IMMIGRANTS MISLED.

Auckland Star, Volume LVII, Issue 147, 23 June 1926, Page 11

IMMIGRANTS MISLED.

REPLACING NEW ZEALANDERS. ATTACK ON GOVERNMENT. : LABOUR MEMBERS DENOUNCE "SLIPSHOD METHODS." (By Telegraph.—Parliamentary Reporter.) WELLINGTON, Tuesday. "There ib good reason to believe that people in the Homeland are still being misled as to New Zealand conditions when they seek information in the High Commissioner's Office," said Mr. H. E. Holland, Leader of the Opposition, in the course of the debate on the Imprest Supply BilL "They are told nothing of the unemployment situation in the Dominion. They have to sign papers binding themselves to an industry for twelve months, and many of them imagine that they are being guaranteed work for twelve months when they do that." He had, he said, in the past quoted a case in the House where men had been employed only four or five months after arrival. He moved an amendment expressing dissatisfaction with the inadequate financial provision made to relieve unemployment, which was intensified by an indiscriminate policy of immigration, which resulted in thousands of immigrants coming into New Zealand every year. Not a Worthless Type. Seconding the amendment, Mr. Savage said that although the Government had done something to relieve unemployment in Auckland, much still remained to be done The Minister of Labour had stated in Auckland that something ■would be done, but when he was reminded of the proiuise he had merely passed the telegram on to the Minister of Works, and things remained the same. The head of the Labour Department in Auckland had stated that the worthless type was noticeably absent among the unemployed and it could not be said that the unemployed were not really anxious to find work. Mr. Savage supposed the Premier would not deny that unemployment had not decreased in the last three weeks. To some extent the situation was aggravatec by slipshod immigration methods. He was afraid that those who were coming into the country were doing so at the expense of those already here. There was not a great deal of difference between the numbers coming into the country over a period and the number of unemployed over the same period. The Minister of Labour: All immigrants are not wage earners. Mr. Savage retorted that most immigrants were wage earners. He challenged the Government to chow that there were not more unemployed in Auckland today than when the Government started to deal with it. Minister of Labour Replies. Replying, the Minister of Labour said he was not going to deal with immigration. That would be dealt with later. When the Labour party held that every immigrant, in the country should be found work by the Government they were undermining a principle. The Government did provide work for quite a large number of people. Public works alone employed 10,000, and the State employed altogether about 50,000, in addition to certain others dependent upon the State to whom he would not refer on this occasion. But the hon. gentleman wanted the whole population to be under the wing of the State. Personally, Mr. Anderson said, he was opposed to that. Only those who performed useful public work for the country should be employed .by the State. "No doubt the hon. gentleman had lived somewhat extravagantly himself during the last few years," said Mr. Anderson. (Laughter from Labour benches.) "We all have," continued Mr. Anderson, "and that is the cause of unemployment. The necessity of a women's labour bureau had been stressed, but women could use the. ordinary bureaux. If people would not go into the country to work, they should not be allowed afterwards to be listed as unemployed. The Government was doing a great deal, and would doubtless do more if the position was not relieved, but ( public bodies would have to do their ! share. Whenever hard times came un- ! married men had always to take work for lower wages than usual. In no country in the world was the ordinary rate paid for relief work." Mr. Jordan: Can they look for other work while on relief works? The Minister: Of course they can. Continuing, the Minister said that in another month or six -weeks all the trouble about unemployment would have ceased, and people would have resumed ordinary occupations. The percentage of unemployed in New Zealand was very small; indeed it was much smaller than the Australian percentage. .The Silent Sufferer. Mr. Veitch (Wanganui) said he thought the Public Works Department might make an attempt to reduce expenditure when seasonal occupations were available, as by so doing the Department could spread itself when hard times came. Many of the best men suffered in silence rather than register aa unemployed. He hoped that something would soon be done for that deserving type. He agreed with the Leader of the Opposition that there was room for 10,000,000 people here. Mr. Armstrong (Christchurch East) said they were not blaming the immigrants for coming, but they were blaming the Government for bringing them here under misrepresentation and failing to provide for them when they did come. Of 12,421 assisted immigrants recently arrived only 971 were farmers or farm labourers,. and only. 923 -were domestics. This showed we were not getting the class of people the Dominion required. During the year ended May 30, 2000 immigrants arrived, and another 2000 were on the way to New Zealand. If these 2000 were placed when there was unemployment in every centre it would mean that those immigrants had replaced New Zealanders, as no new avenues were opened up for them. The Hon. W. Nosworthy defended the administrati >n of the Immigration Department. There was neither deception' nor mismanagement. Most cases of failure quoted to him were found on investigation to be not Government I immigrants at all. The Government had j nothing ;o regret as to either the nuinj ber or quality of the migrants introI duced, and so far as he was - concerned I' he was going on steadily "with the work. , Last year they brought' out 10,964 I migrants, and all of them had been placed in the way of becoming useful and valuable citizeni.