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Samoa at Geneva : misleading the League of Nations : a commentary on the proceedings of the Permanent Mandates Commission at its thirteenth session held at Geneva in June, 1928

Annexation's Advantages Over Mandates

page 4

Annexation's Advantages Over Mandates.

Direct annexation, though an assumption of power by the greater over the smaller, at least gives the people of an annexed territory the rights of citizenship, with whatever privileges may accrue from the same, with or without certain limitations, under the laws of the annexing power. But the mandatory system, by the experience so far gained, places the mandated peoples in a very anomalous position, and does not tend to establish that confidence most essential to good government of the mandated peoples in the mandatory system, or in the creator of it—the League of Nations.

Before the June Session of the Mandates Commission closed, the Press published extracts of its report on the Samoan question and, although I was the accredited representative of over ninety per cent. of the Samoan people, and personally an interested party, it was not politic for me to accept these Press reports, or even comment on them. The Mandatory,—the New Zealand Government,—however, took all the advantage it could of these Press reports, and the Samoan petitioners were asked to accept them as officially correct. I applied through my solicitors for a certified copy from the Secretary to the Permanent Mandates Commission, and was told that a copy would be furnished me after the Council of the League of Nations had considered the matter in September, but that the report would be given to the Press some time in August.

A copy was sent direct to me by the Secretary to the Mandates Commission, and this duly arrived on the 22nd September. I am at last free to discuss it. In the Secretary's covering letter, dated Geneva, 20th September, he confirms the conclusions of the Mandates Commission:—

"The Commission considers that none of the charges of any importance in this petition against the Administration have been substantiated, and that the petition contains no evidence of policy or action contrary to the Mandate."

In the reprint of the Minutes of the Thirteenth Session (June, 1928) of the Permanent Mandates Commission, which the Secretary sent me, it will be found that the conclusions arrived at in respect to the petition from the 7982 male adult Samoans are exactly the same as above. This is also true of the conclusions arrived at on other petitions re Samoa, one of which was from the Anti-Slavery and Aborigines Protection Society.