ONE MILLION NEW INHABITANTS

Press, Volume LXIX, Issue 20978, 5 October 1933, Page 3

ONE MILLION NEW INHABITANTS

DR. CAMPBELL BEGG'S SCHEME ARRANGEMENT WITH GREAT BRITAIN , A scheme proposing a system of controlled immigration by which 1,000,000 immigrants from Great Britain would be brought into the country between 1934 and 1948 in return for which Great Britain would remit the whole of the interest owed to her by the New Zealand Government, thus giving the Dominion an annual profit of £8,000,000, w~s outlined by Dr. Campbell Begg in Wellington recently at the request of the Wellington Divisional Council of the New Zealand Legion. By reducing unemployment in England the emigration of 1,000,000 persons would save the country at least £26,000,000 a year, said Dr. Begg. "It is my belief," said Dr. Begg, "that bold and far-seeing statesmanship in co-operation with Great Britain, could not only solve New Zealand's problems but give considerable assistance to the more pressing ones of New Zealand herself." The Minister for Lands (the Hon. E. A. Ransom) had put his finger on the spot when he had said that prices could not be controlled because the internal consuming power of New Zealand with its present population bore an inadequate ratio to production. An increased population was most desirable, but before any increase began all the present unemployed would have to be absorbed in agricultural and industrial life at adequate remuneration, and immigration should be carried out on such a basis that the newcomers would be assured of employment either in industry or agriculture without displacing any of the existing population. A Relief to Britain. The cost to the British Government of providing for the country's unemployed could be estimated at 10s a head a week, or £26 a year, so that the emigration of 1,000,000 people would give relief to the Government of £26,000,000 a year. New Zealand's estimated population capacity was between 8,000,000 and 10,000,000, and its present population 1,500,000. The country had been planned on a population basis of 3,000,000 or 4,000,000, so that many railways and other public works were held up because they could not be shown to be necessary or payable. Moreover, the. present population was paying in debt services and taxation for utilities ample for twice as many people. If the population and general development were built up to twice the present level, the public utilities would justify themselves and the burden of their upkeep would be halved for each individual. Finally, with a million extra inhabitants the internal consuming power would rise to meet the productive power and the country's dependence on external factors would be diminished. Details of the Scheme. In outlining a suggested line of action, Dr. Begg proposed that the New Zealand Government should take over the service and responsibility of the debts incurred by local bodies with bondholders in Great Britain, while the British Government would take over the service and responsibility of the New Zealand debt domiciled in

Great Britain, in addition to the funded war debt. New Zealand would agree to absorb 1,000,000 British nationals in 15 years, and during that period the whole of the interest owed by the New Zealand Government in Britain would be remitted, the responsibility being taken over by the British Government. New Zealand would have a large share in the selection of the personnel to be received, and would not be expected to receive the first batch of immigrants until two years after the agreement had been made, and in the meantime would have the advantage of the sum remitted, amounting to £8,000,000 a year, with which to adjust its own internal position, absorb its unemployed, and prepare for the reception of the immigrants. Paying off Interest. During the period of the agreement the whole of the accumulated unpaid interest from New Zealand to Great Britain would bear compound interest at a rate to be fixed, and the total of the accrued interest at the end of the period, say, 1948, would be set against the accrued New Zealand credits, which would be calculated on the basis that, say, £4O would be credited annually to New Zealand for every person settled, and that the accumulated credits ■ would carry the same interest rate as that charged on the deferred interest. Any credit that was due to New Zealand at the end of the period after the deferred interest had been paid would be used in the liquidation of the principal. The sum of £4O a head would continue to be credited to New Zealand as a debt redemption fund, until the debt was finally liquidated, which would occur about 1954 oi" 1955. In order to facilitate the settlement of the immigrants in New Zealand, the British Government would make a grant to each one sufficient to cover his passage and for the amount required for the preliminary expenses of settlement, these grants to be liquidated by the New Zealand Government by the continuation of the credits of £4O. As a result, the final

adjustment would probably be made between 1964 and 1970. Dr. Begg said that on the low figure of £26, estimated as the annual relief to the British exchequer for each immigrant settled, New Zealand, although paying no interest from the time of the agreement, would be in credit by £20,000,000 at the e&d ©f

the period. New Zealand would have a clear gain of £8,000,000 sterling (leaving exchange out of account) in every annual budget from 1934 to 1948 and beyond. With the additional resources thus provided, the Dominion would be able to cut down taxation immediately, undertake preparation to a large scale

for land settlement, and commence operations once more on all the railway and public vornr now abandoned.