This series was in use from 1900 with the establishment of the Colonial Administration until May 1909 when the new system was brought into use. A large proportion of files was carried directly to the new system and top numbered without any further papers being added. It would also appear that, when new file subjects were created, bindings of these old files were split and papers removed to form the basis for new files. This could explain why all the files remaining in this old system have split bindings and why there are so few of them. They may be what was left of files which were dismembered. Files listed in this series are those which physically remained as part of the series, of which portions were top numbered into the new system. File titles have been given in German and translated into English only when the item is actually held. A partial index to the file titles forms part of series 6068. In 1955 the German Consuls archives were discovered in Apia with the records of the German Colonial Administration. These were removed and transferred to the National Archives of New Zealand for extensive conservation work and microfilming. The decision was made to document the German-Samoan agencies and record series as if they had transferred the records in 1914 - which is why the Executive Council of Western Samoa, although the true transferring agency, is not fully documented.