CO129-359 - Governor Sir Lugard - 1909 [12] — Page 36

Clench Bain

envolent,

The wordy

t

ship. hav

Befor

"treatment accorded by the law".

The law itself before enactment had been

submitted to and approved by Your Lordship. In fact, as

I have pointed out, the draft which had received approval

included under the definition of an "Assisted Emigrant"

any person already under a contract to labour, and it

was upon my own personal initiative that I erased these

93

words which the draft submitted before my arrival contained.

2

The Ordinance as encted received His Majesty's consent.

In these circumstances there appeared to be no grounds

for referring to Your Lordship for instructions, and no

obvious way in which I could refuse assent to the German

demand. I had however a misgiving as to the treatment

accorded to labourers in Samoa and I did not like the

methods which had been adopted by Dr Schultz.

But in this connection, and with reference

to your Lordship's allusions in paragraph 3 to the complaints

of continued ill-treatment I may observe that not only

had I the emphatic assurance of Consul Voretzsch that

the grounds for complaint had entirely ceased to exist,

but also in the Foreign office report on the trade of

Samoa (Diplomatic & Consular Series No. 4308 page 4) Mr

Consul Trood states that "the men

are well looked

after