BOYS FROM BRITAIN

Evening Post, Volume CXXXVIII, Issue 80, 2 October 1944, Page 3

BOYS FROM BRITAIN

SALVATION ARMY PLAN

A plan to bring 50 boys from Britain for settlement in New Zealand has been announced by Commissioner J. Evan Smith, of the Salvation Army. The Army will meet all expenses involved, receive the boys on arrival, and place them on its farm at Putaruru for training until suitable homes are found for them.

Commissioner Smith, who expressed grave concern with New Zealand's population t>roblem„. said the boys would be carefully selected at the Salvation Army headquarters in London. He had received word from General G. Carpenter, of London, international leader of the Salvation Army, that the Army authorities in London would be happy to co-operate immediately the way was: open. "I have written to the Prime Minister outlining the scheme and asking whether the Government would have any objection to it," said Commissioner Smith. "So far I have received only an acknowledgment of my letter and am eagerly awaiting an answer." After the last war the Salvation Army brought out 800 boys, the expenses being shared by the parents, the Army, and the Government. The scheme had worked well, fewer than 1 per cent, of the boys failing to, make good New Zealanders," said Commissioner Smith. The latest project had the backing of the directors of the Wellington Rotary Club and the approval of the Dominion Settlement,, 'and Population Association.

"There has been a great deal of talk about population in New Zealand," continued Commisisoner Smith, "and it is with the idea of getting something done to set the ball rolling, something practical on however small a scale, that the Salvation Army has prepared its scheme."

Qui.te apart from the danger of invasion, peaceful or otherwise, by coloured nations, the present trend towards a declining population, if unchecked, could lead only to disaster for New Zealand. A country was prosperous only insofar as it produced, and production, in the final analysis, depended on population. If the Dominion failed to maintain its prosperity what hope was there of rehabilitating returning servicemen, asked Commissioner Smith.

Joseph Hall, 61, surfaceman, of Berwick, was found at his home yesterday with his throat cut and a razor in his hand, states a Press Association message from Dunediri.