ALIENS ON THE LAND.

Taranaki Daily News, 13 November 1918, Page 3

ALIENS ON THE LAND.

AX ACUTE DIFFICULTY IN TAEAXAKI. (From Our Own Correspondent.' Wellington, Nov. 0 Speaking in the House of l'eprescnta-i tives on Friday night, Mr C. A. Wilkinson (Egmont) expressed approval of the clauses in the War Legislation Bill relating to the acquisition of land by aliens. He said he was very glad that the Government had taken action at last to prevent persons of enemy alien birth and blood from buying land in New Zealand. The question was an acnte one in his district. The land was being mopped up by foreigners, who called themselves Swiss, and who were able to take advantage of the shortage of labor, which was bringing land into the market, and that had been left by soldiers 7iow at toho front had passed into the hand* of aliens, and he was sure that the fighting men would protest against this slate of affairs when they got back to their own country. The native-born New Zealander. said Mr Wilkinson, ought to have preference in obtaining land. Ksperience ihad shown that taxation alone would not prevent aggregation. There ought to be restrictions as to transfer, in order first | that the land should pass into t'ho right hands and then tiat it should not be aggregated. Mr "Wilkinson asked YAtet the Government had done with regard to alien businesses in 3Jew Zealand. Many of those businesses had been in operation in the country at the outbreak of war, and it was not clear that the enemy in-.! fiuences had been driven out in all cases. Labor members of the House had talked of the "brotherhood of man" und so forth, but ordinary New Zealanders did no* feel any brotherly feeling towards the Germans. They wanted the alien element excluded altogether, and he believed that parliament for all time would be opposed to the extension of privileges to persons of enemy origin. New Zealand did not want such people at all.