WELLINGTON NOTES

Hokitika Guardian, 23 October 1923, Page 1

WELLINGTON NOTES

IMMIGRATION'. QUANTITY or quality. [Special To The Guardian.] WELLINGTON. Oct. 19. Local intere-t in the immigration question has been quickened bv tho report presented to the Wellington ( bomber of Commerce the other day by its Development Committee. Mr Leigh Hunt, the chairman of the Committee, lias specialised, so to streak, oh this question, and has collected a vast i,mount of information concerning the movements of population throughout the British Umpire, which enables him l (> discus- it with understanding and authority. In presenting the report on hehall of the Committee he specially emphasi-ed the importance of dissociating it from politic-. It was a national question of vital concern to the whole ol the community, ho said, and should

not constitute a hone ol prejudiced and bitter contention between the political parties. Some of the Labour people have read into this a sinister attempt to blind the public to the claims of the worker- to be protected from exploitation and unemployment. But as a matter of fact the Committee was carelu! to explain that its purpose was not inerel v to adequately populate the lountrv. but more particularly to develop its resources along line- that would improve the conditions of the whole community. One oi the points mode by Hunt, was that the Dominion in encouraging iinmigrui.ion should oifet aidt-aetions Unit would appeal to the most helpful citizen. THE GOVERNMENT K.FFORTS.

The Committee in the course ol its re pin t expressed regret that the ■members of the Oversea- Settlement Delegation, who were ill the Dominion a little while ago, were not given better opportunity to see and lully understand tin- advantages this couutit offers to emigrants from the Old Country. It drew- comparisons, tin favourable to New Zealand, between the attention paid i.o these gentlemen in the ( oiiiinonwcallh and in New Zealand. There certainly seemed to be some ground for complaint. But the Under Secretary of hands has explained that the delegates visited Au-tralia to see the initiation of an Imperial scheme oi set i lenient there w hich has not been adopted here, and they came to N-'W Zealand only to gratify a personal de--nv to ,-ee this country. There was really no necessity for them to come lieio —as l lie Under-Secretary puts il just, a little unhappily—and they appear io have been treated accordingly. r l he Under-Secretary also claims that under the New Zealand nominated system, v heieli provides a substantial part of the passage money and ensures employment upon arrival here, Ho,ooo people have been brought to New Zealand during the last three years, anil that to this extent I lie population ol the Dominion bus been increased without prejudicing any of the local industries concerned. TIIK IMMIGRANTS. There appears to he a wide difference between the class of immigrants the Committee of the Chamber ol Commerce lias in view and the class the Government i- bringing to the country under tho nominated system. Mr Hunt and his colleagues particularly want to see farmers, small and large, inaiiulaetnrers, capitalists and even spr< nlal o!'S, of the legitimate kind, transferring their activities, or at any rate, part of them, from the Old ( until rv to ihe Dominion. The Uovci'ument on the other hand, applies oni, the ie-l of nomination to the people :i as-isls to the country. Judging iron the batches of immigrants that am , e in Wellington from time to time tinier the existing system, the phy-ie.i!

standard demanded is not n very lugo one. Bui what is even of more enti-sequent-i- Die great majority of ih in arrivals have neither the means nor the qualifications to enter noon the doV'inp-lin-nt work Air Hum and hi' coll • 'gut -

wish to see serino-lv attached. I lie great hulk of them oilier the rank' "I the workers a- ilieir assign -d and perma ie ni I plaei’. Tll’-re tlii-v •.mlhtt’s" render useful and creditable service to the community. hut they do not sati>l\ the iull needs of l lie country, and would not, were I hey multiplied a hundred times. not Kxnccir. The local papers have not ye; lully digeslrd the fuels marshalled bv Cue ( oininiflee, hut this morning llm " New Zealand Times'’ has a word or two to say in regard to (lie cninun -ills of the l" nderaseerel a I'y ol Bands. ‘ lie nflieial 'tal eluent' it says. “ Bdl.- u.s that mi other over'Oa Domini in ims .n l lie same time absorbed as inaav imiu'i.rants as this Dominion Ini'. 11l M: is a souiee of satisfaction, of course though not a thin;?: for flag-flyi ig. But ’he essential point is that 'he scheme is not a settlement snhemo. 1 lie he-l I hat can he said lor it. is that it weulo lie a pood adjunct to a mill ‘motif scheme. Its addition to the penna! population is hui a dribble compar'd in the Hood ot migration settlemcpt w< so urgentlv reriuire.’ 1 Thai, ol course, is the position in a nutshell. The nominated system brines to the Dominion neither Ihe numbers, nor. in nil enough measure, the class that it inquires, and Canada, ihe Argetn :i:e. and Australia are attracting people who would he belter off and mure weir ope here. It is one of the qncsi'ms on which the Prime Minister should obtain much information before hi' >et I! I'll.