A.—4b

Mr. Nelson : I would like, on behalf of the committee, to make ourselves quite clear as to where we stand in respect to criticisms, charges, and propaganda levelled against the people here. We have to deal with the Administrator, and through you, and then to the Prime Minister, and then to the Governor-General. Is that right ? If he continues to make further charges against the people, that is our only redress. Hon. Minister: No one in the New Zealand Parliament is allowed to refer to the GovernorGeneral. You must not pass comment on the Governor-General. Mr. Nelson : The Governor-General is not allowed to go into the political arena in New Zealand. Hon. Minister : Pass your criticisms through the Administrator, and the Administrator will pass them through me, and I will pass them on to the Prime, Minister, and then they will be passed to His Excellency the Governor-General. That is the correct procedure. Mr. Nelson: " Whatever may have become of your subsequent policy, the Prime Minister " certainly assured me that your visit here would be to investigate into the complaints of the " people enumerated by me to you last September, and any other complaints which may be made. " You have now been in Samoa ten days and it is said that you will be leaving in a day or two, and " you elect to meet the people's representatives on the eve of your departure. By the programme " I have before me for the first five days, I note several ceremonies and receptions at Mulinu'u and " central office, ball at Government House, sports, races, church parade, Vailele and Vaitele planta- " tions, New Zealand Reparation Estates, Central Group, Falefa, Malua, and Malifa School. You " are quoted to have stated at Mulinu'u that the New Zealand administration of Samoa was favour- " ably commented on by the League of Nations, so why visit the centres controlled by the Administra- " tion, instead of visiting the representatives of the Mau (League) who were congregated in Lepea "in thousands every day to await your pleasure ? ' Surely they who are whole need not a physician, " ' but they who are ill do.' You have visited a few miles along the east coast. Have you inter- " viewed the representatives of the most populous part of that coast —viz., the villages of Apia, " Matautu, and Vaiala ? If you have driven along the west coast of Apia, have you been told that " within that 26-mile coast there reside a very large proportion of the population of Samoa, and, " outside of the Government officials, practically all of the people support the Citizens' Committee " and are members of the Mau ? " You visited Fagamalo, the seat of the Central Government in Savai'i. Have you been " informed that half of Matautu, wherein reside the Resident Commissioner and the Faipide, the " whole of Saleaula (the capital town of that district), and Lealatele belong to the Mau ? Do you " know that the rest of the large island of Savai'i belongs to the Mau ? The same is true of the " Island of Upolu. The school-children who have been ordered to meet you are mostly, if not all, " sons and daughters of parents who are in the Mau. Sir, if a, secret ballot were taken, you would " find that those who are not in the Mau would hardly fill the room. And what is meant by the Mau ? " The word Mau means an opinion, and also represents anything that is firm or solid. In this case " the Mau represents that very large majority of the people of these islands who are of the firm " opinion that drastic changes are necessary in the Administration and in the method of government " in Samoa. " The people have pa.ssed through a very trying time since the Committee's reports were " prepared. It has been a terrible ordeal, but the reports remain as they stand, and they are now " submitted to you in their original form, just as they were handed to the Administrator last December. " they emanate from the very hearts of the people, and were only put into legible form by the " Citizens' Committee whom they elected for the purpose. Most of the subjects now contained in the " reports have been represented to the New Zealand Government several times before. They will " be found in the pamphlet prepared by a former Citizens' Committee which was presented to the " New Zealand parliamentary party as far back as 1920. Very little redress has ever been obtained. " The advent of the present Administrator early in 1923 was thought to be the dawn of a new " era for the people of this country. Through New Zealand sources we learnt he would be a great " Administrator. This acted as a soothing balm, and almost every man, woman, and child gave a " sigh of relief and joy. A Messiah had arrived. The first message he delivered and the doctrines "he laid down all fitted the occasion. Deliverance had come. The voice of the people was really "to guide legislation and Government policy. The expenditure was to be reduced to the financial " capacity of the Territory, while a useful public-works programme was being maintained ; the " Medical Department would be made more efficient at less cost; the Natives were to be allowed a " say in the government without interfering with their time-honoured customs ; drastic laws, such "as ' prohibition,' would be repealed or modified ; private enterprise encouraged in every way so as " to bring new capital into the country, and the Administration retire from every field which was " occupied by private enterprise. Never was an Administrator or Governor better received anywhere. " Never did a man have a better start; never was a man greeted with more approbation by a people, " nor could the universal confidence of any nation have ever been placed more fully on any individual " than it was by the people of Samoa on General Richardson. A people who are capable of such " sentiments could hardly be a disgruntled community. Had the Administrator endeavoured to " carry out his original policy, and ever keep in mind that this was not a regimental camp, he would " have gone down to posterity as the saviour of this little country, and the New Zealand reports to " the League of Nations might have been confirmed by the people. " Alas ! none of the said policy has been followed. The Legislative Council is a farce : one man " controls it and directs all legislation. The annual expenditure and national debt are increasing " without satisfactory reason ; the Natives object to the newly levied medical tax—with very good " reason ; the Natives have been deprived of all their hereditary and time-honoured rights, privileges, " and customs. Instead of drastic laws being repealed or modified, they have been tightened up and

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