JUVENILE IMMIGRATION

Evening Post, Volume LXXXVIII, Issue 22, 25 July 1914, Page 6

JUVENILE IMMIGRATION

In the Master and Apprentice Amendment Bill, which passed its second reading in the Legislative Council yesterday afternoon, the Minister of Immigration (Hon. H. D. Bell) seeks certain legal powers to complete a scheme of juvenile immigration which promises to become highly beneficial to tho greatest primary industry of the Dominion—agriculture. The Bill relates to farm apprentices whoso passages from England to New" Zealand are assisted by the Government, and provides that the 'Minister of Immigration shall stand in loco parentis to the boys in their indenture of apprenticeship to the farmer. Previously, as the boys were under age,, the contract could not be held binding. Under the Bill, the Minister assumes the control and care of the lads, and enters into a more or less definite arrangement w^th the parents, guardians, and relatives of such boys in the United Kingdom for due provision being made in New Zealand for the employment of the. lad, and for proper food, clothing, and comfort. From the tone of his speeches during the second reading of the Bill it is manifest that the Minister has taken a sincere parental interest in the lads who have already come out, and a genuine pride in their advancement. From the figures of wages he quoted, it is evident that the great majority of the boys aro doing exceedingly well," and earning wages far above the minimum of 7s 6d a week stipulated for the first year in the Bill. The" Minister completely disposed of the stupid attack made on the scheme by certain Opposition journals, which seized on the presence of a stalwart youth in the first party that arrived as evidence of "sweating" boys in the interests of farmers. The Bill expressly provides that in the indenture jof apprenticeship the employer must after the expiration of twelve months pay to the apprentice such wages as are usually paid on farms to boys of the age of the apprentice. Any breach of this provision or proof of any ill-usage or neglect of duty by the employer enables the Minister to step in and determine the contract and nominate a new employer. The Bill was well rc> celved by the Council The Labour members suggested 'the danger of swamjj ing the market, and the possibility of the boys drifting into the towns, but the Minister assured them -that there would always be more applications for boys than there were boys available, and no boys would be brought out unless there were positions for them to take on arrival. The scheme seems to us to promise well, as the interests of the boys are apparently fully safeguarded in the Bill, and the personal attention of, the Minister is a guarantee that the law will be carried out. ' A new aspect of juvenile immigration was introduced by the Hon. Mr. Louisson, who urged that girls should be brought out as well as boys, to supply the deficiencies in domestic labour. The Minister shattered the dream of ample domestic assistance in the home by pointing out that experiments had already been made in introducing girls under eighteen, but not under fifteen. The Lady Superintendent of Immigration had pronounced the experiment a failure. People wbuld not keep the young girls unless they were trained to domestic work, and the result was that the girla would have to bo sent back to their parents. There was no demand for untrained help. Tho Old Country herself was short of domestic servants, ahd any emigration that took place usually went to Canada. The sources of supply of trained domestics had practically disappeared. The only remedy tlie Minister could; think of was to allow free nomination by relatives iv New Zealand, so that the girls might have a home to como to when \they arrived here. While we recognise the hardship inflicted On married women, particularly in the country districts, through inability to obtain domestic assistance, we feel that in many instances some blame must rest on the employer for inconsiderateness. It is generally found that good employers can keep- their domestics by paying them well and treating them well. It is unfair to expect that women will remain in domestic service when they can get better conditions outside. At bedrock the question is one of supply and demand, and the only way to increase the supply is to offer better terms, as in every other sphere of 'economy. In tho meantime, the Minister of Immigration is to be congratulated on devising a scheme, so far as boys are concerned, which bids fnir to meet all reasonable requirements.