The Dominion. FRIDAY, JUNE 25, 1920. ADDING TO THE POPULATION

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 232, 25 June 1920, Page 6

The Dominion. FRIDAY, JUNE 25, 1920. ADDING TO THE POPULATION

Although some thousands of people have been brought out to this country as immigrants during the last few months, remarkably little has been heard in the way of complaint. It is thus quite clear that all but a very small proportion of the new arrivals liavo been absorbed easily and without friction. The .-few complaints that are heard seem to come for the most part from immigrants who did not get into direct _ contact with the High Commissioner's Office, but were sent out under the Imperial Government's Overseas Settlement schemc, or by some British organisation. Some additional point is thus given to a suggestion which has been made before—namely, that the activities of the New Zealand Immigration authorities should be coordinated as closely as possible with those of the Imperial Government, and that all immigrants who are assisted by either Government should be selected or approved by the High Commissioner. This, of course, is essential, not only to ensure the Dominion receiving the class of population it needs, Dut in order that intending immigrants may be explicitly informed of the conditions that await them. It may be taken for granted that as matters stand up-to-date and reliable information about the Dominion is given at the High Commissioner's Office to all who apply for it, but apparently a few of the new arrivals have come out with mistaken ideas of the employment opportunities offering in this country, and it is here that the need of better coordination is suggested. Mention was made yesterday of the difficulties. of two immigrants who have failed to secure employment in Wellington. One of them is a shop assistant, and the other, a demobilised soldier, was working in the cotton trade before he left England. On the facts in sight, these cases plainly suggest that the methods of the British organisations assisting emigration' are in some respects unsound, and that these organisations, or some of them, are taking insufficient account of the qualifications an immigrant must possess to succeed in a new and developing country like this Dominion. One of the immigrants mentioned says he was. told that in this country work was plentiful, wages high, and the cost of living lower than in Great Britain, Evidently he was told nothing that was untrue, but he and others similarly circumstanced ought in every case to be told also that proficiency in a trade which is nonexistent in this country is no asset to an immigrant and that there is no unsatisfied demand here for clerks or shop-assistants. The Imperial Government ought to be verywilling to co-operate with the High Commissioner in making all intending immigrants fully acquainted with the facts relating to the class of labour in reouest in the Dominion and also to those for which there is no demand.

Satisfactory evidence that our own Government is working in the main , on sound lines i{. afforded, as has been said, in the ease with which some thousands of immigrants have already been absorbed. At present immigrants arc arriving at the rate of about two thousand a month, and this rate is expected to increase. Apart from the wide scope of employment that is offering on public works and .the keen demand for experienced farm workers and domestic servants, the Immigration Department has obtained st,Mistical returns of machines lying idle during December nnd January last which point to a shortage of 12,000 skilled workers in various industries. This apparently is independent of the serious shortage of building tradesmen which is limiting the construction of dwellings,

schools, and other necessary buildings. It is probably well within i the mark to assume that the Dominion can easily absorb tens of thousands of immigrants of the right sort in the next year or two in such conditions as will give them a reasonable assurance of obtaining stable employment and establishing comfortable homes. In order that friction and trouble may be avoided, however, it is essential to exercise every care in warning off intending immigrants who for one reason or another are ill fitted to grapple with such conditions as rule in New Zealand. In particular it ought to be made clear to those who are administering the overseas settlement scheme that no kindness is done by sending unskilled ex-Service, men to this country, unless they arc fitted for farm work or such employment as ""the Public Works Department has to offer.