Too pompous to save mother and child

Invincible Strangers 37 Chapter 16.2

An American doctor from the Rockefeller Foundation, Sylvester Lambert, described Richardson as ‘that wolf-grey, bullet-headed old British soldier…’ who ‘governed all too kindly.’ He compared Richardson’s travels with that of Henry VIII in which a grateful populace turned out: ‘In Sāmoa’s year of plenty, 1924, the malaga was still an impressive show. His Britannic Majesty’s proconsul, Governor of New Zealand’s ten-year-old Mandate, had fully-costumed a military display and was accepting the feasts or listening to the bands and musical orators all around Savaii…. It was a parade to touch the imagination of a people susceptible to pomp and ceremony.’ At each village the tulāfale, as was custom, would greet them. Lambert provided a template: ’We in our ignorance and humility turn to you for the light of your wisdom, as the flower turns to the sun. We are the children, you are the father upon whom we depend for guidance. We know that you love us, and we return the love.’ Lambert recognized the effect this had on Richardson: ‘When you hear this doled out day after day you begin to believe the Orator. The simple Sāmoan child of nature – and watch out or he’ll have the shirt off your back.’ Lambert believed Richardson wanted to be father of his flock: ‘But he seemed rather too self-satisfied. Touchy Sāmoans politely resented his attitude… you didn’t tell things to Governor Richardson. He told you.’

Girl circa 1920, photo by Sylvester Lambert. https://calisphere.org University of California

He noted ‘a small pregnant incident’ which would sprout into ‘the wicked flower of an insurrection already germinating’. The party was at Fai’a’ai, on Savai’i’s southern coast, preparing to leave on a launch. With them was the chief medical officer, Russell Ritchie. A group from Foua, a five-minute walk, arrived: ‘There’s a woman who has been having a baby for five days! It’s half in, half out!’ They wanted Ritchie to attend but Richardson would not allow it. Ritchie said from the description she was ‘good as dead’. He suggested that the woman be taken by the village to a government hospital 56 kilometres away.