SCARCITY OF LABOR.

Taranaki Daily News, 27 February 1920, Page 3

SCARCITY OF LABOR.

NEED FOR IMMIGRATION. COOLIES; AS LAST RESORT. The present conditions of the labor market was dealt with at some length by the president of the Auckland Chamber of Commerce, Mr. M. M. McCallum, m moving the adoption of the animal report. The existing unrest, he said, was almost intolerable. All the principal industries of the Dominion, all public works, and land settlement were seriously hampered, and the progress and prosperity naturally to be expected after a year of peace, had been largely discounted by the scarcity of labor. Various remedies had been suggested, but the only one that appeared to be drastic enough to make a. real difference in the position was a, prompt and vigorous immigration policy on a large scale. If Great Britain could not supply us with the numbers required, then by all means let us indenture fifty or one hundred thousand Hindoos or other coolie labor from some part of the British Empire. Theytould be returned to'their country when their work was done.. The subject of profit-sharing bore largely on thhe labor question, but was more applicable to business and industry than to general unskilled labor. It was a large subject, however, and the council had decided to hold a meeting within a few weeks to debate the matter. He was a firm believer in the general principles of profit-sharing wherever practicable. A little investigation of a second proposition, nationalisation, showed the utter, fallacy of the scheme. It involved the abolition of competition and a consequent relaxation of effort on the part of the workers. In subsequent discussion Mr. J. H. Upton said that without wishing to criticise the president, he wished to enter his protest against the suggested importation of cookie labor. It would be infinitely better to expend money in large sums in bringing immigrants on a large scale from Great Britain. New Zealand was preeminently a white man's country. He deprecated the idea that advocacy of coolie, labor should,be thought typical of the opinion of the business community. Mr. McCallum, in reply, said lie only suggested coolie labor in'the event of it proving utterly impossible to obtain the necessary immigrants from Britain,