POPULATION PROBLEM IN NEW ZEALAND

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 24, 12 February 1937, Page 11

POPULATION PROBLEM IN NEW ZEALAND

NEW A TWO-FOLD DUTY Careful Planning Urged by MrBarnard NEEDOF RESEARCH That the railways and hydro•lectricity works definitely would pay, that the heavy hurden of deht • would become lighter because it wonld he spread among more people and that unemployment need not necessarily he a hug-hear, wero claima putf orward last night l>y the Hon. W. E. Barnard, M.P., when'addressing a Napier audience at the opening of his New Zealand campaign advocating immigration , along carefnlly-plaimed lines. He nrged that the time had come for Kew Zealand to cease heing dog-in-the-manger regarding the population of her open spaces" and expressed the vlew that there should he a thorough research into the best methods to "be adopted to eneure the satisfactory settlement of migrant*. At the eonclusion of his ad&ress, an erganisation was formed to be known as" The New Zealand Five Million Club," whose objects are to be the prosuotion of immigration and a study of the best methods of successfully increasing the Dominion's population, ln the oieantime Napier is to be the headquarters of this new organisation, but eventually the .headquarters will be ahifted to Wellington. "The Tight to retain possession of Ihe land is dependent upon the peopling and nse of it," said Mr. Barnard, in giving the following quotation from the Book of Genesis (Chapter 13, verse 14), ia, which Jehovah promises Abram the land, and an assurance is given of people to fill it: "... look from the place where thou art, northward, and southward, and eastward, and west* ward: For all the land which thon •eest, to thee will I give it and to thy »eed for ever. And I will make thy seed as the dnst of the earth; so that Sf a man ean number the dust of the •arth, then ahall thy seed also be nuax-' bered." £The problem of filling up our country may not be an immediate one, but in the light.of Asia's .population increase and development, now is the time tp plan ±or an increased and increasing population, as the solving or the problem. will take years, and if we defer until the question becomes obvioasly nrgent it may be too late then to answer it in our own way and ac* cording to our own ideas," Mr, Barnard •ontinued. Begin To Diminish. Hlustrating the failure of tho natural increase to meet the position, Mr. Barnard said that in 1911 tho population of New Zealand was 1,000,000, while in 1935 it was 500,000 more. It had been estimated that the figure in 1941 would be 1,550,000; m 1946, 1,600,000; and in 1960, 1,650,000. ' The indications were that after remaxuing stationary at that level for a period ( the figure would commence to drmTTiish. There had been 20,354 births in 1911 and 23,905 in 1935, and 1'ewer children wei'e born in New Zealand cach year now than had been the ease 25 VAA.T R fltrfl-

"Fifty years ago one baby was born to every four women between 20 and 45 years ; to-day tbere is one baby to every 11 women," Mr Barnard went on. "Twenty-foixr per cent." of'maxriages'are childless, 19 per- cent. have oue child only, 19 per cent. bave two children only, and 62 per cent. average less than one child per couple. Ihe rata of natural increase per 1000 of population sinee 1982 is revealed by the following figures: — 1922, 14.4; 1926, 12.31; 1930, 10.24; 1934, 7.99; 1935, 7.91." Deep and thorough inquiry was required to meet the problem, the speaker said. The mere raising of the •tandard of life would not necessarily improve the position; it might even have the .opposite effect. He cousidered that a matter weil ' worthy of consideration ' was makiiig available wellplanned easements or concessions to married couples toho produced large • faxnilies 4But whatever we may do durmg the next five, 10 or 15 years the problem of - an increase to such a degree as .not to expose us in the eyes of taghtly-paeked nations as a dog-in- themanger, still remains, and to it we must address ourselves now while we have the time and the opportunity," he said. Economic Stabillty. Dealing with the question oi ^per ihe rMsons for an immigration policy, Mr Barnard pointed to the need for pregerving New Zealand' s economic stability. The Dominion's export trade, he «ag|, was confined to a. few primary

and land. There had been a growing difficulty of recent years in disposing of her increasing volume» of primary production, and, while high hopes were held that the egorts of the Hon. W. Nash, Minister of Marketing, in his mission abroad, would . be successful to a degree, the problem would still remain. "There is a defimto necessity for a greater degree of self-containment as far as the Dominion is concernedf in order that we should have a greater amount of internal stability,' Mr Barnard said. "Tboughti is now concentrated on the development of seeondary industries .for this purp'ose, and also to .provide avenues of employment for our youth.; But the extent to which we can expand the existing industries, or develop new ones, is dependent upon our ability to consume the products of secondary industry. The nar,'ow limits of our ability to increase secondary production are obvious .in the light of a stationary population and our trade relations with Great Britain aiid Japan." Government debt had increased from £79,3%'j00,(£75 2/- per. head) in 1911 to £277,923,000 (£178 4/- per head) in 1935, said Mr Barnard, turning to the question of the weight of public debt and the further development oi publio utilities. Local body debt was increased in the same.period from £19,000,000 to- £72,000,000. With a larger population railways and hydro-electri-city would definitejy pay, while tbe heavy burden of debt would become ligliter becftuoe it would be spread over more people. Social services -wero being expanded at increased cost, and a national health and national superannuation scheme would shortiy be inauguratcd. The Bugbear. "Unemployment is the bugbear which appeals to many when immigxation is suggested," Mr Barnard went on. "The. mere emptying into New Zealand of migrants without plan or provision for them has, and would again, tend to swell' the nunxbers of our unemployed. But there is no reason for ouch a resuit if migrants come here under a carefully thouglxt out scheme, with definite provision made for them so that they will not become a burden upon this country. PJanning is essential if immigrants are td be successfully absorbed in large numbers and we who are already here must be prepared to fit into the agreed plan." A stationary population, or one declining quietly and undramatically, but surely and steadily, would undermine and lower that wbich men and women valued so highly — their standard of life, and no lift in wagje-levels, no shortening of hours, no basic wage, or anything legislation could do, would stay the onset of the finaf rot. Adequate Defence. "In a -world increasing rearmament, we are giving much thought to defence, and no one can be eatisfied that our existing means of protection from attack are sufficient for that purpose," said Mr Barnard. '"That 'God is on the side of the big battalions' is not alwa^ s true, but/ there can be no doubt that a virile people, conscious of its virxlity and conndent in its mastery of the future, has an advantage over a people whxch has lost its viiiiity and ixas grown old and cautious.

"Our rigbt to ocvup> New Zealandf and admit and shut out whom we choose has dependetl in ihe past on the strength of the British Navy. Jf Britain were inv'olved in Europe and Asia at the one time, we couid obviously no longer rely upon the naval arm. Strong and vigorous nationsj 1'ike the Germans, the Japanese, the 'ituiians and the Poles, are cramped for room, and the 'have-nots' look with natural envy on the gracious and eomfortable territories of the 'haves.J Several schemes, rather than one big scheme, were preferable in dealing witn xmmigration, the speaker said. There were advantages to be seen in the seleetion of British migrants, with financial aid from the Old Couhtry, but there was need for prompt action, because of the decline in the British rate of increase. Migrants should definitely not be a charge to New Zealand for a epecific period after their arrival. Consideration could be given to the introduction of Northern Europeans — Scandinavians (including Finns), Germans, Poles and Czecho-Sloyakians- — but the difficulty there (apart from racial differences). lay in tlxe fact that little or no assietance would . be available from the home countries of the peopl? concerned . Bridge the Gap. The after-care of immigrants was a matter upon whieh Mr Barnard dealt briefly. It was here, he said, that organised bodies of patriotic citizens throughout the Dominion could do much to bridge the gap between the old life and the new. The motive of that interest "should be a desire'to serve the Dominion as -well as the Empire, besides the obvious duty and cojnmon courtesy of welcoming the stranger who was in 1 due time to become a fellow-New Zealandex.

' ' Large-scale immigration meant careful planning — probably considerable interference witn ' tho existing economic strueture and organisation," Mr Barnard stated. "If we want immigration of real, worthwhile volume we must be prepared for a considerable moasure of Government interference — • of direction or even control. It would be inconsistent to call for immigrants by the tens of thousands at one moment and then shout for free, unimpeded private enterprise in the next. A radieal government is lilcely to be a more serviceable instrument for initiating and executing a sound immigration scheme than one whieh is more concerned with keepingf things as they are." The details of practical policy were a matter for the New Zealand and Britisb Governments. The New Zealand Government would welcome practical suggestions from those who' had grasped the essentials of the right policy and who were qualified to f urnish speeifie plans. He considered that the problsxn must be approached in various ways and that no one plan of settlement was likely to succeed. There was a twofold duty to be fulfilled, Mr Barnard concluded. One was to educate the people of New Zealand up to the point of regarding immigr.ition as desirable and necessary, and +hr other was to ensure a thorough research into the best methods to be adopted to ensurb the satisfactory settlement oi migrants... The' position was one requiring the attention of a Parliamentary eoimnittee or a committee composed partly of members of Parliament and partly oi economists. A similar address wxll be given in Hastings to-night.