Evening Post MONDAY, AUGUST 22, 1938. THE BASIC PROBLEM

Evening Post, Volume CXXVI, Issue 45, 22 August 1938, Page 8

Evening Post MONDAY, AUGUST 22, 1938. THE BASIC PROBLEM

I With the principal facts relating to the population problem in New Zealand, such as the declining birthrate and the urgent need for action by responsible authorities if a quota of migrants from the United Kingdom is to be assured before it is too late, most people in this country should by now be familiar. Yet it may be doubted whether, after all, sufficient interest is taken by the general public in a situation which is bound, as the years pass, to redound most unfavourably to New Zealand's future, for the authorities to take the necessary steps to meet the conditions. Reference was made to the problem briefly in the House of Representatives on Friday, .over an item in the Estimates, by two members of the Opposition. Mr. Hargest said that there was a growing feeling that in view of our almost static population the vote (for assistance to migrants) might be expanded and encouragement given to immigrants of a suitable type. Mr. Broadfoot emphasised that New Zealand was at the peak of prosperity and its main lack was people, and added, "We have to look to the Old Country for defence. If she has a problem of surplus population and we suffer from the lack of it, we should do that which is in our best interests." He suggested that,, as immigration was of such extreme importance at the present time, the Government should set up a Royal Commission to go into all phases of it. The Minister of Labour (Mr. Armstrong), in a brief reply, made no reference to the suggestion for a Royal Commission, but contented himself with an explanation of the particular item which gave rise to the remarks of the previous speakers. "Nothing whatever was said about the jeneral policy of the Government on migration. Except for somewhat vague observations by the Prime Minister on occasions this has been the usual attitude of the Government.

The *vhole point of urgency is that unless, action is" taken at the earliest opportunity there will be little chance of getting any settlers from Britain at all, and special difficulties arise in accepting migrants in large numbers from countries outside the Empire. It is true, as Mr. Broadfoot pointed out, that in the past New Zealand has had excellent settlers from the northern parts of Europe, and if the Mother Country could not spare the type of people New Zealand wanted to fill its spaces,.the Government might make the opportunity of immigration available for people of those other nations. The trouble is that these European countries have also low birth-rates and may not have people to spare for emigration. A letter published, in "The Post" on .Thursday, written apparently by a correspondent with a knowledge of the circumstances, confirms the idea that there is not much interest in emigration today in Britain. The principle that determines emigration was clearly set out by the Oversea Settlement Board in its recent report, discussed editorially last week:

People will normally be disposed to migrate only if they feel that there are definite.hopes of a better life overseas for themselves or, if not for themselves, for their children, and unless conditions in the Dominions are such as to warrant such hopes, the United Kingdom ..Government would not be justified in encouraging the migration of people from this country.

The whole tone of the board's report goes to show that people in the United Kingdom are no longer "migration-minded" and if they are to be induced to emigrate, the inducement must be substantial. "The Post's" correspondent went so far as to say that "not one in a thousand could (by the offer of a free passage and £50 bonus) be tempted to migrate, even if ample and cheap housing were available." This no doubt is a rhetorical exaggeration, but, when all allowances are made, it may be taken as certain that the disparity between conditions of life in Britain and in the Dominions is not now enough, as it once was, to attract people from Britain overseas. There are in addition the other factors of a slowing down in the growth of population in Britain and the lessening surplus, year by year, available for emigration. It is this that makes the problem so urgent. New Zealand must make provision now, if it is to secure any quota of migration at all from Britain. What is the alternative to an increase in population? It was put frankly and quite truthfully by Mr. Barnard, on behalf of the Five Million Club which is actively investigating the whole population problem:

A stationary or declining population, quickly and undramatically, but surely and steadily, will undermine and lower that which men and women value most highly—their standard of life. No raising of wage levels, no shortening of hours of labour, no basic wage—nothing that can be done by legislation will stay the onset of the final rot.