MIGRATION.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVI, Issue 230, 28 September 1935, Page 9

MIGRATION.

POLICY CRITICISED. JI British Opinions on Dominion 1 Attitude. EMPIRE'S VACANT SPACES. I Uuited Press Association.— Copyright. la * LONDON, September 27. | In a leading article commenting || on the Newcastle Migration Con- ijj ference "The Times" says thoughtful Mj people cannot be blind to the warn- j. ings which are implicit for Empire || countries in the present trends of population and certain causes of j| international tension. 'r There is a stronger ease now than -j before 1929 for facilitating tlic redis- jl tribution of population in the interests !j of general security, although it need i. not be the counterpart of loose notions | regarding the empty areas of the £ Dominions, but rather the necessity of expanding the population of certain - ol j tlio Dominions sufficiently to carry the I overhead costs of responsible inter- ; national status. ; "The Times" draws attention to the j statements of the Prime Minister of j. New Zealand, Mr. G. W. Forbes, and i points out that before considerable j! migration is possible it is essential to . | ensure favourable economic conditions. | Economic Conditions in N.Z.

The "Morning Post" says Mr. Forbes' attitude on migration is thoroughly intelligible as far as it goes. There is no virtue In merely planting on the Dominions people for whom there is no prospective opportunity of making a livelihood, but it is reasonable to suggest that an empty Dominion ought to be reviewing its economic structure and endeavouring to discover what new migrants might produce.

Mr. Forbes rightly says, "Our first duty is to our own people," continues the* "Post," but it should also be part of that duty to consider how 1,500,000 people inhabiting a country capable of holding at least 10 times as many is to escape criticism. The non-British world is clamouring for more land to colonise.

Migration into New Zealand is an Imperial necessity of tlio first order, but as long as New Zealand relies predominantly on the production of a few staple exports lier opportunity for expansion is likely to remain strictly limited. Opportunities to work for an expanded population must be sought in directions hitherto unexplored. The search for such opportunities is a matter of concern, not only to New Zealand, but also to other depopulated Dominions, above all to Britain, who still bears the main burden of. their defence.