Editing Samoa (section)

====Flu pandemic====
In the first incident, approximately one fifth of the Samoan population died in the [[Influenza epidemic of 1918|influenza epidemic of 1918–1919]].<ref>{{cite news |title=The 1918 flu pandemic |url=http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/culture/influenza-pandemic |work=NZHistory.net.nz |access-date=26 November 2007 |archive-date=27 September 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927010718/http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/culture/influenza-pandemic |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=":022" />

In 1918, during the final stages of [[World War I]], the [[Spanish flu]] had taken its toll, spreading rapidly from country to country. On Samoa, there had been no epidemic of pneumonic influenza in Western Samoa before the arrival of the [[SS Talune|SS ''Talune'']] from [[Auckland]] on 7 November 1918. The NZ administration allowed the ship to berth in breach of quarantine; within seven days of this ship's arrival, influenza became epidemic in Upolu and then spread rapidly throughout the rest of the territory.<ref name=Wendt>{{Cite news |title=Guardians and Wards: (A study of the origins, causes, and the first two years of the Mau in Western Samoa.) |url=http://www.nzetc.org/tm/scholarly/tei-WenGua-c2.html |author=Albert Wendt |access-date=20 March 2008 |archive-date=6 July 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080706155117/http://www.nzetc.org/tm/scholarly/tei-WenGua-c2.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Samoa suffered the most of all Pacific islands, with 90% of the population infected; 30% of adult men, 22% of adult women and 10% of children died.<ref>{{cite journal |title=The Influenza Epidemic of 1918-19 in Western Samoa |last1=Tomkins |first1=Sandra M. |journal=Journal of Pacific History |volume=27 |issue=2 |year=1992 |pages=181–197 |doi=10.1080/00223349208572706 |jstor=25169127}}</ref> The cause of the epidemic was confirmed in 1919 by a [[Royal Commission]] of Inquiry into the Epidemic concluded that there had been no epidemic of pneumonic influenza in Western Samoa before the arrival of the ''Talune'' from Auckland on 7 November 1918.<ref name=Wendt/>

The pandemic undermined Samoan confidence in New Zealand's administrative capacity and competence.<ref name=":022" /> Some Samoans asked that the rule of the islands be transferred to the Americans or the British.<ref name=":022" />