Seeking Fresh Fields.

Hokitika Guardian, 14 January 1922, Page 3

Seeking Fresh Fields.

EFFECT OF WAR TN BRITAIN. NEWCOMERS HOPEFUL. WELLINGTON, Jan. 13 “j don’t know what conditions are like in New Zealand, but they would have to be pretty bad to equal the state of filings at Home.” Thus a young, sturdy immigrant who arrived By the Arawa yesterday, described the conditions at Home. THE UNEMPLOYED PROBLEM. He said the unemployment question was considered a very grave issue when be left. Tlie l’anlcs of the unemployed were rapidly tilling, and, to use •his own expression, he was “glad indeed to get out of it.” Of course, tins great majority had by now realised the necessity for‘thrift and economy, and were thus grappling with the difficulty. The war-time expensive habits were now, fortunately, on the decrease.

INCREASE IN CRIME. A noticeable thing, however, was that crime had increased at Home; not so much the serious crime as petty cases of pilfering which were rife. Men had stooped to such deceit who, normally, would never have entertained the thought. The young man said lie had seen instances of theft when a married man had become desperate for want of a position. Speaking of crime, or, rather, tlie class of crime which had sprung into existence when employment became difficult to procure, the immigrant said a different class of person had appeared.on the charge-sheets to answer for crime; different people, they were, from the pre-war type. The mini her of respectable people brought to book, in the courts of justice lately was really astounding.

TOLD 11E “HAD A GOOD CHANCE.” “Personally,” continued the speaker, when asked a few questions about himself, “I have a sister here to meet me, bm inv friend—a motor mechanic —lias 'neither friends nor position to go to. I am a railway fitter, and was told at Home that 1 stand a pretty good chance of getting into employment, because the railways were run here, by the New Zealand Government.”

Tlie Dominion, lie said, was given a good account at Home, and nobody there had intimated that conditions in New Zealand were any way slack. He would soon see for himself, however. The other immigrants who had come out with him were of a very fine type, and most of them had employment to {to to.