Fewer Immigrants

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 314, 27 March 1928, Page 9

Fewer Immigrants

HUGE TOTAL IN TEN YEARS Sixty Thousand Since the War THE arrival of IGO immigrants by the Kemuera yesterday denotes that the flow of immigration, though restricted, is by no means completely cheeked. Assisted arrivals for the past twelve months numbered 3,587, which raises the post-war total to 60,373. One-third of these new arrivals have settled in the Auckland Province.

VV7HILE the bulk of new settlers ” come under the Empire Settlement scheme, which gives them assistance in the way of financial advances and cheap passages, there is •a large percentage who come independently. With these added to the assisted total, it is probable that the full number of new settlers from Great Britain and Ireland since the war is as high as 80,000. In addition, there

if 1 fir r-r. Ilf rr 7r. yc. rr fr. 11$ -it yjf has been a small but fairly consistent flow of immigrants from Italy, Switzerland, and Jugo-Slavia, along with large numbers 6f Chinese and Indians over 7,000 In nine years), though the arrivals of the two last groups have been partly balanced by a large number of departures. The past year’s immigration figures, 3,587, represent a substantial drop, of over two-thirds, from the total of the previous year, when the number of assisted arrivals was 11,239. The decline is due to restrictions introduced through the recent economic depression in New Zealand. EFFECT ON LABOUR MARKET On the whole, it appears that the large number of outsiders introduced into New Zealand in recent years have been fairly satisfactorily absorbed. The number registered on the hooks of State and private labour agencies is surprisingly small, but it must be

i remembered that by virtue of the j nomination system a very large proj portion of the immigrants come out to jobs held open for them. Though last year’s total sank to a relatively low figure, the numbers for the previous years, 1925-26 and 1926-2«, were the highest for a very long period. Assisted immigration began in 1871, when 303 immigrants came to the country, and reached its peak in 1874 and 1875, when the population was swelled by 53.000. The high rate of expansion continued until 1879, when 10,311 people came to the colony. After that it slackened, falling as low as 91 in 1889, and 44 in 1891. For several years after that the immigration policy was abandoned altogether. Not until 1920, two years after the war, did the total for any one year again rise above 6,000. It was in the 10 years from 1870 to 1880 that the parents of a very large proportion of New Zealand’s present population came to the country. Through the enterprise of their forbears, in embarking 50 years ago on the hazardous voyage to a new land, those to-day enjoy the privilege of referring to recent arrivals as “Homies.” Since the part the more recent arrivals have played in the unemployment situation is frequently debated, it is interesting to note that to other countries, also, this problem has presented itself. Even in the United States there are differences of opinion as to the wisdom of permitting further immigration. In the year ended June, 1927, the new arrivals intending to settle in the States numbered 442,297, of whom 67,721 came from Mexico, 48,513 from Germany, 28,054 from the Irish Free State, 24,160 from Britain, and 17,297 from Italy. There were nearly 40,000 from Poland, Sweden, France, and Norway. These figures reveal the astonishingly cosmopolitan character of the population of the great republic. EMPIRE SETTLEMENT By contrast, the Dominions of the British Empire are more concerned with immigration from its Imperial point of vieWc Under the Empire Settlement Act of 1922 Great Britain agreed to contribute substantially toward the cost of settling some of her surplus population in the colonies. Under this arrangement she has already paid nearly £350,000 to New Zealand alone. The subsidy has permitted New Zealand to encourage immigration with exceptionally cheap passages. Children and domestic servants, for instance, come out free of charge, while an adult can come out for £ll. At present these concessions are extended only to domestics, single women, and the members of separated families, restrictions having been in force since last May on account of the unemployment in New Zealand.