NEW SETTLERS.

Press, Volume LXIII, Issue 18894, 8 January 1927, Page 3

NEW SETTLERS.

POSSIBLE " HOME SICKNESS" NEW ZEALAND'S GOOD POINTS. (I'itOlt OVR OWJT COBRESPOSDENT.) LONDON, November 30. A Swansea man "who hopes to get there " offers some useful thoughts to "One who has been there" —the "there" being 1 Now Zealand. The former, who looks forward to joining his son,., in,:ljho Dominion in the near -future, considers—and rightly so—that it ..is- unfair to judge the conditions of any sn'ialr.jifliHQrity.'of iss .'people.: ..Efti'dentljr,,'.tli.6;object• of the : previous correspondent of tlio South.-Wales '/Daily Post'-'; was ",to warn, intending emigrants'to stay in this troubled , old country of unemployment, unrest, and the- <dole, rather than take a risk in Britain overseas. .

Tho present writer ventures the opinion that it would not take a New Zealander five- weeks to get surfeited ; if he. came' over hero to'tr'y lii's luck. "I suspect home-sickness plays a' big part in the dissatisfaction.,'., of our Swari; sea friend in Palmerston. This is a factor which has to be faced, as, I believe,. everyone gets it sooner or later, and it is often irresistible. A' return home for a few months usually cures the. malady. Some emigrants do not count the cost first, and-an example of this : was brought to my notice, by my son who- sailed • for-:New Zealand •• on July . 30th . last. He . told- me that five chums on board signified theiT intention after a • week out... to return by the first available - boat! Apparently they got home-sickness unusually quick, or' their wish-bones were where their back-bones should.be. .My. son had a warm welcome at Wellington, and found work very quickly at a much liighfer wage than, in Swansea. He is delighted with'the country and people, and urges his brothers to- follow. Work. Available. "I have many friends and relatives in various parts of the Dominion and all say there ia work for those who do not insist on picking and choosing their localities and jobs. Of" course, there is some unemployment, but this is not very surprising. when it is remembered, that the annual increase by immigration, alone is ono per cent, of tho population. It naturally takes a littie time for a country to absorb this rat.o of increase, which, if applied-to Great Britain, ■ would mean 500,000 immigrants arriving here annually. This would'be appalling in a country where there are already as many unemployed as there are inhabitants in the whole of New Zealand. ■ Hew Zealand's Good Points.

"New Zealand has much to commend it to mo besides - its' glorious sunshine: "Ninety-eight per cent, of its people are British. .

"Bolshevism cannot live there. "Income-tax is 7d in the £ for the first £3OO assessable income (first £3OO free).

"No dole. "Half its publl# debt owing to its own residents.

Deposits in banks per head of popudation £76 16s 2d. .

"The relations between masters and men are very cordial and every man. has a real chance (the present and the late Prime Ministers were farmers). "If 'One Who Has Been There' would care to get in touch with me, I may be able to give him much helpful information, although I am only 'One Who Hopes to get There.' " "It is not very often that a Plymouth tradesman sells off his business, realises his capital, and departs for a distant part of the Empire," says a writer in a Plymouth journal. "Mr George Pinhey, a George street tradesman, has come, I hear to the conclusion that New Zealand is a great land of opportunity,' especially for his children, and so has sold up his business and departs ou liis long voyage early nest month.

"Mr Pinhey, although he took no part in civic affairs, will be greatly missed at St. Andrew's Church, and especially.. by. the Church of, England Men's Society, to which he has been a--tower of strength for many years. His frankness and evident sincerity, his constant cheerfulness and the enthusiasm he threw into all his religious work will make his place hard to fill;"