INDIGENT MIGRANTS

Taranaki Central Press, Volume IV, Issue 431, 12 May 1937, Page 3

INDIGENT MIGRANTS

SEARCH FOR EMPLOYMENT Restriction Act Lapsed A man landed in Auckland recently with a pair of socks and a razor as the su*m total of his luggage, a circumstance which raises the issue tjj.t with the lapse of the 1931 Immigration Restriction Amendment Act at Deecember 31, 1936, there is the possibility of indigent persons arriving in New Zealand and becoming a charge upon the State, says the New Zealand Herald. There is evidence that seven people who arrived by the Wanganella from Sydney last week were in search of work, and it was emphasised yesterday that if many others followed suit there was the danger that ultimately the practice would heighten the unemployment situation in the Dominion. The 1908 Immigration Restriction Act and its amendments provided adequate barriers against the arrival cf persons without sufficient means of subsistence. Last year the Government did not renew the legislation, and there is the fear that if appropriate measures are not taken there will be the influx of workless men from overseas. Stowaways, for example, may land in New Zealand, serve a comparatively short term of imprisonment, then be free to roam the country fn search of work. It is the aspect of the situation to which exception has been taken.