63

A.—s.

Rev. Mr. Clarke :It may. It is not very likely. Mr. Young I On what grounds do you base that statement, that quite a number of NewZealanders have this impression as to what the mission of the Samoan is?—l think that is the prevalent impression. The average New-Zealander who comes here concludes that the Native population are here for the purpose of working these plantations—the white man's plantations. That is the prevalent idea amongst a great many —not only New-Zealanders, but white men — who come to these islands. I want to know the grounds upon which you base that statement. You seem to convey the impression that this is our opinion regarding the Samoan—the opinion of this Parliamentary Party?—My reply to that is that this article was written before the advent of the Parliamentary Party here, and the paragraph which follows explains that statement. Mr. Isitt : I should like to ask whether, either by the public-school teachers or by any missionary society, any effort is being made to follow up the Samoans as they leave the schools and teach them habits of industry and self-improvement. If nothing of that kind is being done at the present time, do Mr. Clarke and the others think that anything could be done if they got Government support? I ask that question because I was talking to a young Samoan and urging upon him the necessity of continuing, and he said " 1 have left school," and seemed quite insulted at the idea that he should go on learning anything. Rev. Mr. Sibree : The missions as well as the Government have done something in the way of trying to meet the further needs of the Sainoans after thej leave the elementary school. Mr. Hills, one of our missionaries, started a technical school and agricultural school in Leulumoega, eighteen miles away from here. It is being carried on as an industrial school, and for the last twenty-five years we have had a hundred boys in that school. We have thus given training in joinery and turnery, and, in Mr. Hills's time, in agriculture. All the work for the progress of Samoa agriculturally has been entirely done by our friends the Catholic Brothers and by Mr. Hills. With regard to the Government schools others can speak. Under the German administration they also had a technical school here, and sent some of the boys away from here to China, where they acquired a very considerable knowledge of carpentry. We believe that that is part of the work of the Government rather than of the missions. We hope it is part of the work the present Administration will further. Mr. Isitt: Are you doing anything for the women at all?—We have two boarding-schools, and the Catholic mission has a boarding-school for girls, teaching them industry and domestic work. Hon. Sir James Allen : 1 wish to recognize to the full the very valuable work which is being done in Samoa and in all the islands of the Pacific by the missionaries, and I give them again the assurance they have already had —that the New Zealand Government do not want to interfere with them. We shall be verj glad indeed if they will continue to carry "on their work. We shall be ready to help them in any way we can. I understand that our Director of Education has, after a conference with you, made some suggestions to you about your schools, in the hope that he may help you. He will be quite willing—and the Administration, I am sure, will be quite willing to permit him —to assist you in any way that he can. We do not want to get into conflict with you. We want to work together. And I say that, too, with regard to these other missions. There are one or two sentences in this article which I must refer to, because I regret that the}' have been put in. I refer to the sentence on page 35 with respect to "the discouraging experiments of the Government, of New Zealand." It would have been better, I think, if the writer had explained that he was referring to the cost and not to the experiments themselves. The things are separate and distinct, and we should feel very hurt if the London Missionary Society should refer in disparaging terms to an honest effort of New Zealand to help you with education. If it is imperfect—well, none of us are quite perfect. We have come here to try to help. The Germans had these schools before; we came to take them up. I will refer later on to the question of cost. Please understand, therefore, that though they may appear to you discouraging, we have come to ascertain if they are. If we are not doing what we ought to do, we will change and do what we can. Our Inspector is here to report upon these schools. He is a skilled Inspector. He has been Inspector of our Native schools. I have the fullest confidence in .him. He is in complete touch with the Maori children in New Zealand, and lam quite sure he will be in touch with the Polynesians here and with those who have been trying to do so much for them in the past. Then, T am sorry regarding the sentence that appears at the bottom of page 35 and "the top of page 36: "The new Constitution, moreover, avowedly aims at the destruction o_f Samoa as a self-governing community." I really do not know upon what evidence that statement is based. It is not my feeling, it is not the feeling of the New Zealand Government, that we want to destroy Samoa as a self-governing community when it is able to govern itself. We are quite willing to give the Samoan people every facility to govern themselves. We have told the Natives, as I tell you, that Native self-government will be continued under the Administration as it has been in the past. If we can improve it as time goes on we shall improve it. So we are not out to destroy you as a self-governing community. T do not know why the statement has been made. If we have in any way been discourteous to the London Missionary Society I apologize. There is a statement on page 36 which I very much regret. Possibly we are to Blame. If we are we will take the blame and express our sorrow and regret. This is the sentence: "The London Missionary Society in Samoa has not hitherto been overwhelmed by the consideration or the courtesy of the Government." My own contact with the London Missionary Society in the Cook Islands leads me to say that, so far as the Cook Islands are concerned, I do not believe the London Missionary Society would say that, we did not help them or that we were discourteous. We did what they asked us to do. ' They asked us to take over the schools, and we did so. Mr. Clarke, if there has been any discourtesy to you or to any members of the