The Manawatu Herald. TUESDAY, MARCH 26, 1907. POPULATION OF NEW ZEALAND.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXIX, Issue 3762, 26 March 1907, Page 2

The Manawatu Herald. TUESDAY, MARCH 26, 1907. POPULATION OF NEW ZEALAND.

Dr. Chappie, who has been on a journey abroad and returned to Wellington on Thursday, made some interesting observations to a Post reporter on the subject of peopling New Zealand. In travelling through the United Kingdom and Ireland, one of the prominent matters in his mind was the question of the Old Country’s power to supply suitable settlers for New Zealand. For years, he says, he has had a rooted conviction that the progress of New Zealand can only be promoted by an increase in productiveness brought about by closer settlement of the back country, with a corresponding improvement of population in the city centres. It the people were placed on the land, increased population for the cities would follow automatically. In Dublin he found that the clergy were preaching against emigrating from Ireland, telling the people that it was disloyal to their country to emigrate to a foreign land when their own country heeded them. The North of Ireland was too busy to think about emigration. The country people of England moved on to the cities, and did not desire to travel any farther. The North of Scotland, Scandinavia, and perhaps Germany, were the only places that were willing and able to spare a proportion of their best agriculturalists for countries with a .climate more congenial than their own. His own opinion was that if New Zealand’s country districts were settled by people willing to till the soil, increased population for the cities must follow without the stimulus of assisted

immigration, but assisted passages for tarmers and country workers were an immediate necessity for New Zealand, and that was a fact that had been impressed on every young country in the world. They realised that they must have population, even at great national cost. New Zealand could afford to select, and she had the best opportunity to get the best country workers and farmers from the countries he had mentioned. New Zealand was in better odour there than Canada or Australia ; that was obvious. He believed that within the next few years, a strong tide of .mmigration would come to this country from the Old World. He considered that the Scandinavians were the best of all. If he had to deal with the problem of securing suitable settlers, he would choose a Scandinavian from those resident here and send him away to get others. They were a thrifty, industrious, healthy race. Dr. Chappie thought that though the High Commissioner was doing all that was possible by the advertise ment system, much better results would be gained by the employment ot an agent who would actually see the intending immigrants, and inform them about the actual conditions in New Zealand.