The Daily News. THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 1921. EMPIRE SETTLEMENT.

Taranaki Daily News, 17 February 1921, Page 4

The Daily News. THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 1921. EMPIRE SETTLEMENT.

“In certain quarters overseas there is still a tendency to ignore the : tal importance of careful selection, and a tendency to approach the matter too much with the object of meeting the immediate labor requirements, and with too little regard for the well-being of the settlers.” This extract from the last annual report of the Overseas Settlement Committee (as cabled from London) deals with a phase of immigration policy which should practically be a fundamental principle of Empire settlement. There are in the Motherland people of several classes anxious to improve their lot and desirous of emigrating to the Dominions for that purpose. The Dominions need more popula tion for development, industrial, domestic and other purposes, and obviously it is a matter of much importance that the particular needs of each Dominion shall receive adequate consideration when the selection iof immigrants from Britain is being made. Not only is it most desirable that the classes of workers most urgently needed should be obtained, but, as far as possible, the fittest of each class and type. The respective Governments may fairly be Credited with the desire to carry out this process of selection so as to obtain the desired result, but experience has proved that official minds and methods are prone to be cast more on the rigidity of rules and regulations than is the case with business organisations, hence the tendency to ignore the vital importance of careful selection and to concentrate on one aim instead of carrying out a system with due regard to all its requirements. An organisation such as the Overseas Settlement Committee views the problem of en-igrant settlement not only in its aspect of the requirements of the Dominions, but also in the light of the well-being of the emigrants and their fitness as settlers. This enlarged vision enables the Committee to recognise that, urgent as is the matter of finding employment for ex-ser vicemen and others for whom no work is now available in the Mo-

therland, it is clearly impossible for the Dominions to receive the unemployed of Britain, unless the Governments of the Dominions are satisfied that the men “will find suitable employment overseas.’ That is the crux of the position. It is only by dealing with the problem of Empire settlement on broad and Imperial lines that it can be satisfactorily solved. The first essential is reliable data as to the actual requirements of each Dominion in order of urgency, the selection of emigrants being carefully made on this basis. New Zealand needs sturdy laborers, miners, artisans, industrial workers domestic helps, and others capable of assisting in developing the resources of the country and increasing production. It may be noted that the report of the Settlement Committee lays stress on the fact that “no policy of Empire settlement can be successful unless settlers from the Mother Country receive a cordial welcome overseas, and unless settlers are placed on the land under an organised system of grants.” The class of settlers required by each Dominion will always be welcomed, but, so far as New Zealand is concerned grants of land are out of the question, the Government at present being unable to find sufficient land whereon to settle its own ex-ser-vice men, and not until the compulsory breaking up and sub-div-ision of large estates is completed will there be enough land available to meet the demand that exists at the present time. Even then only those who possess capital will be able to settle on the land. It is labor —unskilled and skilled —that offers the best means of livelihood for immigrants to this country, and it is in helping to supply this need that the Overseas Settlement Committee, may be of good service by co-operating with the High Commissioner’s officers who might well be instructed to welcome the assistance of that Committee. In view of the statement that during 1920 there were over sixty-four thousand applications by ex-service men and women in Britain for free passages to the Dominions, covering a total of 130,000 persons, there is evidently no lack of material for selection. Without doubt, life in the Dominions should lead to happier and fuller conditions than in fhe Mother Country, but a grave responsibility rests on the New Zealand Government, in ’connection with the housing problem, and until this is solved it would be most improper to encourage immigration much as it is needed.