THE CRISIS IN SAMOA

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 946, 12 April 1930, Page 10

THE CRISIS IN SAMOA

NEW ORIENTATION NEEDED TO SOLVE VEXED PROBLEM By O, F. XELSOX (Published by Arrangementj ' [ln this scries cf articles, the Hon. O. V. Nelson ha.- written on the situation in Samoa from the Samoans’ point of view and traced the causes of the unrest in the Territory as seen through Samoan eyes. Ihe final article of the series appears below.] VII TJ A VIXG criticised, commented and stated facts about the past and present troubles of Samoa, the question arises: “What about Samoa’s future.” tV hat can be done to restore, to the satisfaction of the Samoans, that peace and tranquillity founded ou liberty, freedom, justice and goodwill, which are the God-given rights of all free peoples? If it is yet considered essential to the concert and harmony of the Great Powers of the world that New Zealand—a British Dominion—continue to hold the mandate over the larger portion of the islands of Samoa, whose independence was guaranteed by three Great Powers in a solemn treaty with Samoa in 1889, then what basis can be found or suggested to secure a fair, honourable and lasting peace between the Samoan nation and the New' Zealand Government and people? New Zealand, by its repressive attitude since the epidemic of 1918, has gone from Force to more . Force,’ culminating in massacre lias alienated almost every chance of gaining any respect or desire for friendship between the Samoans and tlieir present rulers, who, without conquest, pr authority from the Samoans, have assumed Powers exceeding those of sovereignty on a charter granted by the League of Nations.

A HERITAGE OF HATE Children imbibe love with their mother’s milk, and acquire hate from their fathers. Can anyone, with a sense of the obvious, expect the rising generation in Samoa to grow up with a feeling of respect and regard for New Zealand, when the tragic history of Samoa's struggle for freedom is taught at their mother’s knee, or talked about in the “faie” at night when the day’s work and play is over, aryl man speaks bitterly to man, with the wives, mothers and children listening, about what happened when New Zealand allowed a military autocracy and brute force to prevail over their beloved islands? No one wishes or prays more than I do for “Peace in our time, O Lord” among- my mother’s people, in the land of my birth, and where X have always ranked as one of them in all Samoa’s vicissitudes. SAMOA’S SEVENTEEN POINTS I have been over two years away, and I have no contact except by slow and protracted mails with the Samoflung to them by wireless” have never been possible owing to the strict Government censorship, even if there had been any reason or necessity for them. I have no claim to voice the opinions of the Samoans except when and where they authorise me as their accredited representative. I think, however, I can claim to know the Samoan heart and mind, and possess the closest affinity with the Samoan soul. That soul or national spirit voiced itself in its demands to the representative of the New Zealand Cabinet when he recently visited Samoa, and a temporary peace was called for the Mau to meet him. The seventeen points which the Samoan people’s representatives then submitted to the Hon. J. G. Cobbe were the voice of the people of Samoa, and it would be an impertinence on my part at this distance, to attempt to add or detract from them. A perusal of the seventeen points should convince any unbiased person that the Samoans are an intellectual and not a “backward” people, and that they contain nothing more than a respectful demand for that “Justice” in the administra tion of which the British peoples practically claim a monopoly. Yet no reply, other than further demonstrations of force, has been received to the Samoan’s reasonable demands. THE RIGHT TO LIVE Petitions to H.M. the King and H.R.H. the Prince of Wales in 1921, one to the New Zealand- Parliament in 1927, another to the League of Nations in 1928, and yet another to H.M. the King last November, have contained full and concise statements embodying the grievances and complaints of the Samoans, and humble prayers for relief from tbeir sufferings with the restoration of the right to live their lives according to their own established customs, as free people of a free country, even though but one of those small and weak nations for whose protection and self-determin-ation the Great British Empire claims to have gone to war in 1914. To all these petitions no favourable reply has been received. “Higher politics” have held sway and overcome all the logical reasoning and consideration due to the prayers contained in them. New Zealand, as the Mandatory, has taken these negative results to Samoa’s urgent pleadings as a definite vindication of her methods of foree, and has either ignorantly or knowingly ignored the deeper interpretation which thrusts the responsibility upon her to prove her worthiness of the sacred trust imposed on her by the Powers, and find a remedy to the satisfaction of all concerned. NEW ZEALAND’S IMPOSSIBLE METHODS infatuated and flattered by the 1 cheap praise of veteran statesmen of other Powers in that august body known as the League of Nations, who naturally consider New Zealand as a member of the League to be equal to the deeper meaning of diplomatic pronouncements, the Mandatory continues blindly on her course of force, coercion and violence. Too full of her own conceit, does not even seek advice or entertain the idea of caution. Consequently-, the experience gained through her failures in Samoa has profited her nothing Otherwise, she should have learnt by now, that force is futile, bullying is contemptible, threats are useless, and violence is fatal. Reason and friendly discussion as the only means toward an honourable stttlement escape her. It does not appeal to her that fairness and a recognition of sincerity is essential. The inevitable result of New Zealand’s stubbornness is a policy of defeat and despair. Against that tile Samoans continue their course of passive resistance. exhorting their people to "resist r.ol evil but over-

como evil with good,” and treat the oppression and cruelty of the past decade with “patient, deep disdain.” A NEW ORIENTATION To sum it all up there must be a new orientation of New Zealand’s view in her relations with Samoa. The national culture and century-old customs and usages of the Samoans must be regarded with respect if the confidence of Samoa is to be gained Foreign codes and systems which clash with native ideas can only be grafted on to ancient organic laws by slow evolution and devolution, not by the Big Stick, bayonets, or bullets The vicious idea of “taxation -without representation” is an anachronism in these enlightened days, and control of the public purse is a public right with an educated and intelligent race like the Samoans, who are fully aware of Tonga’s development and prosperity. Militaristic methods are doomed to failure and bound to meet with passive resistance and non-co-operation. In a nutshell, the Samoans must be led and guided—not driven at the point of the bayonet. (Concluded.)