XI

An illuminating general description of the Administrator's malanga, written by a senior official who accompanied him, is to be found in the Samoa Times of July 17th.

"To say that our Administrator had a successful malanga round Savaii is stating just a plain fact…. Two years ago the reception would have been more or less a mixed one without the semblance of order in the proceedings, but to-day everything was arranged with almost military precision. Children, Fetu, and others lined up under the various leaders and at the word of command marched or formed fours as if born to the game. No haste, no disorder, no rabble could be discerned: company by company the various schools and Fetu lined up on the village malae forming a square, and at a given signal sang God Save the King. This was followed by giving the five points of the Fetu pledge, and then alternatively in Samoan and English the following: 'To-day Samoa is a good country but to-morrow we will make it better.'"

(All this was according to instructions given in the Savali, the Government native publication, of May 23rd. The natives also were ordered to cheer—"men, women, and children.") There followed, as promised, distribution of "lollies," head-patting, and sports.

page 194

"The Picture Show [the article continued] under the care of Mr. Lofley, commenced at 7.30 p.m. and ran until 10.30 p.m. The success of the pictures has to be seen to be realized…. Taking the malanga right through the pictures must have been viewed by at least seven thousand natives in Savaii…. Mr. Massey on the Western Front brought forth lots of applause, especially when the screen showed the Administrator in uniform alongside Mr. Massey. The translating was done by I'iga of the Native Office, and his work throughout the malanga in this respect was of a very high standard…."

In the Samoa Times of the following Friday appeared this addition, apparently from the same source:

"The story of the malanga would not be complete without the text of the speech by His Excellency General Sir George Richardson. Hundreds of copies of the speech were printed and handed round to the Samoans at every gathering. The speech is characteristic of the man and tells the story of Samoa from the earliest days…. Progress has begun, and the people are slowly moving forward to make their country one of the best in the Pacific. The sixth part of the story gives a vision of Samoa in the days to come. Schools are everywhere … villages are clean and tidy … electric light… people are putting money in the bank, and everywhere is peace and happiness. When the cause of all this wonder and beauty is sought for, the inquirer is told that it is because of the Village Committees and District Councils, and because of the five rules of daily life that every Samoan observes. The last scene of this vision shows an entertainment going on in the village at night, with pictures being shown, and at the conclusion of the show, as the audience stand and sings God Save the King, the vision fades away."

These two effusions apparently were published also in Fiji, for in the Samoa Times of August 21, 1925, appeared an article entitled "A Wise Administrator," and running as follows:

"The Fiji Times of 5th August editorially says: 'Sir George Richardson, the Administrator of Western Samoa for New Zealand, under mandate, is not only showing exceptional ability in his office, but he has organized such a campaign of administration as can well be copied throughout the world, where page 195the control and development of native races is an important objective. An article, which we published yesterday, gives in a bird's-eye view a fair idea of what Sir George is doing. We strongly recommend our Government to study General Richardson's methods and ideals. They present a very sharp contrast to the methods—in many cases fruitless and hopeless—which have been used in Fiji…. Vision of Samoa as hoped for, under present methods lately introduced … money in the savings bank, and everywhere peace and contentment, the true reward of industry. Everything in Samoa points to the accomplishment of this very desirable end. We have here a lesson in modern administration which every colony in the Empire can well study and profit by. We congratulate Sir George Richardson on his understanding of a difficult position, and feel confident of a successful result from his efforts."

An interesting commentary upon all of the foregoing will be found in a letter published three years later and reproduced in the Appendix¹ to this book. It was written by an Australian trader who donned a khaki suit to render himself inconspicuous, and went and squatted upon the floor among the natives when the pictures were being shown in the village at which he was trading, during the Administrator's malanga. He was curious, he said, to see exactly what did go on.