DRIFT TO NORTH ISLAND

Press, Volume LXXIX, Issue 23964, 3 June 1943, Page 6

DRIFT TO NORTH ISLAND

♦ POPULATION FIGURES COMPARED SMALLER INCREASE IN SOUTH Between 1916 and 1936 the P°P u . la " tion of the South Island, excluding Maoris, increased by 23 per cent, compared with an increase of 44 per cent, in the North Island The acreage of crops in the South Island between 1921 and 1941 decreased by 108,908 acres. These figures were given in a report by the South Island development committee of the Canterbury Manufacturers’ Association, which was received by the council of the association last evening. After the report had been discussed. the president (Mr A. M. Hollander) said it contained the basic evidence for the association’s plaint that the South Island was going back. The report dealt particularly with the drift from the South Island to the North Island, and showed that between 1929 and 1941 24,407 people travelled to the North Island and did not return. From 1901 to 1926 the increase in popu. lation was 141 per cent, for Auckland, 03 per cent, for Wellington, 49 per cent, for Canterbury, and 19 per cent, for Otago. The population of the North Island, excluding Maoris, was 651,072 in 1916, and 938,939 in 1936. The population of the South Island, excluding Maoris, was 448,377 in 1916, and 552,545 in 1936. In 1864 the population of the South Island was 62.09 per cent, of the total population compared with 51.51 per cent, in 1896 and 38.13 per cent, in 1926. Less Farm Production Registered factories in the North Island totalled 1764 in 1924, and 3839 in 1938, an increase of 1075. In the South Island there were 1783 in 1924 and 2285 in 1938. In the period from 1921 to 1941 the acreage of wheat, barley, and oats decreased by 86,811 acres, and the acreage of potatoes, turnips, and mangolds by 22,097 acres. The number of cattle and pigs decreased by 76,769, while sheep increased by 3,234,599. At the same time sheep in the North Island increased by 3,908,306. The report was presented by the vice-president (Mr B. J. Masters), who mentioned that a soil survey conducted from Marlborough to Central Otago had shown that 6,000,000 acres out of 8,000,000 had gone back through erosion. Mr Hollander said that the figures were disquieting enough to justify the work that the committee had set out to do. Mr Masters had produced evidence not only for manufacturing, but also for farm production. Mr L. B. Miller said the fact that overseas ships made Auckland their first port of call gave the North Island a very definite advantage as far as goods were concerned. Mr E. D. Brown suggested a comparison of the birth-rates in the North Island and the South Island. “How many obey the injunction ‘go north, young man,’ ” he added, after referring to the number of people who had left for the North Island. Mr Hollander closed the discussion by saying that the retrogression had been going on over a period. The association was not likely to do very much to stop it during the war, but this was a good time to make an investigation.