A.—4b

The foundation on which watchers base their decision is loyalty to His Majesty the King and the Governor. Every Samoan family has a Matai. If the members of the family have any complaints or are dissatisfied against their Matai they will make the complaint to him. The wise Matai is very pleased to hear the complaints that will help him to control his family properly and to right any mistakes. You are here now as the representative of the Matai of Samoa, which is Samoa. Although we were told that the Faipules always asked the father to punish, we relied on our father not to do any wrong to us. It seems that the honourable Minister wants to know if we can speak for ourselves without being guided by these others here. It is nearly twenty-seven years since the European Powers took charge of Samoa, to try and teach young Samoa. Now our knowledge is growing, and we now think we are entitled to speak for ourselves. We also know it is the wish of His Majesty the King, and that the British flag stands for justice. We are satisfied with the control of Samoa by New •Zealand, and therefore we are not afraid and will not hide anything. We will show all our cards. All that our chairman said regarding the Native question was fully discussed and fully considered by us. We have also done as our Administrator, General Richardson, said when he advised us to fight for others and not for ourselves. We made up our minds to help others and work for others, because the majority of the Samoans are foolish and do not know how to express their complaints ; therefore we have put them in order and bring them up to you. "Regarding the progress and prosperity which is reported in New Zealand papers and throughout the world, we do not agree with that. It is true that you can see some improvement and good work here, but it is no use if we, the people who belong to this country, are not satisfied ; therefore we have set up this committee to forward any complaints or matters for consideration by you. We know the good work that has been done, and the wisdom of His Excellency the Administrator and his officials ; but we wish to say something, because no one in the world is without fault. We make our petition that some things in the Government should be changed. Let the Samoan do something, because he is becoming able to do something for himself. We wish to see the Faipules put in such a position that they would convey to the Administrator the views of the people. They are appointed by the Governor and will not do anything that will bring about their dismissal. Hon. Minister: I would remind you that you are not bringing forward your own individual views, but speaking as a representative of the people. Lagolago : That is my individual opinion, and not from any one else. Hon. Minister : Are you dissatisfied with the Faipules ? Will you quote to me the names of the Faipules with whom you are dissatisfied ? Lagolago : Aiono, Logo, Salanoa. Lagolago : I am not satisfied with the status of the Faipules. Hon. Minister : Have you anything to say against any individual Faipule ? Ijagolago : There are many things, but what I am referring to is the position—they should be free to speak. There is one other matter : lam worried myself because the debt of Samoa is increasing. I also feel that the power given to the Faipules by the Government is too strong. I am also dissatisfied with some of the punishments meted out, and with some of the laws enforced. We support the wish of our people to make these complaints in the hope of having things put right. There are other things, but they may take too much time. I will answer any questions that may be asked. 1 wish the Government to consider these petitions and make some change in the present methods. Hon. Minister : Are you quite satisfied with the Faipules individually ? Lagolago : I thought my first answer was sufficient. lam not satisfied with their status, but I am quite satisfied with the majority of the Faipules. lam not satisfied with all the Faipules ; but if you will agree to let us vote and select the Faipules you will see some new members. The districts would select those with whom they were satisfied. Hon. Minister : Have you, Faumuina, any personal complaints ? Faumuina : I am not satisfied myself, neither are the people of my district whom I represent, There is no proper status for the Fautuas, and that causes dissatisfaction to the Samoans. European officials cost too much, and there is not much money left for the Native officials. Why not let the Samoans select their own representative to sit on the Legislative Council ? lam also not satisfied with the present status of the Faipules, because they cannot speak and cannot fight for the districts, each one having been appointed by the Governor. The Governor has power to dismiss them if he is not satisfied with what they do. What I really want is for the district to select the Faipule, and then he can fight for the district which selects him. Another point is that the Faipule cannot resist the Governor's wish when he orders means of punishing Samoans. Why does not the Administrator consult with the Faipule and let the Faipule consult with his district when he wants anything done ? Why are we not allowed to select our own Faipules ? How can they fight for us when they are appointed by the Governor for himself ? They do what he wants, not what we wish. We do not like the expense of European officials and the small pay given to our Native officials. Where is our money going to ? We were told by the Governor that the number of European officials would be reduced, but we see every year new officials brought in. I will finish now in accordance with your wish ; but I will state our real opinion, and that is that- we want you, as representative of the Government of New Zealand, to consider our requests and grant them ; if not, we would rather you buried us all in our graves and not let us go back to our former position. Mr. Nelson: I would like to ask if the Hon. Minister would take means to find out the real standing and rank of each of the chiefs on our committee. Hon. Minister: Yes, I will do that. Mr. Nelson: We have tried to bring before you and stress the fact that the Citizens' Committee whom you are meeting to-day are the representatives of the people. Before we leave this room we would like to hear from the Hon. Minister what his decision is in respect of the

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