A.—4b.

Auelua Lauvai sworn and examined.' Mr. Slipper.] Where do you live ?—At Lepa. You lost your title, did you not ?—Yes. What title did you lose ?—Auelua: Have you got the order depriving you of the title ? —I have lost the order. What kind of title is that ?—An orator's title. When did you lose it ? —ln January, 1926. The date given in the official list is 11th January, 1926. Where were you living at the time ? — I was in prison. What were you in prison for ? —Adultery. Have you any idea why your title was taken away from you ?—The only reason is on account of the Administrator and the Faipule. What did you do \ —l do not know of any reason. I was in prison. Have you been told why you lost your title ?—No. Have you ever been asked any question about it before your title was taken away ? —No. Do you know of anything you did to interfere with the order of the country % —No. Do you know of anything you did to interfere with the good government of the country ? —No, Were you at one time a Government official ?—Yes. What was your position - Clerk and interpreter in the Native Affairs Department. Did you leave or were you dismissed ?—I was dismissed. What for ? —Adultery. How long had you been in prison when this order taking your title away was made against you ? I was first sentenced to one month's imprisonment, when I was released, and I was imprisoned on another charge for eighteen months. Three months afterwards I received notice that the title was taken away from me. Was that served on you in prison ? —Yes. And no explanation was given to you ? —No. Mr. Meredith.] Are you a member of the Mau ? —Yes. How long have you been a member ? —1919. Is that the correct date ? The Interpreter : I have just warned the witness that this is difficult work and that he must not avoid the questions put. Mr. Meredith.'] What does the word mau mean ? —The word mau means dissatisfied. Do you know of the two public meetings held in Apia in October and November of last year ? — No, I do not know of the meetings. You have heard of them since then, have you not ? —Yes. Since that date have you attended any fonos of the Mau ?—No, I was in prison at the time. Were you not convicted of taking a Samoan girl away from her own home in December, 1925 ? —Yes. And sentenced to one month's imprisonment ? —Yes. And in January, 1926, were you not convicted of perjury ?- —Yes. And sentenced to eighteen months' imprisonment ? —Yes. Were you a married man ?—Yes. At the time of the abduction ? —Yes. Do you know Tagaloa ? —Yes. Does he belong to the family of the girl that was taken away ? —Yes. Do you know that Tagaloa and his family asked for you to be punished by your title being taken away —do you know who it was that made that request ? —I do not know, as I was not present at the time. Do you know that the matter was inquired into by three Faipules ? —I do not know. Mr. Baxter.] In regard to stopping the " fine mat " custom, do you want to tell the Commission anything about that or not ? —Yes. What is it ?—The law should be revoked, as it interferes with the Samoan customs. We have also heard something about the medical tax : do you want to say anything about that ? —Yes. There should be no medical tax, and the poll-tax would be sufficient to cover the upkeep of the hospitals, and if that is not sufficient then some of the money which is expended on roadmaking should be used for medical purposes. When you say " the poll-tax " do you mean the old head tax when there was a medical tax too, or the new one —that is, the combined tax ? —I mean the poll-tax as it was in earlier years. Now, we have also been told about the proposal to divide up the Native lands into sections : do you or do you not want to say anything about that ? —Yes. I consider that the Administration and the Faipule should have nothing to say about the division of the land. What are your reasons for saying that ?—The Administrator should have no control of the land, and the matai should control the family land. What are the other reasons I—Some persons who do not have any land at all will be given land belonging to another person. That is the reason why the Administrator and the Faipule would be wrong in dividing the land. Another reason is that some of the high chiefs and high orators would be offended by the land being given to other people, and the result would be murder. What is the name of your Faipule ?—Tupuola. Is there anything you want to say regarding him ? —He was recently appointed. I have no grievance against him, and he was nominated by the people of the district. Seinafo was our former Faipule. He was not appointed by the district.

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