The Daily News. MONDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 1921. ADMINISTRATION OF SAMOA.

Taranaki Daily News, 14 November 1921, Page 4

The Daily News. MONDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 1921. ADMINISTRATION OF SAMOA.

The nature of the reply by the King to the petition forwarded by a section of the people of Samoa, urging that the administration of that country should be tn ken from New Zealand and vested in Britain, was a foregone conclusion. His Majesty, however, did good service in reminding the petitioners that, as the mandate of the League of Nations directed that New Zealand should 'control Samoa, Britain could not interfere. It may be that, although this fact should have been quite clear to the malcontents, they will now accept the decision with resignation, and it is to be hoped this will be the case. There is no ignoring the fact that the inauguration of New Zealand’s administration of Samoa created considerable pessimism in the western portion, and that sentiment was not lessened by the result of the visit of the Parliamentary party from the Dominion. Allowances have to be made for that unsettled feeling which is natural when a transfer is made from one regime to another, especially when it involves the prohibition of liquor and a difficult problem concerning colored labor. From the first dawn of the new era for Samoa there were indications of a want of confidence on the part of a prominent section of the residents in that island in New Zealand s ability to successfully grapple with their problems and reforms, and it was the growth of that feeling that gave rise to a petition for a transference to British rule. It may be open to question whether New Zealand is an ideal governing authority for a tropical country, yet the duty of its administration has been cast upon and undertaken by the Dominion, so

that it is incumbent on the Government to closely study the problems involved and do their best to allay distrust by arriving at an intelligent comprehension of the most politic policy to pursue, not dnly from a New- Zealand point of view, but also from a Samoan. So far the success achieved has not been much to boast of, but the Samoans themselves have been the chief stumbling-block, and until they recognise that the holders of the mandate" are actuated by a thorough desire to do their best to further the true interests of the people —natives, traders and others —the position will be unsatisfactory. It would help considerably if the Samoan population and. the Dominion Government took to heart the precept which is attributed to Lincoln: “The law and the constitution are like a child’s pants. They’ve got to be made wider and longer as the child, grows, so as to fit him. If they’re kept too tight he’ll burst them, and if you’re in a hurry and make them too big all at once they L trip him up.”