IMMIGRATION

Hokitika Guardian, 12 July 1929, Page 8

IMMIGRATION

GOVERNOR-GENERAL’S VIEW SHOULD BE ENCOURAGED. WELLINGTON, July 9. Taking the secondary industries as die keynote of his address, his Exellency the Governor-General, Sir Jiarles Fergusson, at the, .opening of he Winter Show, suggested that pracjically the only way. in, which to furolier advance the secondary industries n. New Zealand was by the encourageaent of immigration, thus, creating the nily market there coul.d bq. for t: Wesent, Ejominion products,, a home market. , . “How are the,.secondary, .industries going to flourish?” asked .his Excel-

lency. At present, he said, they could not get. beyond a certain poTnt until .iiey had a bigger population. Thai was how it struck him in a broad way. They must have a sufficiently large market in which to sell their goods roin the secondary industries and nrger production at reasonably low cost.

tv'hat is going.,, to be our. population?” next asked, his Excellency. At iresent ho was told that ow,ing to necessity there could be no : increase in mmigration in New Zealand., “I must \ccept that, as being an .economic necessity, he continued, “but it does ot prevent, me .from lamenting the .act that tliere should be ajny restriction put. on the development of the population in this.. country. It must be remembered that the immigrants who come, to this country are not the people,who .take the brpa,dj out of our mouths, immigrants, provided they ire of the right sort, are going to be m asset to the country. They are going to be producers and, more than that, they are going to be consumers. tVhat they are . going to consume are „he products of our secondary industries, but so long as there is a limited copulation the secondary industries cannot get beyond a certain point. Double your population and your mlustries will develop' in proportion. It s a controversial matter, but a matter well brought forward for consideraion .and .discussion is whether with die necessity of limiting immigration .ve should not so try to- arrange matters that we welcome. immigrants so long as they are, of course the right stamp. By the right stamp I mean those who come out prepared to work on the land. AVe don’t want them to come into our limited population and augment the already overcrowded cities. There is ample scope for them in developing the primary products of the country and working on the land.

“If the boys of New Zealand will recognise that the way in which they ■an best help their country is by doing like their fathers and forefathers did of old, by developing the land, '•lieiryou would hear none of this talk ibout boys leaving school and beTiig unible to take up weir life’s work. You vould be able to build up a population n the land ten times as big as to!ay, and then there would be a chance for the secondary industries. That seems to be the most insistent problem of the present time, bow to develop New Zealand. I don’t like to say it is standing still, that would not be true, but the country is being terribly irrested in its development by the fact that we cannot encourage immigration. T think' that is a misfortune, and I should like in the next few years to =ee these restrictions done away with.”