DESIRE TO SETTLE IN DOMINION

Dominion, Volume 37, Issue 233, 29 June 1944, Page 4

DESIRE TO SETTLE IN DOMINION

Information Sought LETTERS RECEIVED FROM ENGLISHMEN A keen desire on the part of many Englishmen and Americans to settle in New Zealand after the war is shown by a file of correspondence received by the Dominion Settlement Association. , Typical questions on which information is sought are illustrated in a letter from one Englishman, at present serving in the Middle East. They are: Will I and my wife be welcome? Do I stand a chance for n good job. with prospects of a better one ahead? Will Ibe able,to find somewhere decent to live and raise a family at reasonable expense: Is New Zealand as grand a place as its inhabitants quite naturally say it is/ . The man concerned states that he is oil years of age. his wife two years younger. “We are keen on raising a family as soon as we can after the war. ’ he adds. “If I come to New Zealand I hope to be able to bring about £lOOO (United Kingdom currency) with me. “I am well trained in communication engineering—-I have to be as a foreman of signals with a technical maintenance section of the Royal Corps of Signals - and by the end of this year I hope to have passed the A.M. (Brit.) I.R.E. and several city and guilds examinations in other branches of communications. Will there be any demand for people such as I in the Dominion after the war?” Another letter is from six British constables serving in Palestine. They state that they have been in uniform for a number of years, and after the war want to settle o" a farm together in New Zealand. “Our idea is to work on a farm for a period to gain experience and then to pool our money and hire or purchase a niece of land for farming.” they say. “We are all Al men. and have £2OO to £3OO each, exclusive of our fare to New Zealand. Most of us have sweethearts in England, and, if we got th: farm on a paving basis we would send for them to join us in our venture. “We don’t wish to make a lot of money, hut to live an independent, healthy, outdohr life, and to raise our families under those conditions.” These were only two of many letters received from British nationals who desired to come to New Zealand, and who showed every promise of following •worth ily in the footsteps of those who had pioneered the country.” said the chairman of the association, Mr. A. Leigh Hunt, yesterday. , The difficulty was that, till the Government’s policy on immigration was known, no satisfactory reply could be sent to inquirers. It was for that reason that the association urged the immediate establish-' mem: of a Royal Commission to plan now for the properly balanced, orderly immigration which must come if the national, economic and social security of the country were to be preserved. No one desired a haphazard influx of ill-assorted immigrants, and the primary importance of rehabilitating New Zealand’s own servicemen was fully realized, said Mr. Hunt. But experts were unanimous that properly-planned immigration, far from being a threat to employment, was in fact actually an assistance. So far as housing was concerned, if the present acute shortage was to be relieved in anything like a reasonable time, the importation of a number of skilled tradesmen would no doubt be found essential. Meantime, one junmistakeable fact should be borne in mind : New Zealand, with its present population trend, was headed for disaster, which could be averted only by an enlightened immigration policy. Delay might be fatal. Other Dominions, similarly placed, had shown that they were awake to the position. Australia, for instance, intended to embark on a positive immigration rflan in which it would accept United Kingdom servicemen and selected children from Britain and Europe. Unless New Zealhnd acted now it might well find that: it was too late.