The Domnion MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 1910. A KEY TO PROGRESS

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 300, 15 September 1919, Page 4

The Domnion MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 1910. A KEY TO PROGRESS

♦ Last week the Prime Ministej said that there was no need for an; fresh legislation in regard to imnii gration. This may be true, but ther certainly is need for a policy o immigration clearly defined and ad justed to the conditions to be met This implies that the Governmen ought to. be preparing plans n readiness for the rot very distan period when immigration will bi possible. Very properly, the Gov einment is deferring any attempt t< introduce immigrants from Britaii or elsewhere until our own soldier! have been brought home and re established in civil life,' but this does not mean that the whole ques tion of immigration can be set asid< for future consideration. Tile Gov eminent will fail seriously in it! duty unless it at once lays its plans and also makes what _ preliminary arrangements are possible -pendiiiE the actual introduction of inimi grants. This applies broadly to the whole, question, but more esjoeciallj to the prospective introduction oi particular classcs of immigrants- ' notably the building tradesmen, tvhc must be obtained in considerable numbers if any purposeful attcmpl is to be made to solve the housing problem. The Government can bt under no uncertainty in regard tc the necessity of immediately giving practical attention to th'e question of obtaining additional population or as regards the lines on which its plans ought to run. Immigrants of the right stamp are needed la remedy an acute shortage of labour in industries and in public and other undertakings; they arc needed in order that development may proceed unhampered, and in order j that the war and other burdens the I Dominion has to carry may be lightened. Although, however, the need ol additional population is widely apparent, it would be exceedingly inadvisable to embark haphazard upon n policy of assisted immigration The, right policy to adopt is that of carefully selecting immigrants with a view to providing additional labour where it is most needed. This is the policy which will best safeguard the interests of the country and those of the immigrants—under it the latter will be enabled to establish themselves with a minimum of friction and with an assurance of continued employment. Obviously such a policy must be planned with care beforehand, but there is no lack of data upon which to proceed. For instance, when Sir William Phaser was interviewed on Saturday by a deputation which urged that work on thp Otira Tunnel should be expedited, he stated that he had been unable to obtain as many men as he was anxious to employ. As every,newspaper reader knows, this is not an isolated ease of its kind. The Minister of Puulic Works has had to explain time and again in regard to various undertakings that the rate of progress is determined by the amount of labour available, and that the supply of labour is, and is likely to be, seriously short of requirements until it is supplemented by immigration. At present, although work oij roads, bridges, railway construction, ancl other undertakings it has in hand is greatly in arrear, the labour force at the disposal of the Public Works Department is considerably short of the pre-war standard, and it is meantime a problem to find anything like the amount of labour required for hydro-electric , development and other undertakings which in the interests of general prosperity ought to be carried out with energy and speed. It is unlikely that these conditions .will ; be greatly altered when the last soldier has returned. War losses have appreciably cut down the labour 'forces of the Dominion, and the l'anks of or dinary labour are further dopleted by the withdrawal of those who are taking up farms under the soldier settlement scheme. It is, of coursc, right and desirable that as many soldiers as possible should be established on the land, but this provision is not made necessary by any lack of employment. On the contrary, an incidental result of soldier settlement is to accentuate a labour shortage already pronounced. _ It is plain that not many ex-soldiers are anxious to'obtain employment from the Public Works Department, and it is thus already certain that there will be wide scope for the introduction of suitable immigrants who are prepared to accept such employment. As confident an opinion may be expressed in regard to the additional labour needed for house construction. There is not the slightest prospect of its being' obtained within the Dominion even when repatiiation is fcompleted. There are many other directions in which the need for immigration is plainly demonstrated, Indeed, a member of the Industries Committee stated in the House of Representatives the other day that practically ■every industry in this country was suffering from lack of labour-. But the point to be niade at the moment is that it is in every way open to the Government to lay its plans confidently for the early inauguration of a policy of selective immigration, and to. proceed with an assurance that if these plans are judiciously made nothing but benefit will result. No better beginning can be made than in giving nractical heed to the problem of finding adequate labour for the prosecution of national development works. The Government ought at once to ascertain whether there are intending emigrants in Britain who are prepared to take up such employment. In regard to miblie works, and also to finding the labour that is needed for a State bousing scheme on a sufficient scale, there is an advantage in the fact that the Government is in a position tc. offe> contract conditions which verv possibly would prove Jo 'be attractive. Having formed its housing plans, for instance, it-would be able to offer to a sufficient number of tradesmen nnd other worker? n guarantee of continued employment for a definite period, say for two years, possibly with the, option nf a" return rmssagc at the end of that term. There is, of course, no doubt that the Dominion could readily absorb as many immigrants of goo;! type as cared to remain, and probably at

least a large proportion of those brought out in furtherance of a housing schcmc would elect to_ do so. Much the same considerations apply to public works. Here again the Government is in a position to give an explicit guarantee of .employment under stated conditions lor an extended period. It is of material importance that in regard both to the housing scheme and to development works it could bring in considerable bodies of labour without doing anything to disturb general labour conditions in the Dominion. The effect of its .action would be to make labour available where it is.most needed, ancl where there is, and but for immigration is likely to be, an unsatisfied demand. On the whole there is a particularly clear case for action. As an immediate step, definite inquiries ought to be made regarding the possibility of obtaining from Britain, when repatriation is completed and shipping is available, the classes of labour this country so badly needs. The British Government has demonstrated that it is prepared to meet such inquiries half way. Britain is not anxious to lose population, but. in view of the fact that many ex-Service men intend to emigrate, it lias made com-, prehensive plans which aim at encouraging and assisting such men and their families to proceed as settlers to the various Dominions as scon as the latter have received and provided for their own soldiers. As Mb. 'Massey. observed the other day, one part of our Imperial preference scheme ought to be to invite •immigration from other parts of the Empire. The British Government is taking practical steps in this direction, notably by undertaking to pay the passages of approved ex-Service men and their families to any Dominion, while withholding such assistance from those who elect to proceed to foreign countries. In Us own interests, as well as on Imperial grounds, New Zealand ought to be eager to meet and second this policy, and undoubtedly this implies immediate, though as yet preliminary, action on such lines as have been indicated.