THE CRISIS IN SAMOA

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 945, 11 April 1930, Page 10

THE CRISIS IN SAMOA

THE WRONGS INFLICTED ON THE SAMOANS By O. F. NELSON (Pubiiched b j Arrangement ) [ln this series of articles, the Hon. O. F. Nelson will write on the situation in anwill trace* of *the" unrest in the Territory as seen through Samoan eyes. 1 VI \VHII-K 1 was in Australia, hi I»2C ’ ' (February to August), Sir George Richardson wrote me several letters to which I replied. This correspondence which has already been published discloses that I have never withheld my opinion where I differed from him. I had long foreseen the crisis which was pending as the inevitable result of his policies, and in my letters I continued, from Australia, the warnings issued to him in a friendly spirit from the public platform, at private interviews, and in the Legislative Council at Apia (to which I had been elected at the top of the poll). I could only refer to points raised in his own letters. REFORM GOVERNMENT WARNED As the senior elected member of the Legislative Council, I felt it was my solemn duty to make the representations required of me by my people in Samoa to the Government in Wellington, so I proceeded there on my way back to Samoa, and met the Prime Minister (the Rt. Hon. J. G. Coates), the Minister of External Affairs (the Hon. W. Nosworthy) and the Minister for Cook Islands (Sir Maui Pomare), on September 1, -1926, in a conference agreed to by the Prime Minister. To the three Ministers of the Crown I related in detail the trouble which was brewing in Samoa and received a very sympathetic hearing. No objection was raised to my enumerating the grievances of the Samoan natives against the banishments, etc,; in fact, great sympathy was expressed for the Samoans and the Prime Minister personally made some rather uncomplimentary remarks regarding one leading administrative official, which would not be politic for me to repeat here. Sir Maui Pomare had visited the Territory during my absence and had already warned the Prime Minister on his return. I was told that my report only confirmed Sir Maui’s report, and it was arranged that the Minister of External Affairs should visit Samoa the following month. DISAFFECTION AND DRASTIC REPRISALS

The reception given me on my arrival on September 24, the speech of welcome by General Richardson, the public meetings of October and November, the postponement of the Minister’s visit, the protest, made by the Administrator at the second public meeting, are too well known to repeat here. It is absurd to say that the Europeans should not have permitted the Samoans to attend the public meetings to consider the Minister’s visit, when this has been the usual thing both in Samoa and New Zealand for generations. Suffice it to say that the attitude of the Administrator toward constitutional representations for the urgent changes necessary to offset the growing unrest only confirmed in the minds of the people the autocratic policies of the Mandatory in its administration

■ of the Territory. Disaffection grew worse, and further banishments and other drastic actions to suppress free speech made matters more critical. Fortunately, the Citizens’ Committee which had been ejected at the first public meeting bad established a, policy of peace and obedience to all laws. The committee was formed in the nick of time and saved the situation, for it was then learned how the Samoans had planned a campaign of civil disobedience, the non-payment of taxes, and even direct action. THE BLUNDERS OF MR. NOSWORTHY The Minister, despite urgent representations from the Committee, and after agreeing to receive a representative deputation in Wellington in January, 1927, allowed the Administration to refuse the delegates passports, and did not arrive in Apia himself until June 2. The committee was liard put to it to keep the people quiet and to adhere to its policy of peace and obedience to laws, as against what the. Samoans had decided on prior to the first public meeting. The Minister refused to meet the committee until he was preparing to leave again, and his j treatment of the Samoan members • after reading a long statement, previously prepared, only aggravated the situation. His orders to the European section of the committee to dissociate themselves from the native section left the formei' no alternative but to retire. The ■wholesale banishments and general degradation of leading Samoans which followed the departure of the Minister did not help matters. Threats, intimidation and other drastic measures were the order of the day, and the Mau then decided on passive resistance, and later to civil disobedience. The Samoan petition to the New Zealand Parliament was heard behind closed doors in August, 1927. "When the evidence was unfavourable to the I Government, it decided to send a Royal I Commission to Samoa. Despite pro- | tests by counsel and promises by the | Prime Minister, the Commission held 1 its sittings immediately on arrivals | The manner in which the Samoans and j their counsel were treated by the Com- 1 j mission caused great indignation I among the natives and destroyed con- ! fidence. : DEPORTATION WITHOUT TRIAL ! The publication of the Commission's i report was closely followed by the dei Portation of three European members j of the Citizens’ Committee, without i any semblance of a judicial trial. This I was amply proved by the Judicial j Committee of the Privy Council, which | stated that the deportation of these j three was an administrative and not a i judicial act. Strangely enough, one of j those who was deported for five years ■ Was asked by General Richardson to ] hold a meeting with the Man before he | left and ask the Samoans to disperse. | This was done, but the Mau was | adamant and -would not listen. The : deportees, prior to their departure, I again urged the Samoans to keep the | peace and obey the laws. General j Richardson returned to New Zealand | —two years too late —in April, 1925, | and was replaced by Colonel S. S. I Allen, who was accompanied by a : force of 75 military police. •SAMOA'S COMPLAINTS AGAINST NEW' ZEALAND. The irregularities and brutalities I committed on the Samoan men, women ■ and children, indiscriminately, arc also

too recently published to ueed repetition here. Tamasesc's arrest and deportation to a New Zealand gaol; the decision of the Supreme Court that Habeas Corpus did not apply to a Samoan; the further persecution of Tamasese on his return to Samoa; tht arrest of the aged High Chief Tuima lealiifano on many occasions; the ill treatment of High Chief Faumuina and others; the ruthless war waged on women and children; the massacre of High Chief Tamasese and other Samoans on “Black Saturday” in Christmas week: the wild threats to exterminate the Mau—which is the Samoan people—by a larger contingent, to save New Zealand's shame; the landing of marines with orders to “treat 'em rough”; the distribution by warplane of intimidatory leaflets, re gardless of the truth of the matter contained thereon; the killing of the Samoan youth, Molia. without provo cation; the fatal shooting of another Samoan, Fitialo: the refusal of safe conduct to Mau witnesses to attend the inquest; the great disparity between the evidence and the coroner’s verdict: the indecisive verdict on the Molia in quest: the farcical proceedings at the conferences between the Minister and the Mau; the aggressive demands the Administrator presented to the Mau when it came to meet the Minister: the imprisonment of the veteran High Chief Tuimalealiifano on account of a speech made at the conference; the sentences aggregating six years’ imprisonment on four Mau leaders for signing a threatening letter while the killer of Molia was acquitted; the gaoling and further persecution of the New Zealand barrister, Mr. T. B. Slipper, for professional services rendered to the much reviled but helpless women of Samoa; the official calumny on all who sympathised with the Samoans in their passive resistance against dire oppression and massacre; are all facts which cannot be denied. Even if the Mau had accepted New Zealand’s declaration of war, which it did not, none of these brutal acts and unlieard-of proceedings should have been resorted to by any nation claiming a vestige of honour. They would be abhorrent to the lowest savages. Not one of these facts has been properly dealt with by either the “special correspondent of the morning paper” or “Papalagi,” but the blood of Tamasese and his compatriots will remain warm in the sacred soil of Samoa until justice has been done to their beloved country for which they willingly laid down their lives. FORCE NO REMEDY

The demonstration of blind fury and senseless rage will never dragoon the proud Samoans to submit to such a barbarous administration. Unless the Government knows of other means than force to bring about the longdesired settlement, the sooner it follows the advice of some of the leading Liberal papers in New Zealand to hand over the Mandate to more experienced and sympathetic hands, the better for the prestige and honour of the whole British Empire which have already been stained by New Zealand's mad actions. And all the wails of an inspired New Zealand Press correspondent cannot possibly alter the situation now. The Mau may be driven out of Apia but, by the news still filtering through, it is certain that the Samoan men prefer all to be shot or imprisoned rather than that the Mau disband until the grievances of Samoa have been redressed and the Territory rid of militarism and all its attendant evils. If the 72 men, headed by Tui, have been sentenced to three months’ imprisonment for wearing the Mau lavalavas, when will the 2,000 Mau women who paraded the streets of Apia in Mau uniform be dealt with by the Court? And so will the trouble continue until the case has been properly diagnosed and the real causes cut out by the roots. Innocent men and women have been banished, deported, raided, degraded, and generally illtreated. while those really to blame are still at large, holding honoured positions, sapping to the very core the financial and other resources of the Territory. (To be Concluded.)