The Daily News. THURSDAY, APRIL 27. LABOR AND IMMIGRATION.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 287, 27 April 1911, Page 4

The Daily News. THURSDAY, APRIL 27. LABOR AND IMMIGRATION.

One of the matters discussed by the Trades and Labor Federation Conference at C'hristchurch was assisted immigration, the Conference considering a remit from Wellington protesting against the spending of public money in introducing labor from outside into an industry "not adequately protected" under the industrial laws of the country. The remit was obviously aimed at the farming community, who have been able to obtain the services of a very few "Sedgwick" boys. One delegate admitted (which was very good of him) that a few boys would not make any appreciable difference to the labor market of the country, showing that there exists, in the minds of organised labor a suspicion that empty New Zealand is likely not to be overpopulated if the Government does not take steps to suppress the arrival of an occasional boy. It was shown that farmers should not require any State assistance to obtain labor. The point is that if farmers organised in order to obtain labor from outside without State assistance ('which is at present infinitesimal), "Labor" wt&uld still find cause for objection. Labor, which deplores the fact that the Government does a trifle towards aiding immigration, is keen enough on State aid for itself. The immature conclusions of some of the delegates to that conference are astounding. One man asked how it was possible to get agricultural laborers "from a country where agriculture is dead?" The thousands of people sharing in the enormous increase in agriculture due to the impetus of the past few years, would be astonished to hear that agriculture was dead in Britain. Also, the heresy that nobody is any good on a farm who has not been on a farm all his life is peculiarly worthy of the Labor theorist, and, at any rate, the stray carpenter or bricklayer attending a conference is hardly as good a judge of the capability of a farm hand as the farmer who employs him. In Labor's endeavors to handicap farmers, Labor of course' tries hard, without knowing it, to sprag the wheel of progress. If the industry is not protected under the industrial laws of the country, it seems to show that Labor demagogues have not yet succeeded in getting the ear of the man on the land. The demagogue accuses himself of lack of influence. A member of Parliament at the conference said that the assistance given to the farmer to obtain outside labor was merely a matter of votes. The suggestion was that the almost invisible help given by the Government in bringing a few boys to New Zealand was tendered in order to buy farmers' votes. No contention could be more absurd. Labor regards a peculiarly small and inexpensive experiment as a base political device. Surely no country ever made such a fuss about the arrival of a few youngsters. Everywhere new countries are straining every nerve to obtain new blood, and despite antagonism an appreciable number of folk do manage to get into this country despite the horror of Trades Councillors who mention that they don't mind an immigration policy as long as the immigrants are "of the right kind." The obvious way to ensure that no one but

men "of the right kind" land in New 'Zealand is to get them "passed" on the wharf by Trades and Labor Councillors | or others of the ruling classes. Mr. Sedgwick, whose mild scheme has set the demagogues on fire, has said that lack of people in New Zealand cripples ' progress, but it cannot be shown that in comparison with Australia New Zealand is suffering. It has been recently pointed out—and a repetition of the facts is useful—that in ten years the population of Australia increased 19 per cent., while the population of New Zealand increased in the same period 28 per cent. This has been without any determined or organised method, and despite the Labor suggestion that every new New Zealander menaces somebody's "job." New Zealand cannot hope to become an exclusive country. There are few men who are able to decide who shall and who shall not come to the Dominion, and certainly angry persons of socialistic tendencies should not be consulted. The greatest need of New Zealand is to obtain settlers, but to insist that a man can't be a settler because. he has been a bootmaker, or that a boy can't be taught

to plough because he worked in a Home | factory is mere twaddle. The future of the agitator and those he agitates for lies in the land. To harass the man on the land is to harass the man in the town. ?To lay down hard and fast rules as to the type of worker who shall • be allowed to come to New Zealand is ridiculous. Society docs its own sorting without reference to Trades Councils or Parliaments, Canada is crying out for people all the time and is getting them. She does not insist that a man is no use to break in new prairie country because he has worked in a coal mine or driven a cab or sold socks. Canada's idea is to get people to Canada and to let them use their own common intelligence in the ) new struggle' for existence. The outstanding thought after perusal of the deliberations of the Trades and Labor Conference is that it has set itself up as an advisory body to the whole of New Zea- - land without special qualification. Whei, the country is convinced that the Trades and Labor Conference is as important a body as it believes itself to be, it will give up wanting a Parliament. In the meantime, the "taxpayer's money" must be saved by preventing a few boys coming from England to spread industrial ruin through the country!