VIII

The following was the report from the Permanent Mandates Commission to the League Council:

"The Permanent Mandates Commission has made a detailed study of the report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the events which occurred in the Samoan Islands in 1926-27, and of the documents forwarded by the mandatory Power with this report. It also carefully considered the petitions addressed to it by the 'Anti-Slavery and Aborigines' Protection Society' of London, by a certain number of natives through Messrs. Findlay, Hoggard, Cousins, and Wright, by Mr. Nelson and by Mr. Newton Rowe. It spent several sittings in studying the questions dealt with in these documents and heard the additional explanations given by Sir James Parr, representative of page 246the mandatory Power, and Major-General Richardson, former Administrator of Western Samoa. A full account of the discussion of the Permanent Mandates Commission will be found in its Minutes, which it is essential to consult in connection with the following conclusions.

"It is the considered opinion of the Commission that none of the charges of any importance against the Administration which have been made in the various petitions has been substantiated and that none contains any evidence of policy or action contrary to the Mandate.

"On the contrary, the local Administration seems to have made every effort to improve the conditions of life of the native population, notably in regard to public health and education, as well as in regard to agricultural productions and commerce.

"The Commission cannot too strongly condemn the action of Mr. Nelson and those associated with him, who seem to have been inspired less by a desire for the public welfare than by personal ambition and interests. By unworthy means they have worked upon the minds of an impressionable people, who, prior to their propaganda, showed no disquieting signs of discontent. The Commission is satisfied that the Administrator acted with great patience—if not perhaps always with sufficient psychological insight—and showed a forbearance and confidence in the people which may have been misunderstood, and so to some extent may have undermined his authority. The lamentable absence of sufficient means to enforce the law which it was his duty to uphold placed him in an extremely difficult situation. This situation was made all the more delicate by the uncertain attitude of the Government.

"The Commission has noted with satisfaction the action taken by the mandatory Power in setting up an impartial commission of inquiry and in communicating to the League its very full report. This report, with the evidence on which its conclusions are based, was of great assistance to the Permanent Mandates Commission in forming its own judgment. The presence before it of General Richardson, the responsible Administrator from 1923 to 1928, and the frankness of his statements were also very useful.

"In view of the statement that the unrest in Samoa will probably continue until the League of Nations comes to a decision, the Permanent Mandates Commission considers it page 247of the greatest importance that it should be clearly understood that the mandatory Power alone is responsible for maintaining law and order in accordance with the Mandate.

"The Commission is assured that adequate means for that essential purpose are now at the disposal of General Richardson's successor, and it trusts that the Samoans, when they realize that they have been misled, will resume their former attitude of confidence in the Administration, and that the mandatory Power will soon be able to re-establish peace and prosperity in Western Samoa by a policy both firm and liberal."