Truth SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 1908. THE IMMIGRATION QUESTION.

NZ Truth, Issue 139, 15 February 1908, Page 4

Truth

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 1908. THE IMMIGRATION QUESTION.

Published Every Saturday morning at Luke's Lane (off Mannersstreet), Wellington, n.z. Subscription (m advance), 139. per annum.

Speaking at Auckland recently, Sir Joseph Ward alleged that he was opposed to "the system of immigration m the sense this word implies, which, from a politician's point of view, might be ma/dc to mean anything, but, properly speaking, means nothing at all. Sir Joseph has on the question of immigration preferred to sit on a rail, to climb down to one side or the other until circumstances call for a well and clearly defined pronouncement. Moreover, the Premier is reported to have declared that he was confident that it was m the truest interests of the country that more people were required, providing that they were of the right class, and furthermore, to quo^e the astute Joseph : "I am opposed to a general system of immigration, but am of the opinion that the policy we are pursuing now, of careful examination on the part of the High Commissioner and bis staff, and the selection only of those of a suitable class m limited numbers, who up to their arrival m the country are able and willing to work, should be continued." The Premier went on to observe, m a delightfully vague manner, that at present there was a large demand lor a

suitable class ofla'bor. What that class is, or classes are, Sir Joseph was singularly silent upon. Indeed his reported remarks give indications of painful labor, and "Truth" doubts not that the Premier wouid have willingly foregone any reference to what cannot be more , politely described than, an insidious, shameful immigration system, which, if anything, savors more of the press gang operations of a hundred years ago, than the legitimate claim of a young and growing country On the surplus population of the United Kingdom. Before entering on a discussion of the scandals connected with New Zealand's immigration scheme, it is just and proper that a resolution carried at a recent meeting of the Canterbury Trades and Labor Council should be given due publicity. On January 25 last a, resolution was carried that the Council "strongly protests against any scheme of immigration by the Government oh the ground that many men and women m our factories are unable to obtain anything like constant employment. Further, we consider it would not only be unjust to the workers of the Domin-. ion, but uniust to the immigrant, who would have to compete with our. feUow-workers, thereby reducing wages and prejudicing, national conditions." * . * . * To attempt a serious ,and thorough review of. the present condition of the labor market m New Zealand is not our present intention. This much, however, may be observed ; (indications are rife that ere long a serious slump will occur, and no' doubt that will )rr Joe Ward's opportunity to climb from the rail on v/b^h lie now st.r*>'ffrHi»s. The Minister < T -abor, Mr Millar, is at present deeply concerned with the conditions of coachbuilder.s. H« knows that engineers are quite a drug on the labor . market. Hr is well aware that the. great army of unskilled and even underpaid artisans is swelling to abnormal proportions. He knows that from Australia, from England, Ireland s\nft Scotland there has been an invasion by laborers, and he knowSj and the various secretaries of Trades and T.abor Councils have not been slow to remind \him, that those men have landed here as paupers, that | the demand for unskilled and a certain amount of skilJed labor is on the decline and that those men 1 , ablebodied and willing enough, ■ Clod knows, are doomed to remain to |live and die paupers. Is :it an' /onl der tiien that the Premier ould S have to admit that immigration to New ■■Zealand is fraught with grave \dangers to New Zealand workers ? Is it any wonder, indeed, .that the Canterbury Labor Council should be so emnhstic m its anti-immigration protest. Indeed, immigration just now is a ticklish if not tough question. Despite reports from. Labor Bureaus, the mournful fact is altogether too painfully apparent that i the unemployed ranks. in the Dominion are increasing daily. We have ahie-bndied paupers actually begging bread m Wellington. We find ■ one country paper actually deploring m its leading columns, any cry that there is a dearth of employment,' while m its next columns it records the si'icide of an individual who. was driven to desperation because of his inability to procure employment, It would have been certainly more satisfactory if Sir Joseph Ward named half-a-dozen manufacturing, industries m New Zealand that are languishing for want of "a suitable class of'labor," Sir Joseph Ward cannot namethree, let alone half-a-dozen, without rendering himself liable to convincing contradiction. Indeed, it might very well lie assumed that at present the Premier is heart and soul opposed to "a system of immigration m the sense the word implies." That means the indiscriminate shipments of human cargo from the United Kingdom to the Dominion, which will tend to reduce wages, but to increase Capital's dividends. Sir . Joseph is slippery. He is between the- Devil of Capital and the Deep Sea of Labor. He prefers to watch and wait and\ then jump; and that momentous time will arrive if at the next General Elections, Labor is successfully smothered. * . .' • ■•. • ■ ' • "I am opposed," said Sir Joseph Ward, "to a general system of immigration, but am of the opinion that the policy on the part of the High Commissioner and his staff, and the selection only of those of a suitable class m limited numbers . . . . should be continued." What, however, is the modus operandi of this careful examination ? Here is something' worth enquiring into. It is. against New Zealand law for a pauper to enter this country. No man diseased^ or disabled or without/ say, £25 can enter the : Dominion.. "Truth" says "can" advisedly,- because from what is about to be related it would appear that the Government m its idiotic immigration policy wilfully connives at the defeat of the Law. Will Sir Joseph Ward, .will any Government official, deny that penniless paupers are dumped down on these shores, and left to shift or starve ? Is that car<Sul examination on the part of the i u'gn Commissioner and his staff at the other end of the world ? Is this a sample of Custom cunning and duty m New Zealand ? The inspection of immigrants is a farce. Re they "bloated plutocrats" or paupers, so long as they can raise a. few pounds for a steerage passage out, so long are they allowed to land here to compete with New Zealand workers. More than that, hundreds of immigrants have been induced to travel to New Zealand by. false pretences. They were led to believe that work was plentiful. ; that the cost of living was low, and, practically, that everything m the garden was m blossom. Their arrival m New (Zealand disheartened them. They found that the Immigration agent possessed "".the medicine tongue." They were told tales that were ordinary, some they believed, and some they would love to believe after landing here. Dumped down m Wellington or elsewhere, they have actual ly become charges on the State. PTul '"Truth" hesitates to remark that some of our immigrants are pre- ' sentlv serving sentences m our gaols. Some have been found consumptive land 'nhvsiftillv rlisahifcd, a.nd, this m 'face of the fact .that the Hi>h Commissioner and his staff e.xlaminefl them. This system of irornii gration is a. curse ami. a. lilierbt, on the country. The sooner the 'whnio truth is told the better for all concerned. m ■ * !• I "Truth" heard the other day of an immigrant engineer who landed with 1 a pregnant wife m Wellington, pos-

sessed. to use Ms own words, "of a few bob." Ignorant of the surroundings, freely lied to m London, he was disappointed bitterly at not being rushed with offers of employment when the vessel was moored at the wharf. He simply came ashore and asked for an hotel. He chose the most popular, certainly the most expensive, establishment m Wellington. Able to earn 10s a day he put up at an hotel where the tartifE is 12s Gd per diem. Five days passed ere it dawned upon him that he had got above himself. He >-/as penniless, betrayed, and with a wife m an interesting condition. He -would have been unable to meet his hotel bill, m fact, he was, and owing to the kind offices of the secretary of the Trades and .Labor Council, the hotel-keeper concerned, 'hearing the circumstances, suffered a loss, and the engineer and his, wife sot "-"' ings" m a less pretentious and vei.y cheaper boarding house. Now, that man had been lied to freely on the other side of the world. He thought he was coming to a land overflowing with milk and honey, but which is chiefly "bilk and bunny." He was had, he was cheated, and even where he is now employed, he does not earn more than he did at 'Ome. This is a sample case of the lot of irnmiarcrants. They are built up with false hopes, with promises never to be redeemed. They land as paupers and remain paupers, and the '< Government actually connives at .the. cheating of its own Laws by freely *> Emitting indigent persons, who will promptly proceed to work, at cut wages. Everywhere, as a result, we hear the- cry, the labor market is overstocked. Skilled labor is not m demand. Common laborers, unskilled, workers, are on the verge of starvation. The position is becoming acute, and the Government of the day are well awatre of it, yet Sir Joseph Ward wiJl bleat out platitudes of New Zealand's unparalleled prosperity, on. borrowed money, which posterity will .'have to repay. He will chirp abbiit the "careful" examination of suitable immigrants, knowing full well that work cannot be provided for the toilers of New Zealand, as they are. In-' deed, it looks to "Truth" that Joe Ward lacks .candour. If he were honest, and not the catspaw of capital, not a traitor "to Labor, he would speak out manfully, and not, as he is doing, endeavor to.^ placate, both parties, a feat.no ma n has ever yet succeeded m accomplishing.