17

30. Samoan leaders know that local people are not capable of filling all the positions in the Government, and that the country would, at least for the present, need help from outside. They believe, however, that administrative problems are essentially a question of executive technique, for which outsiders could be " hired," and that they themselves are capable of assuming the responsibility for making decisions of general policy. 31. The viewpoint of the majority of the Samoan people, therefore, as expressed by the Fautua and by chiefs and orators who addressed the Mission in Apia and in the villages of Upolu and Savai'i is that the " authority and dignity " or the " pule " as the Samoans call it, should be handed over at once to a Government of their own. But some individuals, and also the spokesmen for the whole Falealili district while accepting self-government as the ultimate objective, proposed to the Mission a slower transition in self-government to prevent abuses. The significance of this dissenting opinion has been referred to earlier. E. WHAT IS THE POSITION OF THE RESIDENTS OF EUROPEAN STATUS REGARDING THE QUESTION OF SELF-GOVERNMENT ? 32. A number of Europeans, among them missionaries, businessmen, and Government officials, expressed themselves before the Mission as opposed to immediate self-government, although they accepted the objective of self-government. Several full Europeans expressed great scepticism as to the ability of the Samoans to assume the full responsibilities of Government without a very prolonged period of change and development. At the other extreme, a part-Samoan member of the Legislative Council elected by the European residents declared himself to be in complete agreement with the Samoan leaders on the question of self-government. But agreement seems unanimous among all Europeans that vigorous forward steps are needed in training and entrusting increasing authority to local hands. 33. The European Citizen's Committee, which formulated the representative viewpoint of the European community, presents as the first of its six points (Annex VI), the need for a " transition period." This tentatively set at ten years, to be extended if necessary. Immediate reforms should be launched, the Committee believes, directed in the main toward training the local people to handle the problems of Government. 34. The locally-born Europeans are clearly disturbed as to the position they would occupy as a minority in a self-governing Samoa. They feel, with justice, that since Samoa is their home they should not be pushed arbitrarily aside in any developing plan. The original