IMMIGRATION CHECK

Evening Post, Volume CXII, Issue 33, 9 February 1927, Page 8

IMMIGRATION CHECK

There is a popular movement now to check immigration, and to blame the | Government for having allowed newcomers to come here. The Government itself has not been blind to the present difficulties, and has, according to the Acting-Prime Minister, cabled to Mr. Coates to stop immigration for four or five months. " This check will give a breathing-space and enable us to review the needs and possibilities of the country. But the fact that it is necessary to call a halt does not indicate that the country is over-populated or that migration policy has exceeded the bounds of prudence. The difficulty arises mainly from the lower returns for produce and the heavy importations which have created an adverse trade balance and caused a general tightening of the public purse-strings. Reasonable economy measures will quickly promote a recovery; but panicky action will merely increase the trouble.

There is a distinct tendency, if not to panic action at least to panic talk, on the part of some sections of the public A sure sign of this is the haste to thrust all the blame and all the responsibility upon the Government. Even people and classes who were foremost in de- andiag a more active migration policy are now making haste to "get from under" and say that the Government has made a mess of the business. The other day a farmers' union condemned the Government for bringing out farm labourers, and said that the farmers should: be consulted before such men were accepted as new settlers. Yet if one searches back a Uittle into the files one may find the farmers' leaders foremost in complaining of the lack of labour for rural development. There ,is probably scope for. closer co-operation between the Immigration Department and the farmers and other employers of labour in the settlement of newcomers and in the regulation of supply to meet the demand. We have urged for some time that such co-operation is essential for a successful large-scale migration policy; but it is largely the fault of the private organisations .that this co-oper-ation-has not beeu more fully secured. The Department has given proof of its readiness to act and consult with all who are ready to help.

Recriminations now will not help to settle the problem, and panic will postpone the return of prosperity. There is far more ganger now of .exaggerating, .the .difficulties .-than of understating them. Exaggeration is particularly to be avoided, because it will frighten away capital and hinder the natural and only development essential for recovery. It is j nst as bad to thrust all the blamo for the present position upon the Government and to demand that the State alone shall take action to put matters right. The Government is not solely responsible for the migration policy. Under the nomination system that responsibility is widely distributed. Nominations are required to guarantee employment and accommodation. The Government is warranted in accepting such guarantees and in believing that, they; afford a better indication of the absorbing capacity of the country than any other record short of a complete census of all industries.- In the time which elapses between nomination and settlement Unforeseen difficulties may arise; but that is unavoidable owing to the distance between Great Britain and New Zealand. None of the critics has yet suggested a means of guarding against this trouble.