IMMIGRANTS TO NEW ZEALAND

Dominion, Volume 32, Issue 128, 23 February 1939, Page 10

IMMIGRANTS TO NEW ZEALAND

People From Many Lands

EXILES OF OUTSTANDING TYPES

During the past few months, New Zealand has become the Mecca of people from many lands, both foreign and British. No official figures are as yet available, but nearly ever}’ ship from overseas has on its passenger lists a very fair percentage of foreign names—those of people who have no return passage booked. Outstanding among them are those whose religion or politics have no place in the schemes of Herr Hitler. There are German Jews of outstanding types, people of exceedingly good education. Many of them are professional'men who have attained high decrees in their own country, but for whom there is now no place at home. Lawyers (who may not be admitted to the Bar in this country till they have fulfilled the requirements of New Zealand conditions), commercial men, and students are among their numbers, and from a racial point of view they may lay claim to the honour of being tine representatives'of their people. One of them held the title of judge and presided at the Courts of one of Germany’s principal cities. Today he lives in Wellington and will probably be noted by the observant passerby as a “distinguished looking foreigner.” He, however, is not the only one of his kind who may be seen on the streets of Wellington, and it is becoming a commonplace to hear foreign tongues spoken in eating houses and hotels. “How Foolish.” An exile from Germany who had fought in the Great War, met a Wellington citizen who had fought in the shme war sector in 1917. It transpired that the citizen and the arrival concerned had fought one another at close quarters over the trenches and after all the years of peace, were to meet again in a far-flung British Dominion. “How foolish,” said the former German soldier. “You shoot at me and I shoot at you, and now I come to your country seeking shelter, and you it to me in a most friendly fashion. The German had given faithful years of war service to the Fatherland, and it was with some sadness that he had now to number himself among the exiles from a country for which he had foughtfi and for which millions of his countrymen had laid down their lives. It was, however, with a feeling of hope that he had come to this new land of his adoption, in the belief that, though a foreigner in a land which had once been his enemy, he would at least receive justice. Noteworthy among the numbers at present migrating to New Zealand is the proportion of young Irishmen. These young men are of the labouring and farming class, and have been lured to New Zealand by stories which have spread far and wide of the excellent conditions prevailing on New Zealand farms,' and the high wages offering in farming and general labouring pursuits. “We’ve heard all about the forty-hour week in your country and it sounds a mighty sight better than home,” said one of them. Characteristic of the country from which they come, they are upstanding and fit looking, and from a physical point of view a type to be encouraged in the interests of farming in this country where the shortage of farm labour is still so acute. Many of these young men have been placed on farms in various parts of New Zealand. One batch of eight-or ten arrived in Wellington on a ship a mouth or so ago and each home vessel is bringing its quota of Irish immigrants.

Many Australians. Within the past few months probably some hundreds of Australians have arrived in New Zealand. They are mostly young men who have come because of the drought conditions in their country. These include a large number of station hands, cane cutters, and also men who have been engaged on what is equivalent in Australia to our Public Works. Others have been lured here by tales of wonderful opportunities on public works and in the building trade. Those who hail from stations and from the cane fields are' hardy Australians, fit and sun-tanned. From the stories they have to tell, they have become imbued with the impression that New Zealand is a workers’ Utopia. Some of the Australians at present coming to New Zealand come from the cities where, it is stated, conditions are not so good for the out-of-work individual as they are here. A fair spattering of commercial men is included in the numbers, though for the most part those coming to New Zealand at the moment are of the “station” or labouring type. Though New Zealand has not quite the equivalent work to which some of these young men have been used, such as cane cutting, boundary riding, and the like, they for the most part are of the type who will adapt themselves to local conditions providing work can be found for them. Some months ago there arrived in New Zealand eight or ten Eurasians sent hero with tlie object of being placed on farms. They hail from India, and were sent here under special aegis, having since their arrival been dispatched to various farms in the Dominion. ’They are well educated typos of Eurasians, having been educated to, and in several cases, beyond matriculation standard. Some claim to farming experience seems to have been made for them, so far as experience in their own country is concerned, but whether they will prove a success under New Zealand conditions remains to be seen.