7

A.—3

Furnishings for Officers' Quarters. During the year a considerable amount has been expended in providing furniture for officers' quarters. In addition to the articles made in the Administration's furniture-shop, the sum of £537 Os. 6d. has been expended in purchasing furniture from, outgoing officers who at the time of their appointment provided their own furniture. Further expenditure in this direction will have to be faced before the furnishings of all officers' quarters —especially in the outer islands- are up to a reasonable standard. Education. Mr. J. C. M. Evison has recently been appointed Supervisor of Education in. addition to his duties as headmaster at Avarua, and he is now engaged upon inquiries with a view to reporting on the whole system both in Rarotonga and the outer islands. Mr. Evison's instructions are to report upon present conditions and to make recommendations for their improvement. His report should be available in a few months' time. Arrangements have been made under which the Chief Medical Officer makes periodical inspections of the schools in the Island of Rarotonga. Headmasters have also been supplied with first-aid requisites to deal with minor accidents, AVc. Maori Class. Early in March arrangements were made with the Rev. Father Bernardino to conduct a class for the instruction of officers of the Administration in Maori, and a number of officers are availing themselves of the opportunity thus afforded them of acquiring the language. It will be of incalculable benefit to the Administration if the principal officers, at any rate, are able to acquire, sufficient facility with the language to converse with the Natives on everyday subjects in their own language, since it will remove much misunderstanding that at present exists. As an inducement to officers to acquire the language, arrangements have been made for special increases to those passing the examinations with credit. Visits to Outer Islands. In May, 1921, in company with the Chief Medical Officer, the Resident Commissioner visited the islands of the Lower Group, calling at Atiu, Mauke, Mitiaro, Aitutaki, and Mangaia, and staying a day or two at each island ; and he was everywhere accorded a hearty welcome by the people. Again in October the Commissioner visited Aitutaki, Mauke, and Atiu, once more meeting the chiefs and members of Council. The main questions of interest to the Natives of these islands are the medical service, Land Court, and fruit export. Arrangements were made for the Assistant Medical Officer to pay extended visits to Mangaia, Atiu, Mauke, and Aitutaki, for which the people were very grateful. A Native Land Court sitting, too, was held at Aitutaki between the months of June and "October. No one, unless he has bad an opportunity of seeing for himself, can appreciate the difficulties of loading fruit and unloading cargo in these Group islands. Something can be done to lessen these difficulties and to make the operation easier, but the cost of works of this kind are quite,-beyond the present resources of the Administration. Visiting Men-of-war. During the year the island was visited twice by men-of-war —in June by H.M.S. " Veronica " (Captain Lewin, R.N.), and in August by H.M.S. " Chatham " (Commodore Hotham, R.N.). These visits were very much appreciated by the Europeans and Natives alike, and were productive of much good, particularly with the Natives, since they brought to their minds the fact that there was some real connection between Rarotonga and the Empire at large. All that, it was possible to do was done by tin 1 people of the island to entertain the officers and men. Shipping-space. Always a burning question in Rarotonga, there was at the beginning of the season much dissatisfaction with the way space was being allotted. Some individuals, with a view to cornering the space for themselves, devised a scheme by which they were able for one shipment, at any rate, to obtain more space than they were entitled to. The scheme, however, defeated itself, and resulted in the setting-up of a new method of allocation that is giving more satisfaction. Undesirables. As in every community, so in the Cook Islands, there is a percentage of undesirable persons whose removal would be a public benefit. In New Zealand and elsewhere throughout the European portion of the British dominions the removal of undesirables is temporarily effected by means of Vagrancy /Vets. Wider powers than is given by these Acts, however, are required in communities composed of Native peoples. Natives lean very strongly towards the sensational, and are often more prone to accept lying suggestion from people of this class than advice from those who really have their interests at heart. Ultimately, perhaps, though not always, people of the class referred to are found out and discredited, but in the meantime they may have done incalculable harm. Provision should be made by which a Resident Commissioner could deport any person who in his opinion was exercising a bad. influence over the Natives. Many Natives, too, come from the qjjter islands to Rarotonga, where they loaf upon the Rarotongans and generally make themselves a nuisance, without committing any particular offence for which they could be punished by imprisonment. Provision should also be made by which this class of undesirable could be sent back to his own people, also under which a Resident Agent could refuse to allow Natives having no sufficient reason for doing so to leave their own island.