IMMIGRATION

New Zealand Listener, Volume 26, Issue 662, 14 March 1952, Page 5

IMMIGRATION

Sir,-As an interested listener to the YA Women’s Panel on Wednesdays, I was more than slightly shocked to hear the views put forward by Mrs. Helen Garrett of Christchurch on the question of mass immigration for New Zealand. Most people would agree that we need more population, and that we should encourage settlers of both British and European steck to come here. But the chief atractioh of a mass immigration scheme to Mrs. Garrett seemed to be the prospect of a plentiful supply. of cheap labour, domestic and otherwise, from Europe. "They work harder and they don’t want so much money," said Mrs, Garrett. This, I think, is a pipe dream, for, as another speaker pointed out, it is doubtful whether any immigrant would long be content to do domestic work for low wages, when other more lucrative forms of employment are available. Apart from that, the ‘suggestion that New Zealand should admit immigrants on terms any other than those offered to our own people seems an insult to the newcomers and an invitation to trouble later on. Mrs, Garrett quoted an expert who stated that New Zealand could absorb a population of ten millions without lowering the present standard of living. Will rs, Garrett explain how it would be possible to flood the country with cheap labour, and still maintain existing standards? I have three young children, no domestic help, and long for the "civilised leisure" of which Mrs, Garrett speaks so temptingly. But sooner than exploit the fear and insecurity of people from less fortunate countries, I shall continue to scrub my own floors and peel my own potatoes, much as I may dislike it. Leisure for any one section of the community has always involved the existence of a slave or slavey class, That this class has disappeared in New Zealand is a matter for congratulation and not for self-pity. Let us make sure it does not return.

ELMA

WRIGHT

(Upper Hutt).