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Author's Name Albert Wendt
Title of Thesis ‘Guardians and Wards’ (A study of the origins, causes and first two years of the Mau Movement in Western Samoa)
Degree M.A. (Honours)
Subject History
Year
I hereby consent that the above thesis may be consulted, borrowed, copied or reproduced in accordance with the provisions of the Library Regulations from time to time made by the Professorial Board.
AUTHOR
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‘Each generation has its own private history, its own peculiar brand of prophecy’.
(
Aldous Huxley )
What was the Mau? What were its origins and causes; how did it develop? Did Richardson cause the Mau or not? These were the main questions I set out to answer, if I could. These questions forced me to examine the growth of discontent during the nineteenth and early twentieth century. The growth of Samoan and European-part-European discontent is contained in Book One. Book Two is devoted to Richardson's Administration and the first two years of the Mau.
While trying to answer the main questions, other questions kept intruding. Such as: What type of men were O. F. Nelson and Richardson? Were the ‘myths’ about these men true? Were the Samoans led ‘astray’ by Nelson? Were the Mau's criticisms of Richardson's Administration valid or not? Why did the Commission of
What I found necessitated the destruction of certain widely-held views concerning the Mau, the men who led it and those who opposed it. Fearing for my own personal safety, as it were, I have withheld ‘certain information’ which may prove ‘harmful’ to the reputation of certain Mau leaders (now dead) and their families (non living). But wherever possible
The main sources I drew upon were the official records of the New Zealand Administration in Western Samoa. I found these, on the whole, heavily weighted towards a condemnation of the Mau. On the other hand, they contained the information I needed. This information I reinterpreted after wading through the Mau literature contained in files, pamphlets, and newspapers. To achieve more ‘balance’, I talked with and interviewed a number of people who lived during the Mau. Also a few Samoans who may be called folk-historians. This proved extremely worthwhile not only in the actual information gained, but in providing me with a feeling for those troubled years and the men who lived them out; for the problems people faced, how they faced them and why. It also stopped me from creating heroes (and villains) out of the dead.
For this study I am deeply indebted to certain people. To the Archivist and Staff of the National Archives, Wellington. To Mrs Mary Boyd, who, as my tutor and lecture in Pacific history, opened my eyes (and mind) to the importance of studying (and writing down) the history of my own country; and who also suggested the important aspects and themes for this study. To those people and families in Western Samoa who had to tolerate my often stupid and naive questions, especially le Susuga a Saveaali'i Ioane. To Professor Jim Davidson who revealed, to me, how little I knew of the history of my own country.
To all these people, I wish to express my deepest gratitude.
Pule ma Tumua, Ituau ma Alataua, Aiga-i-le-Tai, ma le Va'a-o-Fonoti
‘The opposition here is between magnificent human anarchy and the permanence of the unchanging sea’.
(
Albert Camus , ‘The Minotaur’ or ‘The Stop in Oran’.)
Western Samoa and its people were shaped by the whirl of centuries within the vastness of the Pacific Ocean. Scarcely 1090 square miles in size, a group of basalt rock and coral, 1 it held little for the papalagi, (Europeans). But they came. And from the missionaries to the New Zealanders, Samoa assumed an important role in world history; with the Great Powers nearly coming to war over it in the late nineteenth century. Samoa's historical ‘importance’ again caught the attention of the world, especially after
Strategically located, the Group runs in a broken chain, almost east to west, from several hundred miles around latitude 14°S. The climate is generally hot and wet, with very little variation in temperature. From April to November the climate is hot and dry. The ‘wet season’ extends from November to December.
All the islands, except Manono, are of the high volcanic type. Each island (Savaii, Upolu, Apolima and Manono) has a high backbone of hills, reaching up to 6000 feet in Savaii. Between the strandline and the foothills lie undulating belts of fertile alluvium. These belts provided the main areas for agriculture and settlement. Most of the islands were covered with tropical forests. From the foothills inland these forests were denser: festering growths of trees, lianas, ferns and parasites. Much of the inland country was of poor quality, and large areas of Savaii were valueless lava flows.
The dense vegetation and rugged terrain made internal communications very difficult, and isolated villages from one another. Travel had to be
The sea and the nature of the soil, terrain, and climate confined settlement mainly to the shoreline. Settlement was most continuous in Upolu, especially the northwest. While in Savaii, the ring of coastal settlements was interrupted by lava fields. In the eighteen fifties, according to Kramer, there were 122 villages.2 By 3
The typical growth curve of the Samoan population in the nineteenth century was a high birthrate subject to heavy mortality and to intermittent scourges of famine, war and disease. Famines were of minor importance in the nineteenth century. The Group was subject to occasional hurricanes, which destroyed crops and livestock, hence causing a temporary shortage of food. The numbers killed in wars are impossible to gauge. In all probability the losses due to war were much less than those due to epidemics. There are no records of numbers lost in epidemics during the nineteenth century. However, descriptions suggest that some epidemics claimed large numbers.
In 4
The bounty of the sea and the highly fertile alluvium belts and foothills provided an ample base for the economy. The sea abounded with fish. Within the lagoon - mullet, mackerel, sea-eels, octupi, turtles, shellfish and sea-urchins. From the open sea came bonito and shark. The land offered a harvest of taro, yams, bananas, breadfruit, coconuts, ta'amū, and arrowroot. All grown in unruly clearings spaced along the coastal areas and the hinterland.
The economy was one of plenty, involving an easy routine of labour. Yet there were times of famine caused by wars, natural disasters and epidemics.5
This picture of plenty has led some western writers to conclude that life in Samoa was one of relative ease, claiming that the Samoans were ‘fortunate individuals’.6 However, life in Samoa was not one of constant plenty and comfort. The people suffered from their own fears, superstitions and gods, from the plagues of periodic warfare and diseases, from their own forms of social and political injustice, from the inhumanity of man to man, from their own mistakes. There was (and is) no such adam as the ‘noble savage’.
There were three major divisions in the Samoan socio-political organisation.
The nu'u (villages) were self-sufficient units of economic life. Each village was made up of aiga (clans) presided over by the matai. The more
The villages were linked into sub-district or district associations. These associations were allied or grouped into combinations (itumalo) depending on marital and historical circumstances.
Village life was dominated by the matai. The village councils of matai conducted the affairs of the village, determined the activities of the untitled sections - the aumaga (men) and aualuma (women) - and the division of labour and land.
Life was one of pleasant stability, a cycle of cultivating the soil and fishing, broken by feasts, funerals, games, kava ceremonies, and malaga (village journeys to other villages.) The world of the villager ended within the reef.
On the other hand, Samoa, as a whole, was a picture of instability. Warfare and feuding took three forms. Firstly, there were struggles within clans for control of their larger elite titles. Secondly, there were struggles among clan and locality groups to enhance or increase their prestige and power. And lastly, there was a see-saw rivalry between the two power systems of Samalie toa and Satupua, which had crystallised into a struggle Tumua and Pule, and which often embroiled the whole country in civil war.
The object of the rivalry - between Tumua and Pule - was the acquisition of the four great political-ceremonial titles known as the Tafa'ifa (Tuia'ana, Tuiatua, Tamasoali'i and Gatoaitele).
One group of alignments was capped by an orator leadership called Tumua, and involved the right to confer the Tuiatua and Tuia'ana titles. The second group, known as Pule, held the right to bestow the Tamasoali'i and Gatoaitele titles.
The Tumua Leo (‘voice’) was made up of fifteen ‘voices’ representative of the Satupua groupings (e.g. the A'ana and Atua Districts) and nine representative of the Samalietoa clan groups (e.g. Tuamasaga in Upolu).
Pule comprised the six ‘voices’ of the leading districts in Savaii, and was associated with the Samalietoa, hence with Tuamasaga in Upolu.
The rivalry, therefore, was between a A'ana-Atua alliance, and a Tuamasaga-Savaii-Aiga-ile-tai (Manono and Apolima) alliance. With the Samalietoa Family leading the latter, and the Satupua leading the former.
One of the Tamaaiga [the leading ‘sons’ of either the Satupua (Mata'afa, Tamasese, Tuimaleali'ifano in the late nineteenth century) or the Samalietoa (Malietoa)] attained the peak of the system if, by ‘malo’7 party dominance, he gained control of all the Tafa'ifa titles.
For three hundred years, before Pe'a of Aiga-ile-Tai) were manoeuvring to occupy the Tafa'ifa. The ‘mana’ (power) of the great goddess Nafanua, even before I'amafana's death, had gone to Manono, to Tamafaiga and Lelologa, now the Taulaitu Sili (‘High Priests’) of the goddess. And without this mana the A'ana malo was further weakened.
Before I'amafana died he chose Malietoa Vainu'upo to succeed him to the Tafa'ifa. But Malietoa's succession was opposed by most of the faleupolu (the orator groups who had the right to bestow the Tafa'ifa titles), especialy the ‘Faleiva’ of A'ana. The only other serious contenders to the succession were Mata'afa (leader of Atua) and Tamafaiga (leader of Aiga-ile-tai and militarily the mainstay of the A'ana malo). Malietoa, unsure of this ability to openly oppose Tamafaiga's quest for the Tafa'ifa, supported Tamafaiga's struggle against Mata'afa. Supported by nearly all Savai'i and Upolu, Tamafaiga gained the Tafa'ifa after defeating Mata'afa in
Tamafaiga's reign was short but brutally tyrannical. His harsh treatment of the A'ana people eventually turned the A'ana leaders against him. They hatched a plot to kill him; this, they did at Fasito'o in 8
The way was now open for Malietoa to gain the Tafa'ifa, after thirty years.
The murder of Tamafaiga turned Manono against A'ana; something which Malietoa had hoped for. Tamafaiga's death also turned most of the powerful families - who, through marital ties and historical circumstances, were related to Tamafaiga - against A'ana.
Faced by the overwhelming alliance of Tuamasaga, Savaii and Manono, led by Malietoa, A'ana could do little but make a last valiant stand.
Malietoa's armies ravaged the whole district, burnt villages to the ground, overran the pallisades of the defenders. Those who were captured - warriors, old men, women and children - were thrown systemmatically into a pit known as Tītō, and burnt alive. The fire raged for days.
The missionary John Williams arrived at Sapapali'i (Malietoa's main village in Savaii) in
The first papalagi, such as Roggeveen in 9 This reputation for ferocity decreased as traders, whalers and beachcombers from Europe, America and Australia entered Samoa in the early
The first papalagi, who ‘settled’ in Samoa, came during the end of I'amafana's reign about
The influence of these papalagi elements on Samoan life was slight and was quickly erased by the powerful influence of Jehovah.
After Malietoa's conversion in 10 Even though the
The growth of trade accompanied this process of christianisation. The new converts' thirst, not only for Jehovah and muskets, but for the other ‘goods’ of the papalagi, increased. This encouraged the growth of trade. To pay for European goods, the Samoans, at first, supplied ships with foodstuffs. But these were not sufficient. The growing demand in Europe for oil - (for soap and candles) - led to and stimulated the growth of the copra trade. Till by 11
The effects of trade and missionary endeavour soon became physically evident. Concrete churches anchored villages to the malae; trading stores seemed to accompany each new church built, and Apia soon became the centre of Samoan life because it was becoming the commercial centre. These two activities also opened up, to the Samoans, a greater view of the papalagi world beyond the reef.
During the late eighteen forties, however, the hitherto uninterrupted mushrooming of churches and stores ran into difficulties in relation to the Tumua-Pule struggle. 1830 to 1841 was a period of political stability. This peace gave A'ana time to recover its strength. When Malietoa died in
‘the sun blazed and burned, it was glowing, but clouds were heaping up in vaporous drops, breathing and wheezing, shifting their masses.’
(Yevtushenko, ‘Zima Junction’)
‘We are satisfied that until the public meeting of
15th October, 1926 , there was no real dissatisfaction amongst the Samoans with the Administration.’12(Royal Commission Report,
1927 )
‘No, the dissatisfaction among the Natives was long before that. It was growing all the time.’
13(O.F.
Nelson )
It is not difficult to relate, historically, the discontent of the nineteen twenties to that caused by the epidemics of the nineteenth century, the political troubles of the pre-Partition (and Partition) and German periods, the economic grievances associated with the growth of a money economy and the large-scale alienation of land, and the fear of social disintegration. This discontent was transmitted from generation to generation, becoming traditional grievances - distorted perhaps - but genuine grievances which coloured Samoan (and European-part-European) attitudes to later papalagi ‘malo’. The Mau of the nineteen twenties did not just bloom out of a void; it was deeply-rooted in the Samoan past, in the ties of blood and country, in the culture-contact between not cause the Mau; he triggered it off.
Influenza first invaded Samoan shores in the early eighteen thirties, and, from that time on, influenza epidemics became almost an annual curse of the Group. The eighteen thirties also saw the blazing introduction of the papalagi Jehovah. Perhaps, to the new Samoan converts, the epidemics were the fearful expression of the wrath of their new God. However, as the century progressed and the people suffered, their accusing attention shifted from Jehovah (as the cause) to the men, who had brought Him. Epidemics were no longer the just punishment meted out by Jehovah for sins committed, but scourges introduced by other men, by foreigners.
The missionary Turner reported an ‘unusually severe and fatal attack’ of influenza in 14 ravaged the Group. Two years later the first measles epidemic struck
More epidemics occurred during the German Regime. In 15
This whole history of epidemic deseases, introduced into
In the early nineteenth century when the Samoans were not familiar with the papalagi and the scientific causes of epidemics, Jehovah was cited as the cause of such epidemics. However, as the people, and more important the chiefly elite, became familiar with their real causes, the discontent caused by epidemics (amongst other things) drastically altered the way they viewed the papalagi. After the
There was considerable unrest among the people during the Military Period and the early part of Tate's Administration. One of the main causes of this unrest was the 16 Articulate Samoans and influential Europeans (such as
When General Robin, the Acting Administrator, arrived in 17 Tate, however, did so in his correspondence with the 18 A report to Tate from the Resident Commissioner at Aleipata (Eastern Upolu) revealed that discontent, relating to the 19
The unrest during Tate's term, however, was not caused solely by the Epidemic. But it was one of the root causes of this unrest.
‘When I arrived in
1919 , the Natives had just suffered severe losses from the Influenza Epidemic and they were deeply incensed with what they believed was the mismanagement and carelessness of New Zealand in not protecting them from such a visitation’.20
The deeprooted, historical discontent - associated with foreign-introduced diseases - was truly one of the origins of the Mau of the nineteen twenties.
The second half of the nineteenth century saw the violent recurrence of the struggle between Tumua and Pule. 1844 to 1855 was the worst period of these civil wars, which involved nearly the whole of Savaii and Upolu. Before his death, Malietoa Vainu'upo - the last Tafa'ifa - visited the Tui Manu'a; these two leaders agreed that 21 Consequently, Malietoa's mavaega (last testimony) scattered the Tafa'ifa titles amongst the various political districts. Malietoa's idealistic but naive faith in the ability of his people to keep the peace under Jehovah was a direct cause of the resumption of the Tumua-Pule wars. And even the missionaries could not stop their newly won converts from going to war.
From 1855 to 1866,
A colourful American adventurer, named Steinberger, made a brief appearance - in the years 1873 to 1876 - as the power behind Malietoa Laupepa's Government. Steinberger promised the Samoans the support of the United States Government, and by doing so, won their confidence and trust. He offered the Samoan political elite a way of restrengthening Samoan forces in the face of the European factions, centred at Apia, which were trying to manipulate Samoan politics to suit their own ends. Up to this time, Samoan efforts at establishing some form of stable Government had been rendered ineffective not only by the factional strife within the Samoan political elite but by the arrogant machinations of the European factions in Apia. To try and maintain their independence from these European factions, the Samoan elite accepted a Constitution evolved by Steinberger. This constitution alternated the royal title between Malietoa Laupepa and Tupua Pulepule, created two houses; Ta'imua (the upper house made up of the high chiefs) and Faipule (the lower house of the talking chiefs). Steinberger assumed the role of prime minister. And for three years
Angered by Laupepa's action in signing the order for Steinberger's deportation, Ta'imua and Faipule dethroned him. Laupepa gained the support of a new party, the Puletua. A'ana and Atua (Tumua), supporting the claims
The foreign governments and consuls, concerned about their plantation and trading interests, strove to establish a strong Samoan government that would protect these interests. This task became more urgent when New Zealand attempts to force
This general settlement, safeguarding foreign interests in
The Germans forged an alliance with Tamasese. When this became known, the Americans and British backed Malietoa Laupepa and Pule. The rivalry
The new arrangement was unwieldy and could not work effectively because of the distrust between the consuls and between the Samoan factions. In
When Laupepa died in
After these events, the Powers had to admit, to themselves, that the only solution to the Samoan ‘problem’ was partition. In another conference at
The brief survey of the pre-Partition period reveals some of the major causes of Samoan discontent. From
During the struggle, the consuls, planters, traders and gunrunners used Samoan instability to increase their economic, political, and commercial footholds. They showed little genuine concern for Samoan welfare. When they strove for the establishment of a stable Samoan government, it was in order to safeguard their own selfish interests: stable government would facilitate the development of European plantations and trading. Any form of Samoan government, which did not suit one of these foreign groups, was rendered ineffective by that group. True, the Samoan factions, when in opposition, willingly accepted the aid of these groups, but there were times (such as the Steinberger period) when the Samoan leaders united to establish a unified Samoan government, but foreign interference usually resulted in the disintegration of such a government.
By
To many of the Samoan leaders, the papalagi were attempting to usurp their place as the rightful rulers of
As the papalagi minorities became more numerous and more rapacious - their will backed by the mights of their governments, - the image of the papalagi, in the Samoan mind, underwent drastic changes. The papalagi acquired a reputation for double-dealing, rapacity, and ruthlessness; completely lacking in breeding, they were motivated by the desire for economic and political
As Germany and New Zealand discovered later,
‘The Samoans never fully accepted the fact of political dependency.’22 The two crude ‘rebellions’ during the German period offer adequate proof of this. Four years after the beginning of German rule, Ta'imua and Faipule attempted to overthrow German chains. Dr. Solf, fully understanding the gist of Samoan politics, quickly altered the old system of Samoan government, abolishing the terms ‘Tumua and Pule’ in a declaration proclaiming that there was no room in
In
Why did this ‘rebellion’ occur in
23 In Samoan wars, the lands of the defeated were confiscated by the triumphant party. This practice was extended, during the second half of the nineteenth century, when the victors usually sold these lands, for arms and ammunitions, to the papalagi. By
All these factors put Savaii in a bitter frame of mind; this discontent was directed at the Germans (the ‘malo’ in power) and the Tumua party, which was associated with that malo. In such a climate of discontent, an able leader could easily organise Savaii against the German Regime. And such a leader did exist in Savaii; Lauati Namulau'ulu, one of the ‘ablest orators’ in the Group.24
This man did not posses a chiefly title. The title of his family - Namulau'ulu - had been bestowed on his elder brother. But during the years prior to
While Dr. Solf was away in 25 Pule aimed at overthrowing Mata'afa (Tumua), and, with him the German Regime. Lauati planned to start his actual campaign when Governor Solf returned.
On his return, Solf immediately made a tour of Savaii. In a ‘fono’ at Safotulafai, he castigated Lauati for inciting the people against Mata'afa and the Government; he told the districts that he would only listen to their demands at a ‘Fono’ which was to be held at Apia on the Kaiser's birthday,
Solf, fearful of the consequences of a clash between Tumua and Pule, ordered Lauati to disperse his followers. Lauati promised to do so, but did not. Solf planned to play Tumua off against Pule. The Governor gathered the leaders of Lufilufi and Leulumoega (Tumua) and informed them of Lauati's intention (which was to reopen the struggle between Tumua and Pule, so Solf claimed). The Tumua Party, led by Mata'afa, asked Solf for arms to subdue Lauati's party. Solf refused to comply. The Tumua Party's request for arms, however, was taken, by Lauati, as a declaration of war. So he sent the Governor a letter, which Solf claimed was an ‘open declaration of war’.26
Solf and Mata'afa, at a meeting with Lauati at Vaiusu (near Apia), forced Lauati to sue for peace. Lauati promised to return to Savaii and keep the peace.
Once in Savaii, Lauati restrengthened his party. Solf knew it was time to act, firmly. He cabled for three warships. These arrived in
After Asiata Taetoloa and Asiata Magaolo - two of Lauati's leading organisers - surrendered, Lauati was persuaded by Reverend Newall to come out of hiding.
Lauati and his leading followers were tried on one of the warships. With his brother Namulau'ulu and fifteen others, Lauati was deported to
In
These two ‘rebellions’, manifesting clear signs of ‘nationalism’, were forecasts of the Mau of the nineteen twenties. The Mau of Pule and Lauati became a heroic part of Samoan folk history, romantic themes of folk song and oral tradition. The leaders of the Mau during New Zealand rule - even
Lauati was truly representative of the old Samoan political system, of the warrior past; the skilled manipulator of Samoan political techniques, completely learned in the art of manipulating the Tumua-Pule rivalry in order to make and break ‘malo’. There was little or no European influence evident in the Mau of Pule, either in its organisation or its methods. It was loosely organised. Lauati depended on the Savaii chiefly elite, in the various villages and districts, to organise the movement from above. He also depended on age-old jealousies (between Tumua and Pule) and the ‘mana’ of his name and tongue to sway Pule behind him. The discontent concerning the papalagi, which had developed during nearly a century of European contact,
This Mau was adequate proof that even the Germans were not successful in solving the Samoan ‘problem’. European influence was still confined to Apia and its immediate environs. The ‘fa'a-
When Solf officially abolished the terms Tumua and Pule, the Samoan chiefly elite (especially those in opposition) saw such action as another papalagi attempt to undermine the power of the Samoan elite. The result was the Mau of Pule.
During German rule there was an almost ever-expanding overseas demand for tropical products. This stimulated the growth and development of agriculture in
A
In the eighteen forties, Governor Grey planted the ambitious seeds of the dream. During the eighteen seventies,
The
New Zealand quickly established a Military Government in
At first, the majority of Samoans accepted the New Zealand ‘malo’ without protest; the change in guardian had little detrimental economic or political effects. However, difficulties soon appeared.
The Military Governor, 27
A man used to the reigns of command. Would obey orders. Logan was the first in the line of New Zealand Administrators with military backgrounds.
Logan, under orders from New Zealand, pursued an almost doctrinaire economic policy. This only encouraged the drift towards the rocks of economic dislocation. German rule had ended before the drift had reached its disastrous fruition; New Zealand got the blame,
The Germans had planned the imposition of duties on certain exports but had not put this policy into effect. Logan, blind to economic realities and following orders, imposed the duties. The War, at this time, seriously disrupted trade; reduced shipping to a minimum. The combined effects of these factors resulted in an overnight, all-time rise in costs; copra prices dropped disastrously. D.H.P.G. and other foreign companies were forced to close down. At the same time, New Zealand insisted on repatriating the indentured labour force. Logan naively assumed that the Samoans would be only too willing to work on the plantations. The resulting scarcity of labour hastened the ruination of plantation agriculture.
Logan's policy, plus the rise in costs and the
In an attempt to restore some degree of sanity, Logan reversed his policy of repatriation. When the War ended, there was an exodus of German residents from the territory. New Zealand assumed ownership of German Government properties (without compensation); the properties of companies and individuals were purchased. All this damaged plantation agriculture further. There was a drastic reduction in the number of skilled personnel
The repatriation of labourers, the rising costs, the Influenza Epidemic and the reduction in the ranks of those vitally necessary to the development of the economy, caused considerable unrest among all levels of Samoan society. The economic boom just after the War, however, cooled the discontent. To encourage Samoan confidence in New Zealand, Logan had brought back the Lauati exiles. He also extended public works and health facilities. The
The ‘C’ Class Mandate gave New Zealand the power to administer 28
Executive government was entrusted to an Administrator appointed by the Governor-General, and under the control of the Minister of External Affairs.
A High Court of
The
This whole system of government allowed the Administrator very wide powers. As head of the executive government he had considerable freedom to select his subordinates. He was also the central power in Legislative government because the Legislative Council had only advisory powers, and the official members outnumbered the unofficial members. The power and scope of the Council depended on the Administrator's interpretation of the
However, there were factors which could limit the Administrator's power. The New Zealand Parliament could alter the Samoan Constitution; the
The League of Nations and the Mandate System were restraining factors. The Mandate contained terms which New Zealand had to abide by. The Permanent Mandates Commission was a body of experts on colonial affairs; these were the men who scrutinised the annual reports on
Humanitarianism was a positive force in the world. New Zealand, an apprentice in the field of colonial administration, was anxious to promote a world-wide reputation for tolerance and fairplay. To do this, New Zealand had to be sensitive to world opinion concerning its Samoan administration, particularly criticism concerning its key officer, the Administrator.
The most important influence on the Administrator was found in the territory itself. The Administrator did not have (at his command) any effective force to enforce his orders if faced by a concerted opposition. Consequently, if the administration was to succeed it had to have the support of the majority of the Samoan chiefly elite. If it lost this support (as it
Tate, the first Civil Administrator, arrived in 29 Supposed German ‘goodness and fairness’ was held up as a contrast to the supposed tyranny of New Zealand.
Tate, unlike Logan, was a volunteer soldier and a New Zealander by birth and upbringing. He had practised law in Greytown between 30 According to a local correspondent who knew Tate, Tate ‘was an excellent citizen but entirely raw in the treatment of Samoans. He did not trouble to listen to any complaint, and as a matterof fact took the line of least resistance hoping that all troubles would solve themselves.’31
Confronted with the open hostility, especially of the Samoans in Apia and the areas around it, Tate, like Logan before him (and Richardson after him), blamed the Apia residents for causing the trouble. Because of this naive assumption (caused by a lack of knowledge of Samoan affairs and the Samoan ‘mind’), and wanting to break the boycott, Tate, in 32
Another factor which encouraged the unrest in 33 The disturbance ended with twenty chiefs going to prison, with Greene being deported, and the Governor committing suicide.34 Rumours of this encouraged the growth of opposition in 35
The 36 In 37 But the fact that most of the Faipule - apart from Malietoa Tanumafili and Tuimaleali'ifano - signed it, revealed that there was marked discontent amongst the chiefly elite. Reay,
After this petition, however, there was a decrease in Samoan discontent. Tate's native policy made the Faipule part of the New Zealand ‘malo’; this erased their earlier fear that New Zealand would rule without them. Tate's native policy, by not attempting to quickly and radically change Samoan society, was not a real threat to the ‘fa'a-most important factor in the decrease of discontent was the steady improvement in economic conditions overseas. Costs went down, and copra prices rose. Prosperity was returning once again to blunt the edge of discontent.
The two meetings of the Fono of Faipule in 38
When Colonel Tate arrived in
However, Tate had symbolised a more forbidding opposition to old
Tate made a small start in promoting Samoan participation in government. Basing this on the German model, pulenu'u were appointed for each village; they were responsible for the peace, cleanliness, collection of taxes (and rhinoceros beetles), and the supervision of agricultural production. Samoan judges, known as fa'amasino, with limited civil and criminal jurisdictions, were appointed. A panel of Samoan assessors, the ‘Komisi’, was set up to decide questions of lands and titles. The pulefa'atoaga (Samoan agricultural
proper training ground in which the Samoan leaders would be prepared for self-government. The two paramount chiefs, who acted as the Administrator's personal advisers, were to be known as Fautua (as in German times). The Native Department was launched to act as a link between the Administration and the Samoans. European Resident Commissioners were positioned in Eastern Upolu and Savaii.
The economic base of the Samoan economy was a narrow one indeed. Any drastic drop in copra prices usually resulted in a corresponding reduction in the level of prosperity (and a resurgence of unrest).
Tate's policy aimed at leading the Samoans towards the development of a modern money economy. He failed to persuade the Samoans to work on Public works and private plantations, so he tried to encourage them to develop their own lands. Ordinances, regulations, and propaganda campaigns in the use of modern agricultural methods and techniques were used to try and wean the Samoans away from the age-old ‘fish and taro’ economy. But he failed to effect any revolutionary changes in the Samoan economy.
Economic problems were inextricably bound to the problem of land tenure. By
The need for modifying this system was realised, but Tate feared the real dangers involved. So he confined his activities to the regularisation of European land holdings, and the development of the Crown Estates. Richardson inherited the problem of land tenure unchanged in any way.
Tate instituted a vigorous health scheme. But here again caution marked his policy; such a health scheme meant the revolutionising of Samoan thought regarding modern medicine, and this had to be done cautiously because of Samoan adherence to ‘fa'a-
Tate built twelve medical out-stations throughout
Tate planned a national system of education, and gave grants to the missions to expand their educational activities. Apart from these, no real advance was made in education.
Tate never solved the problem associated with revenue. Even though revenue was increasing annually, expenditure was increasing more rapidly. After 39
This brief survey of Tate's policy in action reveals that he achieved some measure of success in thos spheres he focused his attention on. But the sum total of his achievements did not amount to a substantial start in solving the main problem of integrating Samoan society with the world beyond the reef. He avoided all the major problems which, if solved, would have hurried
Apia had come from across the seas, in ships. Had grown out of copra, and the years had nailed it to the seashore. Law and order had come with the consuls backed by warships. Till by 40
The town was strung along the seashore at the foot of Mt. Vaea. Bordering it to the West was Mulinu'u Peninsula jutting into the sea, like an accusing finger. To the east was Matautu. Windswept, anchored to the soil by palms, and backed by a mangrove swamp, Mulinu'u was the seat of the Samoan paramount chiefs, but, by
Next to Mulinu'u lay the stores, offices and barracks of the Firm. Then came Matafele housing German bars, stores, the German Consulate, the Catholic Mission and Cathedral, and ending at Mulivai Bridge. This bridge was the frontier between German influence and the Anglo-Saxon sphere of influence which extended from Mulivai to the Vaisigano River to the East. In this area were Anglo-Saxon stores, the English mission, church and newspaper. Over the Vaisigano, lay Matautu, pockmarked by the pilot-house, the signal-house and the British and American consulates.
Apia was far less glamorous than its physical setting. The houses were meanly built; the buildings being low, hastily put together, and often unpainted. The main street was unpaved, very dusty in fine weather and
The population ranged from the permanent transients (sailors and beachcombers) to priests, Protestant missionaries, clerks and merchants. Sometimes, the transients outnumbered the residents. The Samoan population was more numerous than the papalagi, but they lived in the area behind the papalagi businesses. ‘The handful of whites (had) everything. The natives (walked) in a foreign town’.41
The Municipality of Apia had its own Court, collected its own revenue, and was supervised by the foreign consuls.
The seat of Samoan Government was shifted from place to place, depending on the foreign minority supporting it at a given time.
The frontier between
All the money, luxury and business of
Within Apia, the Samoans did little. The majority of papalagi were merchants, plying a lucrative trade in copra. The town thrived on gossip. Was crowded with amateur politicians whose favorite forums were the bars. (Some found Apia invigorating because of the daily conspiracies). All were after a livelihood narrowly based on copra. Some merchants were famous for foul play in business, (so a competitor would tell you). The only function of the Samoan, in the eyes of the Apia residents, was to supply them with copra and buy their goods.
Hence by the eighteen nineties, the leaders of this community were hard, shrewd businessmen schooled in the rough-and-tumble politics of the South Seas. Independent and arrogant, they tended to treat the Samoans as pawns in their commercial and political game of trying to annex the Group on behalf of their respective Governments (irrespective of whether their governments wanted to or not). No government was able to curb their independent empire-building schemes. In fact, after partition the German authorities cultivated their friendship and support in administering
By 42 Because of the Samoa Act,
The part-European group created an unrecognised problem.43 As their numbers increased, the odour of discrimination became attached to the term ‘half-caste’. According to New Zealand officialdom, the ‘half-castes’ were the dregs of modern society: the products of the licentious life on the ‘beach’, who were intellectually inferior to them (their pure-blooded counterparts). Were of low moral calibre, unreliable, untrustworthy, and inclined towards criminality.44 As this discrimination grew intolerable, mutual antagonism occurred between the part-Europeans and the Administration. The Europeans, and especially the part-Europeans, were also discriminated against by the Samoans. The Samoan attitude was mainly a product of the lengthy history of European contact, and partly an echo of the official attitude.
Inheritance and natural ability permitted a limited number of part-Europeans to procure a recognised niche in the European and Samoan circles. But the majority of them were forced to occupy the no-man's land between the European and Samoan worlds. Because of this, they were easy to rouse against authority, the willing disciples of and agitators for anti-Administration movements. Another section of the part-Europeans were easily absorbed into Samoan society: the taint of alien blood was small.
The first two groups, in relation to any Administration, were the explosive (unpredictable) ones. If the Administration wanted to win their support - render them less susceptible to anti-Administration activity - it had to provide them with a comfortable place in
The true European section ranged from remittance men and beachcombers to traders and planters. Through marriage most of them had solid ties with the Samoan community. In the past, this group had flagrantly interfered in Samoan affairs. The Germans had realised their power and had allowed them to enjoy a great degree of influence. Economic prosperity, during the German Regime, had won their support for the Administration.
This group and the part-European traders and planters suffered severely from the economic slump during Logan's period of rule. They were the men who controlled the economy, and, when this economy collapsed, many were driven to the edge of bankruptcy (if not into bankruptcy). Logan's policy of repatriation and the imposition of export duties drove them further against New Zealand rule. The 45 and finance.
Suffering from a fatal streak of racial prejudice and pursuing the policy of his Government faithfully, - a policy which aimed at barring the part-Europeans from contaminating the Samoans, - Tate showed no appreciation of the inflammable nature of the racial problem in
The failure of Tate's Administration (indeed the failure of New Zealand) to comprehend (appreciate) the power and influence of these minorities would have drastic consequences. But not during Tate's term because the steady rise in copra prices and improved trade lulled the hostility of these groups, minimised their anti-Administration activities.
(organised European Agitation)
The Citizens' Committee as a properly constituted and permanent Association, contrary to the view of the O. F. Nelson, A. G. Smyth, E. Curr, A. Williams, E. G. Westbrook and S. Meredith), who later led the Mau, assumed the leadership of the European community. This lengthy period of training up to
The Committee grew out of the troubled years of 1914 to 1922, and became the spokesman for the European dissident section. The growth of organised agitation coincided with the beginning of Tate's policy of discrimination, the enforcement of prohibition, the realisation that the Administration's native policy would be costly, the eruption of open Samoan hostility against the Government, the trade recession, the boycott of stores, the organised revolt against the Administration in American Samoa, and the assumption of European leadership by younger more aggressive men such as O. F.
Before 46
Accompanying the petition was a table of expenditure and revenue. The table was highly misleading but this table was a forecast of future ‘expert’ reports on finance, health, education, and everything else which the ‘citizens’ wanted to attack.
A short time after the petition was sent, the Minister of External Affairs, E.P. Lee, visited
On 47 The meeting was very similar to the crucial meetings of
The meeting floated on a cushion of bravery, with the self-styled ‘reformers’ not knowing (or caring) what the consequences of their very promises and actions would lead to four years later. ‘Grand’ meetings, such as this, were rare in the history of Apia. When one occurred it was almost a festive occasion where lengthy speeches and brave resolutions served, to some extent, to relieve the boredom of life on the ‘beach’. (Without concerts, rallies, movies, and other ‘cultural’ features of civilisation). Gave some of the permanent transients some meaning out of a life so far away from 48
The meeting was called to formulate proposals to be put before Massey when he arrived, and it marked the ascendance of O. F. no permanent, properly constituted Citizens' Committee. Committees were appointed for each night). E. G. Curr appeared, for the first time, as a member of the committee; Meredith as a seconder for a motion to draw up a financial statement; A. Williams as a seconder for one committee member; and A. G. Smyth made a verbose, bubbling speech on topics ranging from a Municipality for Apia through to the free press, electric lighting, education, the police force (‘an expensive luxury’), up to elected members for the Legislative Council and the lofty question of prohibition.
After the election of committee members, the hall resounded with speeches concerning certain grievances. The main grievances paraded were associated with indentured labour, finance (agreed that a financial statement should be put before Massey), and prohibition (Massey would be asked to have a plebescite ‘amongst all taxpayers other than natives’ to determine their feelings about prohibition).
Before closing, the meeting agreed to hold another meeting four weeks later. The grievances aired persisted right up to
Blinded by the belief that the Europeans were people whose ‘lives had been spent in making money out of the natives’, and who were now trying to secure ‘a political ascendancy over the natives’, Tate persuaded Massey to postpone his visit, indefinitely. The Prime Minister did so in
Another meeting of citizens was called (and held) in the Apia L. M. S. Hall on 49 Such reports became a characteristic feature of the attack on the New Zealand Administration.
Sometime after
By this time,
After the postponement of the Prime Minister's visit, memorandums from the Citizens Committee continued to reach the
Tate left the Territory in
By the end of Tate's Administration, certain racial myths had become deeply entrenched in the minds of the racial groups in inevitable. These myths - the product of the clash between
A racialist myth about the Samoans (‘natives’) evolved, in the minds of the papalagi, during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
The papalagi groped for some kind of ‘pattern’ in Samoan society, searched for an ‘average’ type of Samoan personality to replace the eighteenth century myth of the childlike, noble savage which had been shattered when the papalagi had come face to face with the harsh realities of the South Seas and the Samoans. Out of this ‘quest’ emerged a racialist myth regarding the Samoans. A general outline of this myth can be discerned from the list of complaints about the Samoans.50
There were, so the myth went, ethical and moral deficiencies in the Samoan make-up; the Samoans were deceitful, evasive, dishonest, vain. There were intellectual deficiencies also: the Samoans were stupid, lacking in imagination, infuriating in their childlikeness, irrational, and incapable of managing their own affairs. Further proof of their ‘inferiority’ was their adamant refusal to adopt papalagi customs, papalagi methods and conventions, and papalagi forms of social, political and economic organisation. (The Samoans had even ‘paganised’ Christianity). The myth further alleged that the ‘natives’ were, completely under the domination of the fa'a-51
According to Stanner, no real grounds existed then (or now) for such a myth concerning a ‘typical’ Samoan personality. The myth was highly suspicious because it was not based on actual scientific evidence but on the prejudiced value judgements of ordinary papalagi (and Administrators). However, the Samoan situation ‘needed’ such a myth, and one was ‘provided’. This myth tainted the policies of the
At the same time a myth, concerning the papalagi, grew up amongst the Samoans. Centuries of isolation had fashioned a deep conservatism within the Samoan people, an arrogant conservatism conducive to an almost fanatical adherence to their customs and traditions, to their socio-political system
The image of the papalagi changed radically during the nineteenth century. The papalagi (the ‘skyburster’) had burst out of the horizon to bring the Kingdom of Heaven, muskets, and a new mana. He was viewed as a superior and mysterious being. But when the papalagi became more numerous, more demanding, more hostile, the magical image changed for the worse. When the papalagi actively meddled in Samoan politics, especially during the pre-partition and partition periods, the image was damaged further. The folk-songs of the period prior to partition and the Mau of Pule bear this out.52 The papalagi was now seen as an exploiter, who would use any means to get what he wanted: land, copra, and political supremacy. The term ‘fia papalagi’ (wanting to be like a European), became part of the Samoan language as a term of abuse and derision. Apia became the symbol of European greed. Even the part-European was viewed as part of the European world, as someone no different from his pure-blooded counterpart, and duly discriminated against.
During the nineteenth century,
Consequently, by Tate's period of rule, the papalagi had become the common enemy of Tumua and Pule, with the Administration symbolising this enemy because it was so conspicuous.
During the latter half of the nineteenth century, a racialist myth
53
All these groups - the Administration, the Samoans, and the European-part-Europeans - had their own views regarding
Because of the Mandate and the prevailing world humanitarian thought regarding ‘native peoples’, New Zealand (and especially Richardson) tended to consider its job in
On the other hand, the Samoans already saw
Caught between these two worlds, was the European-part-European group, the world of Apia. These elements tended to look upon future. To them, the essential qualification for leadership was business acumen; Government was a business, and any good businessman would make an effective political leader. Most Samoans were out of touch with the modern world. Leadership should be left to those who were completely in accord with the twentieth century.
Hence, all these groups had different opinions and views concerning what
The emotional and psychological demarcation lines between the three worlds seemed insurmountable. But during Tate's period of rule, Apia drifted towards
Certain themes wove right through the period which has been reviewed in the preceding pages. The basic one - in the nineteenth century - being the rivalry between Tumua and Pule, and the attempts of foreigners to introduce some form of stable government to
In the face of Samoan conservatism, papalagi attempts to solve the Samoan ‘problem’ failed. The papalagi usually had to resort to the ‘mana’ of guns and warships. But even this failed. When the odds proved unfavourable, the Samoans characteristically vanished into the bush, and, offering no effective opposition, refrained from recognising authority; this being the traditional manourve against any ‘malo’ whether papalagi or Samoan. (An opposition technique later employed, during the nineteen twenties and thirties, to frustrate the New Zealand ‘malo’).
From 1900 to 1917, the Germans and the Samoan leaders (in this instance Tumua) identified with them, were the new ‘malo’ because of superior might. Those in opposition plotted (and prayed for more propitious times) to oust it from power. The ‘lack’ of concerted rebellion against the German ‘malo’ did not mean full acceptance of German authority. The time (and odds) were not favourable to physically oppose Dr. Solf. Opposition could only be against the Samoan leaders (in this case Mata'afa) whom the Germans had placed at the peak of the Samoan political system, (and who, to Pule, had no right to such a position). If Tumua could be defeated, the German Regime would fall with it.
When New Zealand assumed control, the ‘problem’ was still unsolved.
The ‘problem’ needed skilful, diplomatic handling. Tate abstained from meeting the ‘problem’ head on; favourable conditions saved him from the storm. Nevertheless, the storm clouds of Samoan-European-part-European discontent began to amass ominously during his term of office.
‘And suddenly without one look back We crashed into the downpour.’
(Yevtushenko, ‘Zima Junction’)
‘… a child of which we have assumed the guardianship’
(Governor-General Ferguson)
54
‘Today Samoa is a great country. I am going to make it better.’
(motto of the ‘FETU OF SAMOA’, established by Richardson)
55
Richardson came to 56
This man of action, in his first
The aims of the his Native Policy were classical in their simplicity, but, he knew that their execution would be difficult. Firstly, his policy aimed at developing the material welfare of the Samoans (natives), and, if necessary, at the expense of the European residents; secondly, such a policy
Real progress would be measured in terms of economic (agricultural) development. This meant the evolution of a modern agricultural economy; to do this, changes would have to be made in the Samoan system of land tenure. Expansion in the social-welfare services (education and health) was planned, also. Education would be a key weapon in forging, within the Samoans, a love of and a pride in country; education should also promote the desire to increase material prosperity through intensive agricultural effort.
The underlying values of the native policy of this well-meaning paternalist were the cardinal puritan virtues of thrift, hardwork, cleanliness and charity. Even Brigadier-Generals do become missionaries.
A complex system for controlling native affairs was visualised. The aims of such a system were to win the confidence of the Samoan people; wean them away from their frustrating preference for the ‘fa'a-
Richardson immediately plunged into reforming native government and establishing his own system of native administration. He organised a series of native committees; some were innovations, others were adaptations of institutions established by previous administrations.
The ‘Fono of Faipule’ was the most important Samoan council. Dr. Solf, in 57 But even by 58 Under Richardson's command the Fono consequently became the most crucial council in the system of native administration, to be considered as the only body through which Samoan opinion could and should be expressed.
From 1923 to 1925, the topics discussed by the Fono ranged from details concerning health and education to controversial issues of national importance, from the cleanliness of villages to the prohibition of fine mat ‘malaga’. After this initial success in using the Fono as a means of regulating and reforming Samoan everyday life, Richardson, after
Apart from the Fono of Faipule, Richardson erected other committees at the village and district levels. The village committees, - bodies of representative villages chiefs and orators presided over by the pulenu'us, - made by-laws and enforced them. The District Councils, made up of representatives from the village committees and all the Samoan officials (except the fa'amasino) and presided over by the Faipule, dealt with such matters as the control of villages, sanitation, roads, and agriculture. The Administrator had to approve the decisions of these Councils.59
The whole system came under the control of the Native Affairs Department assisted by four agricultural inspectors of the Agricultural Department. The Secretary of Native Affairs was directly responsible to Richardson. The system was financed by alloting 75 per cent of the fines, imposed by the fa'amasino, to the District Councils and towards public works.
The smooth functioning of the system depended on the condition of the base of the administrative pyramid: the Samoan officials and their ability to foster and maintain the loyalty of the chiefly elite in their respective areas. The Administration, through the Fono of Faipule, could (and did) pass a bewildering mass of laws and regulations to be applied by the Samoan officials, but the Administration did not possess an effective police force to enforce these laws if the need ever arose.60 Hence, if the native officials lost the support of the chiefly elite, who were still the real power in the villages and districts, the administrative machine would grind to a halt.
As Richardson was establishing the native system he was also pushing ahead in other fields concerning Samoan welfare. In
Throughout his term of office, there was a steady improvement in education. Teacher-training was introduced, and a new syllabus was devised re-emphasising the importance of agriculture, hygiene, technical training, and the vernacular. Education was free for the Samoans, and, by
Utilising propaganda campaigns, education and Native Regulations, Richardson tried to improve Samoan agriculture. A series of Regulations, in
A diversification of the basis of the economy was also attempted. New crops, such as cotton and rubber, were introduced; and, in,
In these attempts at economic improvement, especially in agriculture, Richardson came up against the problem of land tenure. In
Richardson reorganised the Health Department; enlisted the Faipule's support in the drive to win Samoan confidence in modern medicine. In
This health policy acted as a further drain on finances. By
Throughout his period of rule, Richardson, like Tate, undoubtedly emphasised the importance of Samoan welfare. Both Richardson and the
Nothing was done for the highly influential individuals within the part-European group; they were ignored, classified with the European residents, and treated as if they were aliens within
Right from the beginning, he set out to win the confidence of leading European residents. He had numerous discussions with the Samoan Welfare League to discern the views of the Europeans on important subjects. He wanted to give them the opportunity to control their own civic affairs by
He made some concessions in granting the Europeans a larger share in the administration of the territory. In 61 Richardson's interpretation of the Amendment, however, showed that he was unwilling to go very far in liberalising it. He limited the number of elected members to three, and restricted the franchise by placing a high property or salary qualification.62 By only an advisory committee.63
Even though he subordinated European economic interests to those of the Samoans, he made some concessions to the Europeans. He kept taxation low, and helped planters in improving their crops and plantations. The Europeans also gained from the reforms in Samoan agriculture, health, and education. He did not ignore, altogether, European interest in the question of indentured labour. This system, even though drastically reformed, was continued
However, in other matters, his policy worked in direct opposition to European interests, particularly in the question of prohibition. He was personally against prohibition. But, because he was primarily a man of duty, he enforced the prohibition law even in the face of mounting European hostility.
His whole programme resulted in a vast increase in expenditure. And because most of this expenditure was a result of his Native Policy, he incurred the wrath of the European minority. Before he took office, the annual expenditure was £132,658 (in
For this progressive policy, breathless in its dimensions and seemingly dazzling in its execution (or so it was believed by New Zealand, the League, and overseas opinion), Richardson won a Knighthood and overwhelming praise. The weaknesses and dangers of the system he forged escaped the notice of the
Richardson's arrival in the territory had been preceded by a favourable publicity campaign in the New Zealand press and the ‘Samoa Times’. This, plus the hope that a new man might prove sympathetic to their demands, resulted in a marked decrease in the anti-Administration activities of the Apia citizens. They waited, observed. Hoped. Richardson, at first, did not disappoint them. He immediately tried to win the confidence of the Samoans and Europeans. A New Zealand Parliamentary Act (
The Samoan Amendment Act,
Perhaps the final issue between the Administration and the citizens, which turned the citizens away from the Council, was the question of a Municipality for Apia. Richardson was sincere in his efforts to get the
Early in
Culture-contact had produced a group of full-blooded Samoans who were highly Europeanised. These men were fluent in English and familiar with the commercial life of Apia. Some led semi-European ways of life, feeling just at home in the drawing rooms of ‘
On 28 September, a public reception - at which Richardson was the main speaker - was held, in Apia, to welcome 64 However, even before this reception,
65 All this, especially the private meeting, would be interpreted later as the start of a secret and deliberate plot to overthrow the Administration. Viewed in the light of later events, this meeting certainly looked like the sinister beginning of treason. But the meeting was in keeping with local precedent. During the early nineteen-twenties, meetings of this kind had been called at the homes of leading citizens, sometimes for the purpose of organising public meetings. Because their consequences had not been harmful to the Administration, they had not been citied as ‘secret plotting’. However, the September meeting at Meredith's home later assumed a sinister-like character, in the eyes of the Authorities, because of what happened after the first public meeting of not planned; and not an evil genius.
The public meeting was advertised in the ‘Samoa Times’; and was held on 15 October, at 8p.m. Unlike the public meetings of the early nineteen-twenties this meeting attracted a bigger audience - between 250 and 300 - of both Europeans and Samoans.66
unnecessary' expenses.
Afamasaga outlined the complaints of the Samoans; these were focused on the taking away of matai titles.67 The Samoans, when asked by should have a say in it as the Samoans should have a say in Samoan customs.68
The meeting then elected a committee, made up of Europeans and Samoans, to report on the deficiencies of the Administration. If the reports were approved by the public, in a later meeting, these reports would be sent to the Minister of External Affairs. (By postponing his visit, the Minister prolonged the existence of the Citizens' Committee, and forced the Committee to present their case another way.) As was to be expected, the meeting elected their most influential and wealthiest cohorts, namely:
12.30p.m. The meeting dispersed. The alliance between Apia and
After the October meeting, rumours - that an opposition movement had begun in Apia - spread throughout the outlying districts. As a result, the meeting held on 26 November attracted a larger number of people, especially Samoans. The number lay between 400 and 600. This meeting marked the beginning of a greater, more powerful Samoan participation. Later on, they would assume ‘control’ of the movement.
Before the meeting got under way properly, a letter from Richardson was read to the meeting. Richardson warned the Europeans not to interfere in Samoan affairs; instructed the Samoans that they had to present their grievances through the properly constituted channels, namely the Fono of
Because Minister Nosworthy had refused to alter his plans, the meeting agreed to send a delegation to New Zealand; expenses for this would be met by voluntary contributions. This resolution necessitated the collection of funds on the national level; it also called for a publicity campaign. An informal Samoan committee,69 representative of most of the districts, gathered in Apia to aid the work, while the Samoan members of the Citizens' Committee toured and distributed a report on the public meetings, called ‘Ole Fono Tele’, to try and harness wider support for the ‘cause’. Richardson was extremely alarmed at these developments; and he immediately countered these moves. He confined the Samoan committee members to specified areas, and prevented the circulation of reports on the public meetings. The clash between the Administration and the ‘opposition’ was gathering momentum. Soon it would be too late to avoid the inevitable.
The Samoans, who were picked for the delegation, were refused passports. And, in
By effectively stifling the sending of a delegation to New Zealand, Richardson forced the Citizens' Committee and the now larger Samoan Committee
70
Reports, which had been drawn up by various Committee members between the two public meetings and not presented during the second public meeting because of the lack of time, were completed and sent to Richardson for transference to Nosworthy. At the same time, a petition to the 71 The members of the informal Samoan committee spread the movement throughout the villages; the traditional methods of intrigue and
72 was appointed full-time secretary with an office in the Apia headquarters of O.F. 73 The movement was given the title, ‘The Samoan League’; it's main objective was the advancement of 74 The tone and language of this and the accompanying ‘Declaration of Members’ were highly reminiscent of the American Constitution. Equality, Fraternity, Liberty were the basic principles embodied in this ornate, verbose declaration: an attempt to add the aura of ‘respectability’ to the League. Accused of sedition, the League tried to convey, to the world, a respectable, peace-loving image. The title, ‘The Mau’, quickly replaced the name, ‘Samoan League’ because of the predominantly Samoan support. Mau meaning a firmly held opinion or belief, something strong, solid.
While waiting for Nosworthy's visit, there was a mounting desire, among the Samoan Mau adherents, to directly oppose Richardson's malo. Samoans, in some areas, started resisting orders of the Administration; neglecting even the compulsory weekly search for the rhinoceros beetle. All this, Richardson blamed on the Europeans, especially had to come before him through the Fono. The Fono, - its members in positions of prestige and power because of official appointment, - echoed its patron's interpretation of the Mau, dismissing the Mau leaders as exploiters using the Samoans for personal gain.
By the beginning of 75 Enough supporters to paralyse the functions of government if the Mau chose to do so. Yet the Administrator and the Fono of Faipule continued to treat the Mau as a movement which ‘could be handled’.76
Into this highly explosive situation came Minister Nosworthy on
While Nosworthy toured, the Mau amassed its followers in Apia. Mau badges were worn; and, on 3 June (the King's birthday), the Mau held a sports meeting to rival that of the Administration's. That same evening, a ball took place at
The meeting between Nosworthy and the Citizens' Committee took place at Central Office on 11 June. Outside the building, hundreds of Mau supporters waited for the outcome of the meeting. From the very start of the meeting, the Minister made it clear that this was not to be a discussion between equals. He accused the Committee of politically plotting to undermine Samoan confidence in their own legal and rightful institutions such as the Fono of Faipule; such action was criminal and should be dealt with accordingly. As the room hummed with heat, Nosworthy became increasingly personal in his attack. 77
Still believing that he could destroy the Mau through official channels, Richardson issued a proclamation calling for a stop to the Mau. At the same time, he ordered the large group of Mau leaders, who had gathered for Nosworthy's visit, to disband. These actions, plus the threat of deportation, again forced the Mau leaders to explore other ways of presenting their case. These factors also produced a change in the structure of the Mau. Apart from
While a joint select committee, appointed by New Zealand Parliament, was hearing the evidence of O.F.
‘Whether, having regard to the duties undertaken by the Government of New Zealand under the said Mandate, there [was[ just cause for such complaints and objections. [Those contained in the Samoan Petition].
Whether the Administrator or the officials … [had] in any manner exceeded their duty in the exercise of the authority … or [had] failed to exercise their respective functions honestly or justly.
Whether, having regard to the Samoan Native Customs and to the due maintenance of government and order …, it would be prudent and safe to wholly repeal and abrogate all power to require a Samoan to remove for a definite period from one place … to another'78
The Chief Justice of New Zealand, Sir Charles Skerret, was made chairman, and a judge of the New Zealand Native Land Court, Mr C.E. McCormick, was appointed the second member.
The Commission began its sittings in
In the past, as it has been shown already, the grievances of the European residents had not been those of the Samoans. The two ‘nations’, however, had merged during the earlier part of Richardson's rule. This merger had been due largely to certain events and circumstances, Richardson's unpopular actions and policies, and the influence of men like had to be made. These general criticisms permeated all the Mau evidence brought before the Commission.
By the nineteen-twenties, state interference in all major spheres of national life had become firmly rooted in New Zealand. In Western Samoa, however, welfare-state thinking was far from acceptable; the European residents still believed in the principles of laisser-faire. The functions of government, so they claimed, should be limited: the Administration should not interfere in or compete with private business, or place restrictions on the individual. Prohibition was viewed, therefore, not only as a practical inconvenience but as an infringement on individual liberties. Education should be left as much as possible to private organisations such as the missions; the only function of government was to give financial aid to these organisations. Government expenditure should also be limited, severely. The imposition of new taxes and the reliance on loans were unnecessary burdens on the individual; eventual bankruptcy was the inevitable result of this fiscal policy.
The civil service was an evil in itself and a drain on finances. (An unnecessary drain because the expatriate officials were incompetent).
Richardson's decision to handle high-grade Samoan copra frightened the European community partly because of the principle involved but mainly because of the drastic effects it might have on private business.79
According to Richardson, the scheme was an attempt to improve the quality of Samoan copra, and give the producer higher returns for his produce, which
In general, the Samoans supported these European complaints. The Samoans resented the government officials because of the preferential treatment accorded to them, financially and socially. If the Administration could not repay the loans, the Samoans believed that they would lose more of their freedom. They saw the medical tax as a drain on personal finance; some considered the medical dispensaries as being of no use because they lived so far away from them. A century of Christianity had turned them into religious conformists, believing that the missions should be encouraged (and left) to develop education.
When it came to political matters and those connected to custom, there were no significant differences between the views of the Europeans and Samoans. Richardson was a ‘dictator’, who had absorbed into himself certain powers, which rightfully belonged to the chiefly elite; and, by using these powers he had and was humiliating the Samoans. Richardson had created a political and administrative pyramid in which all the personel were his subordinates. He had also used the power of banishment, embodied in the Samoan offenders Ordinance, 1922, to subjugate the chiefly elite. (At least those who did not obey his personel dictates). The power of banishment had been used by Dr Solf, but the liberal manner with which Richardson had (and was) weilding it aroused widespread antagonism. To banish a Tama-a-aiga was a complete perversion of custom. But Richardson had done this in
Samoan antagonism was focused primarily on the Fono of Faipule. The Fono, according to its critics, was not representative of the people. Most of its members still held office for an indefinite period; appointments could only be terminated by the Administrator even though Richardson, after consulting the district, filled any vacancy with a new three-year appointment.
83 Such a load, so it was felt, could only be lightened by the appointment of Faipule whose appointments were fully in the hands of the districts; men who did not owe their positions to the Administrator, and would, therefore,
Not only did the Mau went the Fono of Faipule to be trully representative, but they also wanted the Samoans to have a voice in the Legislative Council. The Samoans refuted and resented the long-lasting and humiliating claim, by the Administration, that the official members of the Council were adequately representing Samoan interests. The Mau argued that official and unofficial members should be equal in number, with the Administrator acting as chairman and exercising a casting vote. The Mau also wanted the creation of an elected and independent board of finance.
These then were the specific complaints and demands made by the Mau. An inconsistency becomes evident. While demanding self-government, the Mau also made proposals for reform within the old colonial system. Certain factors, very hard to define, can partly explain this inconsistency. The answer lies in the history of culture-contact.84 For over a century, Samoan culture had been exposed to the full impact of European influences. The position of Tumua and Pule, and with them the authority of the chiefly elite, had been threatened repeatedly, but they had survived and were still the real power beyond Apia. Richardson, however, posed a more deadly threat to these power-houses. The chiefly elite could not conceive of a had to be led towards self-government (something desirable but not contained in the foreseeable future), that the official members of the Legislative Council were representing and safe-guarding Samoan interests, that the Faipule were the true ‘voice’ of the people. His insulting treatment of men, such as Tamasese, revealed, so the Mau believed, a contempt for Samoan custom and Samoan leaders, another insulting blow against the Samoans who had already suffered a long history of European contempt. Richardson's expatriate subordinates worsened the situation. They lived within their own expatriate world, remaining ignorant of
All these deficiencies, in Richardson's Administration, served to minimise the rivalry inherent in the Tumua-Pule political system, driving the factions together to form a common opposition. Colonial nationalism was born under the shadow of a well-meaning but self-righteous and naive Administrator.
The Commissioners submitted their report to the Governor-General on
Even though the Commission was extremely critical of the Mau and the Citizens' Committee, it remained silent on matters which, it maintained, did not come into its terms of reference. These included Richardson's copra buying schme and the Administration's supposed extravagance. Concerning other grievances and complaints, the Commission concluded that these were without foundation. It vindicated Richardson's policy and the Fono of Faipule, and commended the Administrator on his work in the territory.
These conclusions were utterly contrary to those held by the Mau, which clearly represented the majority of the people. Why? The Commissioners, were legal men who viewed the situation in a strictly legal manner. They were also part of an age when no ‘coloured’ colony, within the empire, had achieved self-government. Theories on colonial administration, at least those pursued by the British, were dominated by the views of Administrators such as Lord Lugard of Nigeria. The ultimate objective of colonial rule was self-government, but it was an objective that could hardly be realised within the foreseeable future. The Administration must concern itself with the pre-requisites of self-government, on improvements in health, education and the economy. Not on political development at the national level. Administration, during the Mandate period, was based on the assumption that New Zealand authority over
The Commission, by failing to come to grips with the real grievances expressed by the Mau, encouraged indirectly the harsh policy of physical repression which the
O. F.
Early in
At the age of thirteen, O.F.
At first, his father, - a highly stubborn and independent man, - did not place much confidence in him. But, when O.F.
In
When his father retired in
By
O.F. 85 By 86
Hence by the age of about thirty-five, O.F.
He married one of the daughters of H.J. Moors, an adventurous American who had participated in the political turmoil of the pre-partition days, and had settled in
Shortly after the First World War, 87 The building, in shear size alone, rivalled the Administrator's Vailima residence. Enormous gardens, driveways, a tennis court, merry-go-rounds and swings, and a private chapel. All neatly laid out like the country home of some wealthy member of the English gentry: this was the style of life, the atmosphere of Tuaefu. Spacious wealth and courtly existence. ‘Here he gave parties to Europeans, halfcastes, ……, and full-blooded Samoans’.88 Lavish entertainment. Fullscale hospitality which did not discriminate between races.
His very drive for wealth and acceptance as a cultured European aroused the envy of his pure-blooded counterparts, especially the officials, who, because
The Germans had accepted him as an equal. The New Zealanders, by carrying out a policy of discrimination against the part-Europeans, alienated the support of this proud and powerful man. Insulted at every turn even by minor expatriate officials,
He was used to the reigns of command. Aloof yet approachable even to his minor employees. A strict disciplinarian, but a just and fair employer.89 A genius at organisation. Farsighted. A man with the morals of a Victorian,
Did Nelson use the Samoans for his own ends? as New Zealand, Richardson and some historians have argued. If so, what were 90 The Administration accused him of starting the unrest to suit his own commercial interest. Unrest, so
According to his lawyer,
Another cause, which has not been mentioned by any historian perhaps
Did Nelson plan the whole Mau? as many have argued. Definitely, no. The Mau grew out of the discontent of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
Every time Richardson and the New Zealand government branded him, in front of the world, as an unscrupulous intriguer,
As a man he had flaws, as all men have flaws; as a leader he had faults, as all leaders have faults. Time and people make myths out of the dead (and the living), whether they be heroic myths or degrading ones. Men cannot do without heroes and villains. In the final analysis, however, a man is more a man through the things he keeps to himself than through those he says. And we will never know what
“No,” says the conqueror, “don't assume that because I love action I have had to forget how to think. On the contrary, I can thoroughly define what I believe. For I believe it firmly and I see it surely and clearly”.
(Albert Camus, The Myth of Sisyphus)
G.S. Richardson was born in England, of an undistinguished family, in
In
Just before the beginning of the First World War, he was appointed New Zealand representative at the War Office. And, shortly after the start of the War, he helped to organise a force of 25,000 men for the defence of Antwerp. He was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel. As quarter-master general of the Naval Division, he served in
After the War, he was made General Officer in Charge of Administration at the New Zealand Army Headquarters, Wellington. Where he was a prominent member of the Returned Servicemen's Association.92
Like Nelson, therefore, Richardson was a self-made man. Successful, energetic, and confident. Whereas Nelson had made his mark in the business world, Richardson had reached the peak of the military ladder. Both were extremely proud men. Would take personal affrontery and insult perhaps too far.
93
Unlike Nelson, Richardson was not a widely-read man; his correspondence does not reveal any depth of learning. He also lacked insight into individual people. But he possessed a pleasing personality; he was friendly, kind, and well-meaning. New Zealand appointed this man as its second Civil Administrator to with others. These characteristics were hardly ideal for an administrator of Samoans. Yet he was transferred, without special training, from the Army to control and administer a territory well-known for the intricacy of its affairs.
In the army, Richardson had lived in a world of order and discipline; a world where each man knew his place, where order was a supreme virtue; a machine with its various parts fitting exactly into each other. He tended, therefore, to look upon any semblance of disorder as a waste, a crime, a sin, if you like. Any individual, who dared to disturb the smooth functioning of the machine, was promptly dealt with. As an administrator, therefore, he was prone to the habit of viewing any society as a systemmatic whole with its parts neatly dovetailed into each other. If such a society was a model of order, he thought it healthy, wholesome, pleasant to behold. But a society, we must remember, does not exist for the benefit of an administrator. It exists to bring a tolerable if not happy life to the people who compose it.
Richardson was also influenced, to a marked degree, by the prevailing attitudes and ideas regarding colonies and colonial peoples. Developed nations, so the League dictated, existed to help unenlightened peoples achieve social and economic fulfilment. The Mandatory Power knew best; it must guide its childlike wards toward self-government, gradually. Such attitudes inferred that the Mandatory power was superior to its wards. And, immediately, attitudes of benevolent paternalism became the basis of the policies of the mandatory power. There can be no doubt that Richardson, as an administrator, was a paternalist. But, unlike experienced
His other major weakness was connected to his devout belief in exacting order. When he looked at Samoan society, he saw great human and economic waste. And disorder. Nothing seemed to fit into place. Very little coincided with his preconceived ideas of what an orderly society should be. However, he believed that all that Samoan society needed to put it right was reform, radical reform if necessary. With very little knowledge of Samoan society, how was he to know that perhaps behind this outward display of disorder, the people, in their own way, were contented; that the Samoans did not want to be hurried into the twentieth century. But, being the dynamic reformer that he was, Richardson saw no major obstacles, or when he recognised obstacles, he believed that they could be overcome, given time, given more concerted effort and persuasion. Like Nelson, Richardson had never failed in anything he had attempted.
Richardson was also a victim of the racialist myths concerning the Samoans and European residents.94 He was also directly responsible for perpetuating these myths at the official level. With his thinking, - in relation to these recial groups, - dominated and motivated by these prejudices, he remained blind to the true nature of the Mau.
At the beginning of his Administration, he held only be them inciting trouble again. Richardson insisted, that once the Samoans were freed, - by New Zealand government, - of their ‘evil’ European ringleaders, the Samoans would again pursue the objectives of the Mandate. ‘It is an old game in 95
In relation to the Samoans, Richardson never really knew what their real aspirations were because he tended to treat them as children, as a ‘backward race’. For instance, his favourite punishment of minor political offenders (even high ranking matai) was to summon them to his office, where he castigated them, verbally; after which he exacted a promise of good behaviour in the future. Even the members of the Fono of Faipule, in whom he put so much faith, could never really discuss matters with Richardson, as equals. To Richardson, the Fono was, above all else, the training ground for future Samoan leaders. He did not trust the intelligence and judgement of the Fono members. He claimed that the official members of the Legislative Council were promoting and safeguarding Samoan interests; there was no need for Samoan representation on the Council, therefore. So, viewing
Given his instructions by his superiors, namely the New Zealand government, Richardson interpreted them in his own way, and implemented them to the best of his ability. He achieved a great degree of success in the spheres of health, education and economic development. He displayed tremendous drive, initiative and forceful leadership. Yet he remained blind to the true aspirations of the people he was trying to reform. The system of civil administration, established by New Zealand, allowed him too much power, too much freedom of action. The system, so the Mau argued, permitted Richardson to become the ‘military martinet’96 he had been in the army. The paternalistic policies he was expected, by his government, to implement also emphasised and encouraged his weaknesses; turned his very strengths, as a man, into glaring faults in the eyes of his critics. The subordinate officials, in Richardson's Administration, did not help his popularity in any way. In fact, they were responsible for a large measure of the unpopularity attached to the Administration.
When the Mau cast him as the villain in the drama, Richardson took it as a personal insult. And, like
In 97 Time has reduced the Mau and the troubles associated with it to their ‘natural dimensions’. And historians are left with the pebbles out of which to create ‘scholarly’ Everests.
And so the years passed. The fight continued. So much suffering, so many mistakes, so much misunderstanding. Betrayals. And a few real martyrs. Why did it all have to happen that way? Some still argue that it had to be; some, that Facts? Dates. Names. Numbers. People. Historians. Events. Principles. Themes. Lies. Myths. Propaganda. Shadows. All these? All these add up to interpretation? Where does the truth lie? Is there such a thing? Leave that to the moralists and philosophers. History is for historians. Worry about an interpretation; that's your job. Make a name for yourself. Use the dead, the driftwood of history; they won't haunt you. Shoot down the big guns; they used the dead. Proclaim a ‘revolutionary’ interpretation. What about ‘deliberate’ distortions? Don't worry about those, everyone does it. What's a little twist here and there; the important thing is the writing of ‘original’ history. A lot of history is written as wish-fulfilment, deliberately or otherwise. We have to be compensated for the present, don't we? So why worry. What about being objective? Ha, my friend, objectivity is for astronauts and moon-flights; history is for mortals; and mortals, my friend, are not flawless and objective gods. Mortals are mortals. History is for mortals like you trying to finish
How? An original interpretation, my friend; you know how professors and intellectuals are. How? They're the historian's public; they read history, and they love ‘originality’. Look at Toynbee, and what's that other bloke's name? You know, the bloke who smoked cigars and lauded Big Ben's virtues? Hitler? No, you clot. CHURCHILL! that's it, Winston Churchill. Well, you know how the professors and ETC immortalised those blokes because they wrote highly ‘original’ and ‘profound’ history. Yes, I see your point but ……… But what? Look, friend, I'm getting tired of your conscience. If I tell you I am your conscience, will you do what I'm telling you to do? No! Damn it, fellow, I AM YOUR CONSCIENCE! And I'm telling you, you're an honest man. If you question my judgment, you question your conscience, your own integrity and honesty. Therefore, by denying me, you're denying your whole past, your mother and father (bless them!) who, so I'm told, put me inside your head. (Or is it your head?). Now you've got me all confused. And when I'm confused I get extremely annoyed; and when I'm angry you won't get any sleep tonight. Get that! NO SLEEP. You'll need Freud when I get through with you! Alright, I'm sorry, alright? You're not angry? No, I'm not angry; its just that you've been very unreasonable. Unreasonable because - well look at what happened to Faust; he was damned or something, after doing what Mephistopheles wanted. Oh, that! Look I'm not asking you to sell your ‘soul’, - whatever that is, - to the devil. I'm only asking you to be reasonable, to be ‘honest’ in the twentieth-century sense of the word; give and take a little. And in what sense is that? Why ask me? Ask the politicians and the intellectuals. Or
Well, if you look at it that way ……. That is the way. Look we studied history, we went to the past of Alright, but if I agree to write an interpretation, will you let me write it? I'm no Mephistopheles; just let me correct the grammar. That's all I ask. Promise? Alright, but please take care with your English. I know you're no Hemingway, but that's no excuse for bad spelling and atrocious grammar.
So onto an interpretation. Like the man said, we are the product of our times. Whether the quality of the product is top-grade or not, is not my fault. Well, almost not all my fault.
The origins of the Mau lay in the story of European contact. The Mau, according to Felix Keesing, was ‘essentially’ a manifestation of a culturalpathological condition in Samoan life, product of a long period of conflict, repression, psychological stress, lack of interest and excitement, social disintegration, baulking, and general unbalance and malaise, aggravated after 98 But had Samoan culture disintegrated socially? Had the process of Europeanisation spread beyond Apia and its immediate environs? Had this dynamic force for change undermined or radically changed the power structure of Tumua and Pule and the imagined they had lost but, in actual fact, had not lost?
The matai system, with its roots entrenched in antiquity, had not decayed by
Christianity had been successfully absorbed into the Samoan system. For instance, the pastor was accorded a social and political position in accordance with custom and tradition. Even methods of collecting and distributing church funds were adapted to the fa'a-
The money economy, while finding favour with younger Samoans in or around Apia, had not deeply affected the attitudes and basic values of the
In short, the ‘fish and taro’ economy, so characteristic of old
No, it would not do to interpret the Mau as a product of ‘social disintegration, baulking, and general unbalance and malaise’.
The Mau, when it came under the control of the Samoan chiefly elite, was a movement very similar to the Mau of Pule, in the methods it employed to enhance the support of the population and in it's objectives. Like the Mau of Pule, it was organised from above by the chiefly elite. Samoan techniques of intrigue and verbal persuasion were revived very effectively. Family (title) connections were used to harness the support of matai connected to the leaders of the Mau. The power of rumour was utilised to its limit. When the Administration threatened the use of force, the Mau melted into the bush; this was an age-old opposition technique. But unlike the Mau of Pule, it was an alliance between the Samoans and the European residents; it was also a ‘national’ movement. The Europeans fashioned the Mau into a semi-modern and unified political movement, showed the Mau legal and constitutional ways of expressing its desire for self-government,
The Mau was a revolt of Old Samoa against foreign domination, and, therefore, originated in the nineteenth century. It was because of the very fact that Old Samoa was still very much alive, that the Mau proved so powerful and so successful in claiming the allegiance of most of the Samoans. The New Zealanders, through their actions and policies, forced Tumua and Pule to bury their differences and unite.
Some writers have suggested that the Mau was a movement backed and led primarily by the Satupua Family. But in fact, most of the Samalietoa Family were active participants in the Mau.99 Malietoa Tanumafili firmly believed that
wanted to see into the future. And both sides were firm in the belief that the future would vindicate their cause and their actions. Today ordinary laymen, historians, writers, politicians, pastors, demagogues, aristocrats, toothless old men, and even over-intelligent jailbirds are still arguing. They look back and see in the Mau what they want to see. A few are trying to forget. Some have erected monuments. But most Samoans do not care either way. New babies are born. That is all. All seems well.
What then was the Mau? By modifying Keesing's definition we may arrive at a more ‘definitive’ interpretation. The Mau was a powerful expression of Samoan nationalism,100 product of a long period of himiliation, foreign interference and domination, political repression and conflict, and fear of social disintegration, forced into the open after
Not very ‘original’, is it? What? Your interpretation; I would have thought that after plagiarising other people's ideas, views and everything else, you'd have come up with really something. An interpretation like this won't get you anything (or anywhere), much less a degree. The thing …
What thing? The thesis - or whatever you call it. (I call it a bad novel written by Faust for oethe.) That's an insult! If you don't stop being an intellectual snob, a Karl Marx, I'll take you to confession tomorrow and confess to the man that you put me up to this immortality bit. And you know, as well as I do, that you haven't been to church since the horse passed away and became history. What horse? The horse you got me to buy so I could ride to the Archives everyday and save bus-fares! I was only offering an objective opinion; you needn't threaten me with eternal damnation and bad bargains. How was I to know that the history professor, who sold you that ‘Rising Fast’ was also an executive with Lever Brothers, eh? And how was I to know that that mountain climber-come-Archivist would have the horse shot by a firing squad for eating Mau files put on the ‘Restricted’ list? How was I to knew, eh? Alright. Calm down. You know we've got a weak heart. Boy, why did I have to be put inside a bloke like you! Why? You're no different from the other weirdies of your generation: all beards and no history. And no respect for old-age and scholastic achievement and professors and mothers and L.B.J. and Ha, But I am a product of our times, of our education system, old chap. You told me that. I'm a salesman, remember? A twentieth-century salesman who's got nothing to sell but himself. You taught me that. Sell the dead (and the living) for immortality, you told me. We're an honest man, you said. Well, here we are. Here we are. I can only hope to remain true to what I am. To what we are, can't I?
(a) Official All the files listed below can be found in the National Archives, Wellington, New Zealand.
[All the above newspapers are to be found in the Apia Public Library. Valuable clippings of articles written on
1The stepping stones of the god Tagaloa.
2Kramer cited by Stanner, The South Seas in Transition, P.262
3Keesing cited by Stanner, ibid
4Cited by McArthur, ‘Population of the Pacific Islands’ (Parts III and IV), P.154
5According to the old people cannibalism coincided with these periods of famine and warfare.
6Gill, ‘The Administration of Major General Richardson’, M.A. Thesis, Victoria University, P.2.
7‘Malo’ - the party holding the power (for the time being).
∗When converted to christianity he became Malietoa Tavita after David in the Bible.
8Sympathy for Tamafaiga in folk history is non-existent. His one captivating memory was his ambition to get a 100 wives. He missed by one.
9Sylvia Masterman, ‘The Origins of International Rivalry in Samoa, 1854-
10R.F. Watters, ‘The Geography of Samoa about 1840’. A study in Historical Geography - unpublished Ph.D. thesis, University London,
11Ibid P.231-2.
12
Report of Royal Commission, 1927, P.xv
13Ibid P.460.
14Gilson, cited by McArthur, ‘Population of the Pacific Islands (Parts III and IV), P.152.
15Ibid P.154
16‘Samoa Guardian’,
17Ex1/3 Report from Robin to Minister External Affairs,
18Ex1/27 Memo from Tate to Minister External Affairs,
19My own grandmother, who is 92, has vivid memories of this Epidemic. She claims that there was a widespread belief amongst the Samoans, even as far back as Sapapali'i (Savaii), her birthplace, that the N.Z. ‘Malo’ had introduced the Epidemic. Some people believed that N.Z. had done so deliberately.
20Ex1/32 Report on Native Affairs by Tate,
21From talks with Saveaali'i Ioane.
22J. Davidson, The Mau: an unpublished seminar paper, Dept. of Pacific History, A.N.U.,
23Gilson, cited by McArthur, Population of the
24The phrase is Dr. Solf's. Samoanische Zeitung Newspaper,
25Samoanische Zeitung Newspaper,
26Samoanische Zeitung Newspaper,
27Scholefield, Dictionary of N.Z. Biography, Vol. II, P.502.
28New Zealand Statutes, 1921. P.41-102.
29Ex1/27 Memo from Tate to Minister External Affairs,
30Scholefield, Dictionary of N.Z. Biography, Vol. II, P.370.
31Nixon Westwood, an unpublished, handwritten article on the Mau, Apia Public Library. This man was Richardson's friend.
32Ex1/27. Memo from Tate to Minister,
33Curr, later one of the Mau leaders, was one of these men.
34Report of Royal Commission,
35European-part-European discontent in a later section.
36Ex1/27. Memo from Tate to Minister,
37Nixon Westwood, unpublished article on the Mau.
38Ex1/31/2 Newspaper clippings - ‘Star’ (Auckland),
39In
40R. L. Stevenson, Footnote to History, P.20.
41Ibid p.22
42Ex1/29/1 Letter from Minister External Affairs, E. P. Lee, to Citizens' Committee,
43Keesing, F. M. Modern Samoa, P.450-474.
44The voluminous records of New Zealand Administration in
45Ex1/23. Memo from Tate to Secretary External Affairs,
46Ex1/29/1 Petition to Minister External Affairs, E.P. Lee,
47Ex1/23 Memo from Tate to Sec. Ext. Affairs,
48J. D. Salinger, ‘Hapworth 16, 1924’, New Yorker,
49Ex1/23/1 Copy of a speech by Westbrook,
50The records of the N. Z. Administration in
51A fuller discussion of this myth can be found in Stanner's, The South Seas in Transition, P. 305-312.
52Some of these songs can be found in Kramer, Volume II.
53In chapter VI.
54, 55Ex1/23/6 Memo from Governor-General Ferguson to Minister External Affairs re His visit to
56A discussion of Richardson's background can be found in Book Two. Chapter III.
57A brief history of the ‘Fono’ can be found in the Report of Royal Commission, 1927, P. lvii and lviii. A detailed discussion of the growth, of representative institutions in
58Samoa Amendment Act, New Zealand Statutes,
59A lengthy list of Regulations passed by Fono can be found in Report of Royal Commission,
60The Police Force numbered only 34 (4 white, 30 Samoan).
61N.Z.P.D. Vol. 200, P 991; Vol 201, P 260-261.
62Samoan Legislative Council, Order Gazette W.61,
63Samoa Times,
∗ The most authoritative study of Richardson's Administration is Gill's M.A. Thesis, The Administration of General Richardson in Western Samoa. Victoria University.
64Report of Royal Commission, 1927, p xxi
65Ibid p xxii
66About 140 Europeans and 150 Samoans. The Samoans were mainly from and around Apia. Report of Royal Commission, Inspector Braisby. P lix-lx
67Afamasaga Lagolago had a special grievance here: Richardson had taken away his Afamasaga title.
68The President of the L.D.S. Mission was the only speaker who supported prohibition.
69Petition to the League of Nations, that in Report of Royal Commission - Pxxiii - ‘This supporting Committee evidently became numerically very large and it is said that it contained Representatives from every Faipule district’.
70Report of Royal Commission, 1927, p 422
71
72But now unemployed because of Richardson.
73Ex1/59. Clause 40, Nelson's Petition to League of Nations.
74Ibid.
75Report of Royal Commission, 1927, Pxxiv. In
76The phrase is Richardson's, but I have lost the reference.
77Reports on this meeting are to be found in ‘Samoa Times', 17 June, Report of Royal Commission, Petition to the League of Nations, and other Mau literature.
78Report of Royal Commission, Pi
79
80Ifoga - Customary penance paid by an offender to a wronged party. Generally, the wronged party accepted such penance.
81From an eye-witness, who was a troop leader in the ‘Fetu O
82In
83All spheres of village, district and national life were meticulously brought under the control of the Administration through these Ordinances. Regulations concerning latrines were even passed.
84Look at Book I - ‘The Flowering of Discontent’.
85Most of this information, concerning the growth of the firm, can be found in Samoa Times,
86Petition to the League of Nations.
87 and 88Nixon Westwood, unpublished manuscript on the Mau.
89From opinions of some of the men who worked for him.
90Some old people ask the question: ‘Where did the Mau funds go?’
92Scholefield, Dictionary of N.Z. Biography, Vol II, P234
93Richardson received the C.M.G. in
94Look at Chapter VIII, Book I.
95A handwritten letter from Richardson to Westwood, dated
96The phrase is
97In a letter to Nixon Westwood, dated
98Keesing, Modern Samoa, P177
99Most of the Mau songs, deriding Malietoa Tanumafili for not joining the Mau were songs composed and sung by villages belonging to the Samalietoa grouping.
100nationalism: the desire of a people - expressed in various ways - to govern their own affairs and determine their future relationship with the colonial power.