A.—4b.

Do you wish to say anything about him ?—Yes. Our district asked the Faipule to put before the Fono of Faipules our disagreement with the law about " fine mats." This was in 1923 —I have forgotten the month. Before he attended the Fono he gave us his reply, saying, " You wait for three years and see how it goes." We waited on his advice, seeing that he was the representative ofthe district. Was this decision expressing the wish of the people of the district when he said that they should wait A for three years !—lt was his own idea. Is that all, or is there anything else you wish to say ?—The same the title away from a certain orator. That is the second Faipule I—Seinafo. Who was the orator ?—Fia'ai. That is all I have to say about that Faipule. Those are the only two Faipules you have had anything to do with ? —Yes. 1 wish to speak about the Fono of Faipules. They have made laws in their own ideas without the consent of their districts. One law is that they expect everybody to attend at a certain place, such as a malaga, or when the Administrator is on a malaga. and if a person does not appear a fine is imposed on anybody of 10s. or £1 if they fail to attend. Does that apply to man or woman ? —Only to men. Judge MacCormick.] Whether they are officials or not ?—Whether they are officials or not. Mr. Baxter.] What else do you wish to say ? —They are overbearing to the people in their position of Faipules. The Faipules had no right to write to the Government of New Zealand and say that the Samoans had no voice in the Government, especially as the Faipules were not representative of the people. Was that given to the Minister when he came here ? —Yes. Is there anything else you wish to say I—That is all. There is a lot of trouble in the country at the present time: what caused that trouble ?—Dissatisfaction. Is that the dissatisfaction you have been telling us about ?—Yes, the dissatisfaction about what I mentioned and other things as well. What else is there ? —Fewer whites should be employed by the Government. Is that all ? —They have decreased the salaries of Samoans and increased the salaries of the whites. Is there any other reason why there should be trouble in the country now, or do you want to tell us any more I—There1 —There are too many laws passed by the Administrator and the Faipules. Mr. Meredith.'] You are an orator ? —Yes. Were you not an official interpreter for the Administration ?—Yes. And paid for your services in that capacity ? —Yes. Can you not give the Commission your evidence in English ? —— Mr. Baxter: I submit that he is entitled to give his evidence in Samoan if he likes. That is the rule of the Court. The Chairman: I know of no such rule, Mr. Baxter ; but we need not discuss the matter a present. Mr. Baxter: I would just like to mention, sir, that this man has been on duty as interpreter in the Native office. He might be of use so far as the ordinary run of the work is concerned and may not be of any use in Court work. Mr. Meredith: I was desirous of ascertaining whether he could not save time by giving his evidence in English. The Chairman: We are all aware that a great many Maoris give their evidence in English. Of course, as a general rule, if they desire to give their evidence in Maori it is acceded to. Mr. Meredith.] You made a complaint that your Faipule did not remit to the Fono your complaint with respect to the " fine mat" ceremony ? —Yes. Will you read this [file of papers handed to witness] : is that not a remit from the Faipule to the Fono on that point ? —lt was 1923 that we asked him to bring that forward, and this is dated 1921. Is that not a reference by the Faipule to the Fono about the " fine mat " custom ? —This appears to be a letter from the whole district, and there is nobody who signed it. If that letter were put to the Fono will you withdraw the complaint that you made ? —I cannot believe that, since there are no chiefs and orators who would sign that. Will you deny that the Faipule brought it before the Fono ? —I do not know. Then you were speaking without knowing the actual position ?—The Faipule said that we would have to wait three years. Do you remember the malaga of the Administrator in July of this year to Aufaga ?—-Yes. You were the orator on that occasion ?—Yes. Was the speech you made on that occasion a loyal one to the Administrator ?-—lt was respectful. Was not the only question that you raised a question about copra ?—Yes, and also a lot of other things that the district was dissatisfied with. Did not the Administrator reply that if they would make good copra the Administration would help them to sell it ? —His Excellency the Administrator in making his speech referred to Fiji and other islands with respect to copra, and said that if we were to produce copra that was good the Government would help us to sell it. Did the Administrator speak to you afterwards and ask you about the other complaints ?—Yes. Did you not reply that you had no complaints, but that it was fa'a-Samoa to say so ?—I replied that there were a lot of matters about which this district was dissatisfied. Did you tell the Administrator what they were at that time ?—No. You were not at that time a member of the Mau ? —I told the Administrator at the meeting that I and the majority of the district were in the Mau.

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