A.—4b

used to excise the trouble ; and I firmly believe that every right-thinking European in this community, and in the Dominion of New Zealand and elsewhere, will whole-heartedly support me in any steps I may deem it necessary to take to remove what might easily become a festering wound on the body politic of Samoa. I will not hesitate to ask Parliament for the widest power to deal with agitators in this Territory who attempt to disaffect the Native people for their own ends. You have questioned the method of appointment of the Fono of Faipules, and you have challenged the bona fides of the Faipules as honest, right-thinking, and independent Samoan chiefs and leaders anxious to do their utmost for the welfare of their own people. You have accused them of being puppets of the Administrator. I say to you frankly and plainly that your accusations are based either on lack of knowledge or misrepresentation. A study of the method of appointment and of the work the Faipules are carrying out will convince any impartial judge that their institution is a most righteous and potent force working for the good of the Native people, and training them in the very best way to take an ever-increasing share in the management and government of their own affairs as the years go by. You have asserted in various ways the right of the Natives to self-government, entirely ignoring the underlying principle of the mandate, that " these are people not yet able to stand by themselves under the strenuous conditions of the modern world." Here again you evidently wish history to repeat itself ; and you ask that the Samoan people should now be given the privilege of self-government in order that, as in the past, certain European elements might usurp the duties and prerogatives of the present Mandatory. Could there be any other result, having regard to the present social and political development of the Samoan people ; and do you think you could convince other than the most unthinking or credulous person that the future state of the Samoan people would, in that event, be any better than it was forty or fifty years ago ? I can say, without fear of contradiction, that the New Zealand Government and its Administration in these islands are entirely disinterested, and are working solely for the betterment and welfare of the Samoan people. You can make no such claim, because, to mention two matters only, your attitude with respect to the Administration's medical and educational activities must outrage the feelings of any European who has a true regard for the preservation and well-being of the indigenous population of Samoa. You have also made many disparaging references to the constitution of the Legislative Council of Samoa. You had an Advisory Council under the German Administration, and in your petition of 1910 you told the High President of the German Parliament what you thought of it. The New Zealand Government has given the European residents of Samoa, of whatever nationality, a larger participation in their own government than exists in any other " B " or " C " mandated territory ; yet in the pamphlet issued over the name of Mr. S. H. Meredith, to which I have already referred, you refer to the Legislative Council "as an institution which " a Lenin or a Mussolini would envy." I am being forced to the conclusion that you do not want, nor could you appreciate, good government, because for years you clamoured for the right to form a municipality in Apia and run your local affairs, and then when the right to do so was given to you in the Act of 1923 you promptly refused to exercise it. But you have asked that the constitution of the Council should be amended, and I propose seriously to consider that request. Subject to the necessary adjustment, perhaps you would like a constitution similar to that granted to the Mandated Territory of South West Africa in 1925, of which the Assembly consists of twenty members, eight of whom are appointed by the Administrator and twelve are elected' by electors, who must be British nationals—a very restricted franchise compared to yours ; but, in that event, I should feel impelled to recommend that the powers of the Samoan Legislative Council should be the same as those of the South West Africa Assembly, in which case you would have no authority to make Ordinances relating to (1) Native affairs or any matters especially affecting Natives; (2) mining ; (3) railways or harbours ; (4) Public Service ; (5) justice, whether superior or inferior ; (6) postal, telegraph, and telephone services ; (7) defence ; (8) immigration ; (9) Customs tariffs and excise duties ; (10) currency and banking ; nor, except with the consent of the Governor-General, (1) Police Force ; (2) Civil aviation ; (3) education ; (4) land or agricultural banking; (5) State lands: nor, except with the consent of the Administrator, (1) expenditure of public revenue ; (2) taxation. Do you think that will be more satisfactory to you than the present constitution of the Samoan Legislative Council ? Finally, I desire most clearly to say that the New Zealand Government accepted the mandate of Western Samoa as a sacred trust, to be exercised primarily in the interests of the indigenous inhabitants. We regard these interests as paramount. We are proud and happy in the knowledge that under our care the Samoan people, as well as all the other branches of the great Polynesian race under our protection, are steadily increasing in numbers, enlightenment, and prosperity. These are facts which must give the utmost satisfaction to every person who has a sincere desire for the welfare of the Native races, because in the Pacific around us we see too many fine peoples sinking slowly but surely to oblivion. In your criticisms and allegations you have been pleased to make certain comparisons with neighbouring territories ; but Ido not propose to follow that line of argument. I content myself by saying that I have seen what I have seen ; and I assert most emphatically, and without the slightest fear of contradiction, that neither with respect to the work of the Administration, the health, progress, and prosperity of the Native people, and conditions of trade—both commercial and planting —need Samoa fear comparison with any other territory in the Pacific. It will be my privilege and duty to assist His Excellency the Administrator and the officials of the Administration to in every way carry on workjand maintain this proud record, and to support them to the uttermost limit in any action deem necessary in the fulfilment of this purpose. If you so desire, I will submit a detailed reply to each point you have submitted to me through the Administrator ; and I will see that such reply is not only communicated to you, but is also laid

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