LAND SETTLEMENT

Dominion, Volume 30, Issue 260, 30 July 1937, Page 12

LAND SETTLEMENT

Plea for Population of New Zealand IMMIGRATION QUESTION Dominion Special Service. Masterton, duly 29. "To the big land-holder I would say, ‘for God’s .sake help us to have a sound land .settlement scheme on your land to protect it for you and for those who come after yon,’” said Colonel G. Mitchell, a member of the council of the Five Million Club, when addressing a publie meeting in the Musterton Municipal Hall to-night. "You are standing still in this district, in comparison with Palmerston North. Why? The surroundings there are cut up into small holdings on which people live. You wilt have to do the same in the Wairarapa.” Colonel Mitchell added that New Zealand people must either breed or perish, and stated that the world was going to belong to those who were replacing themselves. "According to the rate of births New Zealand could not look to Britain for immigration for long,” said Colonel Mitehell, who remarked : "Our best immigrants are outown children, born here.” The meeting was convened by the mayor of Masterton, Mr. T. Jordan, and included in the official party was the Hon. AV. E. Barnard, president M the Five Million Club, who gave an address on the important aspects of natural population and immigration. Sonriding the Public. The mayor said it had been decided to sound the public of the district as to whether it was really interested in the problem of population, and in pursuance of that he had sent out notices to all the local bodies with a view to finding out whether the district was really interested, or whether it was so. satisfied with the present conditions as to take no notice of the problem. If they were not satisfied, what were they prepared to do? Did they intend to sit down and see the drift, or did they intend to take up arms against a sea ot troubles and end them? Mr. Barnard dealt with the findings of tiie MacMillan report which, he said, with the last census return made a very unpleasant picture indeed. He had tried to do away with t.lie prejudice which the word “immigrant” tended to create. In his opinion a sound policy of immigration would improve the unemployment problem.- For (lie work he was doing he was prepared to risk unpopularity and misunderstanding, even among his own supporters, and if it was going to lead to political extinction he could not help that. He was satisfied, however, that the position would not arise, lor he believed it was generally recognised that the Five Million Club was on the right track in what it was advocating. There was a lot of spade work to be done before they could draw up a programme and suggest how many and what type of people should be brought ! n, said Mr. Barnard, lie deprecated the fact that because a man had ,a certain amount of money he was welcomed as a desirable immigrant, while people witlr little money, even British people, were not encouraged to come to New Zealand. That had been the position for some years past, and it. had rot been altered in the last two years. What was wanted were men who would become good New Zealanders. Growing Dangers Ahead. There were growing dangers ahead from the international po’nt of view, and without, being an alarmist he would say that there were possibilities of great trouble, and even disaster, if the population remained stationary and then declined. New Zealand was too good a land for people to allow that to happen. Ollier people certainly thought so. and no adequate reply could be given to that, op’nion. The only adeqiihte reply was the peopling of' the Dominion. In a general discussion it was contended that there should be introduced a scheme of closer land settlement; that more people were wanted, lint with a small amount of capital; that there should be a policy of equality; that children should be encouraged to come to New Zealand under .a farm scheme: that there should be a revival of the ideals of Christian marriage and morals: and that the economic .situation was the root of the problem. As a result of the meeting a AVairarnpa branch of the Five Million Club was. formed ami a committee elected.