Wairarapa Times-Age FRUDAY, JULY 21, 1939. MIGRATION OF REFUGEES.

Wairarapa Times-Age, 21 July 1939, Page 4

Wairarapa Times-Age FRUDAY, JULY 21, 1939. MIGRATION OF REFUGEES.

A LIMITED number of people in New Zealand who hate A interested themselves actively in the fate ot ] J uro refugees have criticised sharply the almost universal a]at h and indifference with which the problems entailed ‘ l ie ‘ in this country. At a meeting held recently m the ? Y M C.A.TtOoms. under the auspices ol the local • Peace Pledge Union, for example, it was contended matter the Dominion was neglecting both a moi al - ‘ a golden opportunity of helping herself by helpmg o New Zealand probably would have made a inoie tied < showing where the admission of European refugees is but for the extent to which she is involved m rathei bail! o economic problems, including persistent, unemployment.

The moral issues raised are not lightly to be < l *srcgarded, however. Valuing our own freedom we should beat)le sympathise in full measure with the victims of totahtaiia i tyranny, many of whom have been brutally abused and matreated and driven into exile because they haw b en bokl enough to oppose, if only passively, a dictatorial ie i • the same time there is no doubt that m the right corn! wi is the introduction of European refugees to this country is e<pab. of contributing in an important and valuable degree to incl trial and other developments by which its existing population would benefit very materially.

Amongst the refugees are many skilled workers and technicians well versed in modern industrial methods. It should not be impossible for groups of these people to find a new homeland in New Zealand, and in doing so to establish new industries, or brandies of industry here’, much as, centuries a<«'o refugees from Hie Low Countries, h rance and elsewheie established textile and other industries in England The processing of some of our staple raw materials, notably wool, deserves attention from this standpoint and account should be taken also of materials which are. not yet being exploited effectively, or have thus far been completely neglected. Iheie are possibilities, too, of new and more varied forms ot land utilisation in which we might learn a great deal from experienced European cultivators.

Much as its failure to open the way to the immigration of refugees has been criticised, New Zealand probably can accomplish comparatively little in that direction by its own unaided action. The Dominion can hardly be said to possess the organisation, that would enable it to select the refugees w win it might admit as settlers, to their advantage and that of its present population. ■ There should be no great difficulty, however in getting’into effective working contact -with the InterGovernmental Committee for Refugees from Germany which has just mot. in London and, at the instance of Great Britain, is submitting to the constituent governments a proposal that they should assist private organisations in. defraying the expenses of the overseas emigration 01. refugees.

Some ol' Hie refugees are already assured of adequate financial support. For instance it was announced in Sydney a week ago, by Mr Paul A. Cohen, a founder ol the Jewish Welfare, Society and its first honorary secretary, that large sums of money would he transmitted to Australia from influential Jewish communities in Great Britain and the United States, to be used for the settlement of refugees on small farms throughout Australia.

The money will come to Australia in the form of an investment (Mr Cohen explained). Land will be purchased for farms, and the refugees will pay for these farms as they progress. Eventually the land will be transferred to them. There is no proposal to establish colonies of refugees. The object of the scheme is to establish hundreds of small farms in all parts ot Australia where refugees can earn a living in a small way.

A 1 present a number ol' these refugees are gaining experience on a training farm and it is possible that additional training faims mav be established by the society.

Laying down definite conditions as to the planned establishment of Hie immiurants in primary or secondary industry, it should be open to the New Zealand Government at once to make its contribiition to the solution ol the .European relugee problem and to open Hie way to desirable economic expansion in the Dominion. Enterprise on these lines might lend itself very well, also, to a policy of industrial decentralisation, particularly if areas like the Wairarapa, in which there is ample scope for the further development of both primary and secondary industries, play their own part in helping to set the enterprise on foot.

AN IMPERIAL TRADE COUNCIL.

VOT for the first time it lias been suggested, on this occasion by a former Wellington business man now resident in London. Air Sydney Jacobs, that a permanent Imperial Trade Council should be' established, representative of Britain, the Dominions and the colonies. Good scope exists lor the formation and operation of a body thus broadly constituted. It hardly undertake, however, the functions indicated by Mr Jacobs when he observed, in advancing his suggestion at the Empire Chambers of Commerce Congress, that: “The Empire s business is large enough to require a board of directors sitting constantly in Condon. Although it would not have plenary powers iii the beginning, its authority would gradually extend.

Possessing political autonomy, the Dominions most certainly will not allow their trade affairs to be controlled by a board of directors sitting in London. The suggested council might serve an invaluable purpose, however, as a clearing house of informal ion and in facilitating the co-ordination ()f policy. It is precisely because the Dominions are sovereign States, committed each of them to an independent course ol economic development within the Empire partnership, that a central co-ordinating body is needed. Established in the conditions that are to be desired, an Imperial Trade Council would carry out its most essential purpose, not in exercising control, bill in facilitating mutual understanding and agreement. As a centre for the pooling and exchange of information, it might assist, greatly unimpeded economic growth and progress in all parts of the Empire. It is only in a limited and narrow view I hat there is any conflict of interest between Britain and the Dominions where trade and general economic development are concerned. The total interests of the British nation, and indeed those of humanity at large demand that artificial restrict ions on that development should be withdrawn, not only in the case of those countries of the Empire which are autonomous, but in those still classed as dependencies.