R.S.A. CONFERENCE.

Digger (Invercargill RSA), Issue 13, 11 June 1920, Page 3

R.S.A. CONFERENCE.

"WBTTE NEW ZEALAND" ADVOCATED. IMJVGGRATION POLiaY. The question of immigration was considered at the sitting of the conference of the New Zealand Returned Soldiers' Association on Jime 2, when the P„epatriation Committee submitted the following resolutions : — (a) That conference draw the attention of the Government to the increasing number of Hindus that are arriving in New Zealand, and request that the Immigration Restriction Act be amended to stop withcwt further delay the immigration of Hindus and Chinese, and affirm the principle of a "white New Zealand," and that all associations tnroughout New Zealand be requested to convene public meetings in their districts prior to the meeting of Parliament to protest against the unrestrieted influx of Hindus and Chinese. (b) That the immigration policy should be controlled by and be entirely secondary to the repatriation policy. (c) That the policy of permitting and encouraging the immigration of ex-Imperial soldiers' widows with young families, or any other persons who are likely to become a charge on the taxpayers of the Dominion or upon patriotic societies' funds, is strongly objected to. The report was agreed to.

The report of the Repatriation Committee dealing with the admission of incapacitated men into all State services was submitted to the conference. The committee found that many soldiers had been refused employment by the State on account of war injuries. It urged : — (a) That employment at a wage comparable with what they would have been receiving had they not enlisted should be found for them, and that men who resigned their positions in order- to enlist should be reinstated in the same way as if leave had been granted to them. (b) That a separate superannuation fund, subsidised by the Government, should be established in order to remove any difficulty in connection with superannuation. (c) That no soldier so re-em-ployed shall lose by reason of his war service any annual increment to which he would otherwise have been entitled. (d) That the Association demand preference for returned soldiers, sailors, and nurses when public appointments are made, and recommend that preference be given by private employers also. — The report was adopted. Dissatisfaction with the adininistration of the High Commissioner's Office in regard to immigration matters was expressed by the conference. The following recommendation was submitted by the Repatriation Committee: "In order to encourage the most desirable type -of immigrant to the Dominion, the benefits ofthe Repatriation Act should be extehded to all Imperial soldiers who served in the Great War and who settle in New Zealand." In moving the adoption of the recommendation, Mr C. W. Batten, convener of the committee, said that no fault was to be found insofar as nominated immigrants were concerned. The High Commissioner's Office in London ,was not taking sufficient ca.re to see that suitable immigrants were sent out to New Zealand. — The recommendation was adopted. The Repatriation Committee's repor! strongly emphasised the following resolution, and particularly in view of the grave concern which the position of land settlement is to-day causing returned soldiers, asked that the pledge given by Mr Massey to the last conference b,e endorsed by Parliament : — ' 'That the Association ask the Government and Parliament for a pledge that land settlement and repatriation benefits generally shall not be rendered inoperative until sueh time as every soldier has had ample opportunity to train himself or to otherwise arrange his affairs in order to allow hina to take full advantagfc of the' safd benefits. ' ' The committee also made recommendations as to the training of soldiers, including apprentices and subsidised workers, as well as fit men. — The report was adopted. The election of officers resalted as follows : — President, Dr Boxer ; treasurer? Mr C. W. Batb?ji ; vice-pr,esidents, Messr^ B. Blackwell (Canterbury), P. Watts (Auckland), D. S. Smith (Wellington), and Dr M. Harrison (Dunedin) ; executive, Messrs W. E. Leadley, T. E. Y. Seddon, M.P., and L. M. Ingles (Canterbury), T. Long, E. F. Andrews, and N. A. Ching (Auckland), T. E. Graham, A. Y. Glass, and C. Laing (Otago), J. D. Harper, J. S. Haima, N. V-ercoe, and J. A. Cowles (Wellington). The Auckland and Otago delegates intimated that their representatives on the executive would retire in the event of the district conferences deciding on freah nominationa.