointed to the top-cap of his brown shoes, topped by socks of purple. It was scored slightly. “I was not with the Mau in Samoa, and although I was living in a native house the people were living in the English style and I came to be there because I bad a letter of introduction to them from friends in Fiji. “I did not offer to give evidence at the inquest because I did not know it was on. I thought there would be a general inquiry about the deaths of the natives, and I heard about the inquiry that was held a day after it was over. I am still willing to give evidence at any inquiry that is arranged. “The actions I took and the statements 1 made were taken and made because I am an Englishman and because I sympathise with the people after what I saw. "I did not see the policeman killed, but there is no doubt that he was killed with a stone. He virtually committed suicide. “I do not say that the machine-gun was fired into the crowd all the time, but it certainly was for part of the time. “One native was wounded in five places, and his injuries included a smashed kneecap. I saw these' wounds myself and photographs of them were taken. He was among those who died of wounds, and was buried shortly after.

“Snipers were placed on the Courthouse verandah before the procession started. There is not the slightest doubt about that.

“I am just as sorry for the white residents of Samoa. The place is not worth living in. Everything has gone ‘bung’ and the residents are terrorised into silence.