DOMESTIC SERVANTS.

Press, Volume L, Issue 14988, 8 June 1914, Page 2

DOMESTIC SERVANTS.

PLEA FOR GOVERNMENT A£fcil6lAiN<JE.

VRRANGEMENT WITH SALVATION AlLatf.

I The subject of tuo immigration of -ujiooLic servants into tii« uuiainion inio unaw tne notice of vi«e liiuie luuiisier on iiatuiuay by a tie .vo.ii.uj, iuuoaui.ea oy Aii" 1. i-i. t y, jx.i".. ±uo uoiJiicuLion mserein luciitis, aaa jicooi6 ijaixl.ot' ivau x. i_t. .UUOult. Mr Lauuit, n o said that ..tJVUI'iU Vuu.h afeo WIO UiViieia (uiuiea a piitiitti byuvjicuiu .or u»e yuiix/oe ox Wo.iviay in coiijUtu;.»ou w«»,u i-ne li.iLidii. Women's. .Luiigra--lon ooc.euy ox Liouuon ill 6<-<;iiiuiJi boivuuts tor u>o Dominion. .i.te* u»o gears' cxpeiiciue they had to uUuiil Uiat UiCir acciou nad been omy 'iiivy i*au got OuL seventy domestics in the course ot .uieo years, and tuis small nuiiioor, it .louid be aduiittcd, .was only a drop in .ue ocean of wnat was ioquireu. iioin .ecenfc advice, they could only expect .mail parties to bo sent out in the ature, and then only intermittently, .he Government had realised the re juirements of tho country in this con.lexion, and had done something tov/ards meeting the position. But the yndicate* had concluded that tho posi.ion could not be met by private syndiate3 operating alone, and they now uggested that the Government should .york in conjunction with the British •Vomen's Emigration Society in connexion with tho immigration movement. Ho felt sure that the private syndicates existed here, in Otago in Hawke s f Bay. would be only too <?lad to co-operate with the Government in such a mntter.' It was also eug'lested that the Government should ap=)oint a' lady immigration officer with the powof to work, in conjunction with the movement at Home. Mr Labatt also suggested that more attention should be jriven to the importation of fcho unskilled domestic, as the skilled was becoming rapidly smaller. Help in the home affected not only thousands of settlers, but also the people in tho towns, and they felt sure tho Government would take steps to meet the demands of tho country in this respect. ■ % Mrs Nicholls said that the Association had arranged that all servants brought out were met at Wellington. Toe Prime Minister, in reply, said that the Minister of Immigration within the last few months had made arrangements with the Salvation Army, which had an Immigration Department at Home. This Department by all accounts was doing a very good work and had.been, for several years, sending a very-fine class of immigrants to Canada. It was anticipated that the same thing could be done for New Zealand. It must not be imagined that waifs and strays or undesirablos would be. sent out. The Army was sending out numbers of very respectable members _of society, and the Minister of Immigration thought he would bo able to get all the domestic help that he wanted from this source. He recogi nised the difficulty of getting domestic servants and because of this difficulty extra inducements had been offered last year, and he thought he was right in saying that because of that extra inducement a larger number had come out. Of course in any large number of people there must be a certain number or • undesirables, but he believed that on the whole there had been brought out in the last twelve months a very satisfactory lot of domestics. Mr Gardner suggested that the country districts at Home should he more thoroughly exploited than was being done.

Mr Massey said tbat with the exception of domestics tho country had been receiving as many immigrants as it wanted. The Salvation Army had branches all over the United Kingdom, and so would be able to meet the position. In conclusion, he promised to forward the representations made to the Minister _of Immigration.