IMMIGRATION FOR NEW ZEALAND.

Shannon News, 9 November 1923, Page 4

IMMIGRATION FOR NEW ZEALAND.

A PMN.OUTLINED. ENGLISH COUNTY , COUNCILS" .TO* ACQUIRE SM4LL LANDS ;i "IN NEW ZEALAND. > "'"' J A correspondent signing himself /f A. New Zealander," whites as follows to," a, London paper:— i Sir, —Permit me, as -a New,, Zealand, resident, to say a few words about" emigration. I read in- ihte- cabled, news in the New., Zealand , papers that there are in England one arid, a half, million persons unemployed at the pres-' ent time, and when I discovered that there are only tq. the* square mile in New Zealand and 500 .to-the square mile in England, I was forced' to come to the conclusion,thati.the! question of, emigration is, an [imperial - with a humanitarian side i deeply, concerning the welfare of,the,British race, hercfore, with, your permission, sir,,l wish to say a little about New Zealand as an .outlet for your surplus population, and io offer suggestions; <u: I may say I have interviewed a great many people ,from. Great Britain, and most are,pleased .that they came,' as the fresh, bracing air, good food; sunshine and living accommodation are far before. conditions; besides they say their children have better opportunities here, the only drawback is the scarcity of houses, but the shortage is being rectified; rooms of some kind are alway obtainable. The, new-comers, are always met by Major Greene, who has been appointed by the New Zealand Government to meet all thie,immigrant, boats and see that the new ; arrivals and their families arei temporarily housed. '"",'■ ; ' " '. The New Zealand. Government's latest immigration scheme is ,tha,t. ;persons living; in New Zealand, may '. nominate their friends at home and get them,out. to New Zealand x at.the ;; foJyiowingre' duced passage rates:— Domestic, servants to. New Zealand free. The passage, f.or farm,, labourers and miners is £lO. Children under 12 years of age.may be,brought.out free. Residents in New Zealand may also bring out others for £lB.

Sir James Allen, High•', Commissioner for New Zealand, 415, Strand, London, and Commissioner David,Lamb, Superintendent of Salvation. Army Emigra-, tion Department,, Queen ■ Victoria Street, London, can give all details-of the above nomination, system. If intending, emigrants cannot - , get nominated, my advice is, pay the, ordinary third-class fare, as it saves time. People in New Zealand mostly live in detached houses, not in flats. This country is well developed, and there appears to be aaiple work for, women and children. I do not approve of single men.;.coming* out here; ibey should, iirst'get married and then, come out. Nine young single d arm, worker friends of mine came out single;,/thoy do not, seem to, ""coiplo on" to; the New Zealand girls, or vice versa. Arrange Meetings for 00-Operatip,

Emigration. " Persons desiring •'■ to come! to New Zealand should write to. 'Sir,, James Allen, of London, and tp Commissioner Lamb, asking for all literature, Zealand. Year-books, and..,.fullest '-in-,' formation, saying they, wish to.-plpco' these before a public, meeting. Then put ah advertisement, in the local paper calling, a meeting of'all who desire to emigrate. ~ If they do nptljlke this country,, Australia could be tried,, as, Sydney is only days' steam from New, Zealand. Speaking as. a Colonial, my 4experience here and in Australia is thats very few native-born ; Colonials,, .object to immigrants coming out to these new lands; they se'em. to .agree that [they all help to develop , the sides, it seems to be agreed that; every thousand persons coming here, work for themselves and increase trade.

To Aid, Emigrants, English i County Councils tP Acqufre LandilaNew ■;■■'' New. Zealand. I beg to offer the following .suggestion:—Under the English Small Holdings Act, County Councils can borrow 'large sums of money from the British Government to buy blocks of rural land, which they cut up into three, four, or twenty arcre sections, and sell 1 to persons who desire to start poultry, bee, fruit, or dairy farming. The per- ' sons buying these English sections pay v fo.r them on deferred payment. These holdings are a success. As no, similar Act prevails in New Zealand, I suggest that the English County Councils be allowed to acquire large blocks of land in New Zealand near the railways, and then cut them, up into, smal], holdings and settle.specially s'elected-dairy farmers from jtheir own,country on same, allowing immigrants 33$ years to pay for this. land. No doubt the machinery of the,Ne.w Zealand municipal bodies-■ and also County Councils, of New Zealand could be brought into play to help with this scheme. There is a.great,need of a small holding system here, as at present the New Zealand Government offers very little aid to the poor man to secure a small farm.

past Land, System In Zealand. New Zealand ..years ago had some Very progressive land: settlement schemes. In the Auckland Province every settler.,, .who ■. paid his passage was given a block of land, and in the Wellington- province rows of immigrant cottages were built. Later, the Hon. John Ballance allowed groups of persons to take up blocks of land, each person on an average to be allowed to get 100 acres, and also one acre in? tho ,township area whore he could place his family until the land was cleared. Settlers did not buy land in all cases, but paid small annual rent for it. The Ballance system of land settlement was a huge success at first, as it* enabled batchers', bakers, stewards |of jbojats, and folk generally, who had not much, capital to secure a farm on which to bring up. their, children j and it is. amazing to see, when the children come to manhood, how big and strong phy : sicalry- they become, making, quite, a contrast ~tq jttieir, English, undersized, forbears. ■'...' ' i But, unfortunately, the Ballance

.scheme (had a weak spot, viz., the settlers, as, they became prosperous, secured their freehold to the-land, which enabled; them, to sell out to their neighbours, (With the result that in some districts one-man would be found holding 500 good-acreS and more, having bought iOUt.his neighbours. This meant .a , diminished • rural, population, and in consequence the State schools in some districts had tfo be closed, as there were no'children to attend. , If the Danish jland system had been adopted .here, which prohibits a farmer selling out to his nearby neighbours, aggregation would'have been curtailed. Hon. W. Massey Favours Immigration and Tree Homesteads. The Hon. "W. F. Massey, Prime Minister of ; New Zealand, who is a farmer, favours: an extensive immigration scheme. He stated on March 3rd, 1923, at Auckland, that New Zealand should now. be. able to absorb 10,000 British immigrants each year;, he also stated that he i favoured following the system of giving free grants to bona-fide ixt tiers who would undertake to work the land. Mr. Massey said: —"It is not a question of what capital they possess, but it is our duty to see that immigrants who come here will be industrious and enterprising people, likely to do good for themselves and for the Dominion. Now we are on a fair way to returning prosperity, we expect to be able to increase the number who will be- absorbed without increasing unemployment.. I think New Zealand should now. be able.to absorb not less than 10,000 British immigrants each year. Every industrious man or every industrious family that comes here will help to f provide employment, for other class-es ;Of the, population, and so as* sist us to carry the heavy burdens resulting from the war. I think it can be saidi confidently that, taking, them on the [Whole,, the immigrants so far have given satisfaction and are worthy to become fellow-citizens with our?, selves."

Sir, Great Britain is a wealthy country, and it is her Parliament's duty to help financially any scheme which will further * the settlement of her surplus •population'on the surplus: lands of her Colonies.

In conclusion, allow me to urge young couples and family groups to come out, because jthey can che'er, help, and work for each other; If our British parents were daring enough to come to this country; fifty years ago, and they succeeded; jsur'ely there is still < enterprise euough tamong British people at home to. coma to these: which 'offer such splendid inducements in th'Oi way off education,': and opportunities for their children. —I am, Sir, A.NEW ZEABANDER.