Representative Institutions in Western Samoa during the Mandate 1919 - 1946

Abstract

This study began as a description of the government of Western Samoa as a whole during the Mandate period 1919-1946. It soon became apparent that within the limits imposed by the time and space available it would not be possible to give an adequate treatment of such a wide subject, The scope was then reduced to a study of representative institutions during the period; the thesis is thus concerned with a well defined aspect of colonial administration rather than to provide a well rounded study in comparative political institutions. (To put the study in its correct perspective it was necessary also to include a brief chapter on District and Village Government and quite lengthy descriptive and historical chapters.) An additional reason for reducing the scope of the work was the wealth of untouched primary material available in the records of the Department of Island Territories, which were made freely available by the Secretary (Mr. J.M. McEwen). The scarcity of documentation available on the controversial history of New Zealand's Mandate a matter of considerable concern in view of the Territory's imminent independence made it seem worthwhile to collate as fully as possible material from this primary source. Although this may perhaps have been achieved at the cost of developing an original narrative, the exercise of compilation will have been of some value if it provides a starting point for more analytical studies.