The Dominion WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 1919. DEVELOPMENT AND IMMIGRATION

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 112, 5 February 1919, Page 4

The Dominion WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 1919. DEVELOPMENT AND IMMIGRATION

. Dealing at Auckland the other day with the prospects of development work, the Minister of Public Works pictured a state of affairs that leaves a good deal to be desived. While adhering to a statement he made some time ago that his Department could find employment for ten thousand men, Sir William Fkaser makes it clear that he does not expect to obtain any such labour force for a long time to come. Taking account of war losses and disablement, he thinks it would be unreasonable to expect more than that the Public Works Department may be enabled shortly to employ about the same number' of men as

it employed prior to the war. Assuming that ho _ is right so far, much weight evidently attaches to his ..suggestion tha-t if railways, broads, bridgos, and hydro-electric works are to be pushed on vigorously, it will bo necessary to put in hand a reasonable policy of assisted immigration. _ In view of the prospective repatriation of some fifty or sixty thousand soldiers , , the fear of a .continued, labour shortage may at first sight keem rather far-fetched. But it is likely enough that comparatively few returned soldiers , will be prepared to accept such employment as the Public Works Department has to offer. Of those who are prepared to take up country life no doubt a, large proportion will wish to do so as settlers. Even if the Repatriation Department has to grapple with serious, problems in placing men as they return, it does not necessarily

:ollow that the shortage of labour

for public works will be remedied. As matters stand the outlook is

somewhat unpromising. A. speedy prosecution of public works and the extension of settlement which would thus be made possible are essential if the Dominion is to comfortably' bear its war burdens and make good progress. Obviously, however, no such programme as the .circumstances demand can be undertaken if the labour force at the disposal of the Public Works department is to be limited to at which it stood prior to the war. During 1913-14 the Department had on an average about 4000 men employed under the co-operative system. As recently as 1911-12 this number was exceeded by considerably more than 50 per cent., and in . 1908-9 nearly twice. as many cooperative labourers were employed as in the last completed financial year before the war. A return to the pre-war volume of employment on development works would not, therefore, open up brilliant prospects. A much greater labour force would be needed to take up and carry on a programme of works which could, now be regarded as adequate. More labour than was available to the Department before the war could be very profitably employed upon the road and railway construction works which are needed in order to promote new settlement and to afford means of

communication to numerous settlers now isolated. In addition it is urgently necessary that railway improvement • works on a big scale should be carried out, an<Lthat our neglected hydro-electrical resources should be enterprisingly developed. The interests of the country as a whole suffer- while any one of these undertakings is retarded by lack of labour, and the list of necessary and nrofitablo works is, • of course, far from being exhausted. Sie William Fraser's state- , ment of the : position and outlook may call for some reservations. As he is reported, he took no account of the possibility of 'introducing labour-sav-ing machinery in road and railway construction and other works. In view of the experience gained during the war and the tremendous impetus it lias given to engineering this possibility may be important. Moreover, ■ the transport developments of the war in such matters as

the utilisation of light narrowgauge railways, tractors, and other mechanical aids should have a, material bearing upon the problems

involved in establishing means of communication through rugged back-blocks country, it should be possible to do quicker and more effective ■ work in this category than was done in pre-war days, and to do it with some economy of labour. Another point of- some importance is that the development programme now mapped but includes a considerable amount of work in big and secondary centres of population. This applies, for instance, to the station buildings and yards in Wellington, Auckland, _ and some provincial centres, which take an important place in the great railways improvement programme which, according to the General Manager of Railways, must be carried out speedily if a serious congestion of railway transport is to. be averted. The Public Works Department may be able to enlist for such works large numbers of men who are unable to accept employment in remote outlying areas. Then again, it may be possible to induce an increased number of settlers to spend part of their time on road construction and other works designed to provide access to their holdings. Soldier settlers in particular may be enabled in this way to augment their own resources and the financial assistance rendered by the State. Taking one thing with another, the Minister of_ Public Works seems hardly justified in assuming that no more labour will be available when the soldiers return than in pre-war days, and tho possibility, certainly cannot be pver-

looked that by the introduction of labour-saving machinery and the adoption of better organisation a given body of labour may ba turned to moro effective account, than formerly. When all is said', however, it seems distinctly probable that the total labour force available will fall considerably short of requirements, and it is evident that in these circumstances there would bo every justification for resorting to assisted immigration. Even at the cost of delaying important public works, dues pare would have to lie taken to limit such immigration to the scalo of essential requirements, and also in ensuring that only immigrants of the right type were assisted. It already seems likely, however, that the Dominion must either institute such a system of immigration or be • content to severely restrict the public works which are essential to its continued prosperity and development.