The Dominion MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 1919. A CONDITION OF PROGRESS

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 3, 29 September 1919, Page 4

The Dominion MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 1919. A CONDITION OF PROGRESS

As its details arc made known it becomes evident that the scheme of migration planned by the British Government 'offers plenty of scope for co-operation by the Dominions. Some practical suggestions in this direction have been made recently •by Mil T, E. Sedgwick, who is well known in this country for his work in connection with a scheme for bringing out British lads as farm workers, and is at present again visiting the Dominion. He has pointed out, for instance, that the British Government's offer to ex-Service men and their dependants of freb passages to one or other of the Dominions does not j extend to .mothers, sisters, or fiancees of such men, or to those of their children who are of an age to earn their own living. No doubt there are various ways in which the Dominions might, with profit to' themselves, n'tpptemenr. the assistanew offered by the British Government, and such possibilities ought to be carefully considered with a v\ew to action. As far as can be judged, however, the New Zealand Government has yet to he awakened to the urgency of_ the immigration cjuestion, and until such broad decisions as the occasion calls for. have been made it is, of course, hopeless to expect that details will receive tlw attention they demand, Several Ministers have spoken of the importance of increasing the population, but there is no indication, that tho Government has prepared such a pollcv as is called for in view of the fai't that a heavy tide of emigration from Britain is to be expected in the near future and for a,limited period. It is, of course, not unlikely that a more or less important exodus from Britain may <:o»tir..ue for an indefinite time to come, but at the moment the question of attracting suitable British immigrants must be considered with an eye to the exceptional circumstances occasioned by the war and the measures taken by the British Government to meet them. As was pointed .out recently by CoLONEr, Ajieiiy. Under-Secretary for the Colonies, there arc in the United Kingdom hundreds of thousands of men, mostly ex-Service men, who, but for the war, would have gone overseas during the last_four or five years. War experience in itself has awakened in many men a desire to emigrate. No doubt such men and their families, many of them the nick of the British population, will be disinclined to delay any longer than they can heln in seeking new homes overseas. Tho free passages offered by the British Government irill be available as soon as shipping employed in repatriating the troops 'if the various Dominions is released lor other, service, and there is every 'ndication that when-thc tide of emi--•atinn from the United Kingdom begins it will be, for a time it '"nst. full and fjipid. Manifestly rnv Dominion which intends to secure its fair-share of these emigrants •'nsb be onrfy in the field, with •■•lana veil prepared and everything •n readiness. Nothing that Ims yet '■"•en said or done on behalf of the Vew Zealand Government fully and •dequafcely mcts the e«se. It is._ of ■•oursc, agreed that the. Dominion 'Hist nrovide fivst for its own snl"'Ws. but this affords no excise for Vl.i.v l>v the Government in mak'••"r such arrangements as will enM<\ it tn attract large numbers n.f '"■vitish immigrants of the right '■nmn in the near future.

TV rase for nrnmnt ••"'tinn restsf. bottom'on the fact that the need

of bringing in additional population is very fully established. New Zealand lost in the war moro than sixteen thousand men, 'tho pick of its manhood, and large numbers of men in tho same category have come back disabled. In addition, the Dominio'n is short of the population it would have gained by immigration had the war years been years of normal progress. Adding to this that there are great works of national development to be undertaken which perforce will stand neglected, or proceed at a snail's pace unless additional labour is brought into the country, the case for instituting a bold policy of immigration is clearly unexceptionable. The Dominion will in no; other way realise its full possibilities in regard to the increased production which is essential to enable it (« meet its war obligations under the best conditions: All the evidence in sight dictates and demands such a policy. The general shortage of labour in industries and the evident hopelessness of obtaining within' the Dominion anything like the number of men required for development work arc just such conditions as might be expected in a young- and growing country denied for several years its natural gain of by. immigration; and these conditions admit of only one remedy. The remedy is at hand, provided due enterprise is shown, and it consists obviously in the Government taking organised measures to attract as many of the ex-Service' men who, with their families, will presently be leaving Britain in shoals as can be established in this country and usefully employed. There will be very keen competition within and without the Empire for such emigrants as will presently be leaving Britain in tens of thousands, many of them within the next year. The lines on which other Dominions are working are indicated in the statement, made the other day by Me. Sedgwick, that the West Australian Government is "goint; to accept from Britain twelve thousand cxService men who would be put on Government work, at West Australian rates of pay,' until they became absorbed in the community." Particularly as regards public works, it ought to be quite open_ to New Zealand to act on similar lines, and to offer suitable immigrants guaranteed employment and wages together with such assistance, supnlementary to that of the British Government, as may seem advisable. Prospective immigrants under such a scheme, of course, would have to be informed in the dearest terms of the nature and conditions of the emplovment offered them, and there is little doubt that 'chey could be obtained in such numbers as would soon make it possible to advance a great programme of national development beyond the stage of paner nlans. In regard to immigration intended to relieve the shortage of labour in secondary industries each step would have to be considered very carefully : beforehand, but in some cases,' notably that of tho building trade, the nred of bringing in additional workers is as clearly emphasised as in the case of national development work. The need of additional labour for rural industries is very plainly established, but probably will be difficult to satisfy even if a iconsiderable tide of immigration is secured. The one thing necessary to on-sure the success of an immigration policy is that it should be well organised. It is not in doubt that in this country at its present stage the introduction of additional population is an essential condition of progress, and that unless the. Government takes such measures as would (liable it in the near future to'attract an inflow of immigrant, o from Great Britain it will allow a golden opportunity to slip by.