Wairarapa Times-Age WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 31, 1938. ON BRINGING IN IMMIGRANTS.

Wairarapa Times-Age, 31 August 1938, Page 4

Wairarapa Times-Age WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 31, 1938. ON BRINGING IN IMMIGRANTS.

gETTING aside any thought of being hypercritical or discouraging, it seems perfectly justifiable to suggest to those who are advocating earnestly the introduction of immigrants into this country that it is more than time to “cut the cackle and get to the ’osses.” Most of us, presumably, are already convinced that New Zealand would be better off and better placed to face the future if it harboured a much more numerous population.than it holds today. There are few signs to be noted amongst our people of an inclination to resist the introduction of immigrants for the sake of doing so. From time to time we are accused of monopolising more land than we know how to use and of selfishly refusing to allow others to share the opportunities we . enjoy, but much of this sort, of thing resolves itself on examination into unsupported rhetoric. On what occasion has any reasonably promising body of prospective immigrants . been refused admission to New Zealand in recent years? No doubt there is inertia in this country and in other Dominions regarding immigration, but much the same is to be said of Britain and of other countries from which additions to our population might be drawn. In general, New Zealanders are perfectly well aware of the desirability of adding to the population by immigration from Britain and elsewhere, but are somewhat at a loss as to the methods by which that gain may be secured. Any plan of immigration under which the people brought in would have a reasonable chance of becoming self-supporting members of the community would win ready approval. Today there is a great deal of talk about planned immigration, but there seems to be remarkably little in the way of actual planning, either in New Zealand or in Britain and other possible centres of supply. It does not seem unfair to suggest to those who are endeavouring to awaken public interest in immigration that they would best serve their excellent purpose by abandoning generalities arid concentrating on the shaping of plans capable of. being examined and discussed. It is possible to sympathise., very heartily with Commissioner D. C. Lamb, of the Salvation Army, in his advocacy of the planned transfer of a large number of the inhabitants of the British Isles to the oversea Dominions and also iu his denial of the contention advanced by the Empire Settlement Board that in the days when there was a free flow of Empire migration, an overwhelming proportion of the migrants went overseas to fill a “natural economic demand.” Economics (Commissioner Lamb observes) are artificial and unnatural factors brought into operation to suit the theories and policies of- economists and politicians. Natural economies, if they did exist, would see to it that the natural thing to do is to end the immoral so-called economic conditions which cause us to maintain millions of able-bodied men and women in demoralising idleness and incur non-productive expenditure running into thousands of millions of pounds. ' This may be a little sweeping, but it is by the shaping of artificial but practical plans, if at all, that, the population problems of the Empire will be solved, and in our approach to the task of shaping these plans we should bear in mind the cogent truth stated by Commissioner Lamb when he said that a people lacking in creative ability is doomed. Population in any country, needs an economic organisation and an economic base. The vital condition of a considerable increase of population in this country is a progressive extension of industrial enterprise in which increasing numbers of people may be effectively employed. Much detailed planning of industrial expansion is needed. It may be added that it is merely futile to advocate immigration in one breAth and in the next to affirm that the artificial planning of industrial expansion is a mortal offence against immutable economic laws. If industries are enlarged and extended under methodical plans it will no doubt be possible to introduce and absorb increasing numbers of immigrants, particularly if responsible elements in Britain, and perhaps in some other countries as well, are prepared to co-operate in bringing these plans to success. Planning and economic organisation must play their due part in the process from first to last, however, and the shaping of plans capable of being carried expeditiously into practical effect is the service demanded of those who wish to contribute to a development upon which the continued existence of the British Empire very probably may depend.