A USEFUL DOCUMENT.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 27 September 1924, Page 15

A USEFUL DOCUMENT.

SETTLEMENT IN THE DOMINION

OFFICIAL REPORT

INFORMATION, BUT FEW STJG-

pESTIONS

LONDON, July 14. It is frankly admitted by the Oversea Settlement. Delegation "which visited tne Dominion last year that the absen.e of any specific land settlement scheme for British settlers affected both, the scone and the immediate value of their enquiries. In the White Paper now published, however, embodying their report, some useful information is given to the public. The delegates, it will be remembered, were Sir William Windham, Miss Gladys Potts, Mr J. Wignall, M.P., Mr F. B. Smith, and Major-General A. G. Wauchope. The nomination scheme is first explained. in the report, and it is pointed out that consideration has recently been given to a system of collective nominations by approved bodies such as churches. “We believe,” the delegates say, “that by this means the rate of migration can be considerably increased and that the needs of the Dominion can be met in a better way than at the present time.” The reception and distribution of settlers is evidently a subject which was discussed with the authorities, and the delegates affirm they are satisfied that they adequately meet existing requirements. Moreover, they see no reason for suggesting any improvements in or extension of the activities of the voluntary societies — Welfare League, Salvation Army, British Isles Club, Y.W.C.A., Victoria League, Girls’ Friendly Society, and the Returned Soldiers’ Association. These, it is admitted, are of considerable assistance to the new settlers.

“We are in entire agreement,” the report states, “with a widely-expressed view, which met with unanimous support at many of our meetings, that satisfactory results may be looked for in any State-aided and controlled scheme of juvenile migration. It would afford an excellent opportunity for a large number of young lads in the United Kingdom to obtain a training in farm work, with an ultimate prospect of becoming farmers on their own account. Their services would he very welcome in the country and would help to develop the agricultural industries, upon the progress of which employment in the secondary industries is to a great extent dependent. A further advantage of this form of migration—though ‘ of minor importance—is that it involves a comparatively small cost to the State and does not give rise to any difficulty with regard to housing.” EN-SERVICE MEN. Full details regarding the migration of public school hoys are given, as well as of the Sheepowners’, Acknowledgment of Debt to British Seamen Fund scheme. Though there is no Government scheme for placing settlers on the land (says the report), it may be noted that about 7000 migrants' arrived in 1922, the majority of whom are prosnering on. the land either as farmers or farm labourers. There is good reason, therefore, to believe in the prospects for soldiers who' determine to settle on the land. Ex-service men can rely upon receiving advice and assistance from the Immigration Department, and also from the Returned, Soldiers’ Association, many ex-imperial men having testified to the valuable help extended to them through the various branches of that organisation. The association offers the same advantages to the ex-Impevial as to the New- Zealand returned soldier. A number of ex-soldier settlers have been assisted financially, and employment has . been found for others. We desire to express our appreciation of the excellent work thus done by the association.

PRICE OF LAND. A comprehensive statement is made regarding the climate, the" rainfall, and the soils, and lands available, and the various qualities of the soil are fully dealt with. Prices of lands are discussed, and some examples of high values are given. “It would be wrong,” it is said, “to think'that the price of land has been arbitrarily fixed regardless of the returns obtainable from cultivation, or that the lowerpriced land is necessarily likely to prove more profitable than the more expensive land. The booklet on Dairy Farming in New Zealand, published by the Department of Agriculture in

1921, says, ‘Land values have a fairly close relation to the returns from the land concerned.’ The statement is made in connection with dairy land; but as far as could he ascertained it is equally true of other lands. There is, o"f course, always great ‘ scope for knowledge and judgment in the valuation of land. Some districts may develop whilst others may not, and bargains may he made by good judges or fortunate persons. But on the whole the value of the different farms and of the different classes of land appeared to he fairly apportioned.” DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. With regard to departmental activities, the delegates say they had the pleasure of meeting many of the officers of the Lands and Survey Department, and travelling through their areas with them, and were impressed with their knowledge of the country and. of the circumstances of the settlers upon the Crown lands. ‘‘The Department of Agriculture,” it i-s remarked, “is well organised and has an earnest and highly competent staff, with a professional officer at its head, and is rendering good service to the country. The safeguarding from diseases of the live stock of the country, and the promotion of the export of meat, dairy, and other produce naturally occupy its principal attention, but it is becoming increasingly helpful to the farmers in many other ways. Excellent work, though somewhat limited on account of the restricted facilit’es available, is being done by the chemical, biological and other sections.

A RECOMMENDATION. “If the delegation he permitted to offer a suggestion, they would recommend that the scientific and educational work of the department should he extended. It is true that a good deal has already been done in that direction and that more is under consideration. The quality of the work done is excellent, hut the provision for it appears to he still short of the needs of the country. Scientific work is fundamental in. character and as with other industries, and perhaps to a greater extent than with many of them the progress of agriculture depends upon the success achieved by the scientist in investigating the basic problems connected with the industry and by the administrator and educationist in utilising and making known the lessons to l>e learnt from those researches. The foundations for the extension re'ommended have already been well laid in the department at Wellington and at the State farms. The latter in particular appeared to

afford exceptional opportunities for agricultural education and research, and it is hoped that by the extension of their scientific and educational staffs and expansion in other directions it may be possible to make_ full use of the advantages offered.” ATTITUDE OF LABOUR.

Mr Wignall, it appears, took every opportunity, of getting into touch with the Labour representatives, both industrial and political, and ascertaining their views on the question of migration. He found that they were opposed to the influx of any large numbers of people, because they considered that the cities and towns were already overcrowded. They maintained that there was no settled policy of land settlement; that no seneme had materialised under which migrants could be absorbed upon the land; and that no agreement had been entered into with the British Government, to enable any land settlement scheme to be brought into existence in the immediate future. There appeared to be an impression that arrangements were in contemplation with employers’ federations for the purpose of supplying labour as required by them, which was likely to affect the labour market and the wage question, and that, in consequence of the abnormal state, of unemployment in the United Kingdom, the" delegates were seeking an outlet in the Dominions for the surplus mass of unemployed. Mr Wignall was able to remove such misapprehensions; to explain the real object of the mission, and to bring about a much understanding. BROAD ISSUES.

“In reviewing the situation in the light of facts as presented to us, certain broad issues strike attention, and to these we shall now briefly refer. Upon the general question of there appears to be a marked contrast as between one extreme view which favours the immediate introduction of large numbers of immigrants without, perhaps, a. full appreciation of the difficulties of their absorption, and another extreme view which insists that immigration should not be assisted or encouraged in any way until a complete solution is found for existing housing and unemployment problems. A pronounced demand for energetic development in one quarter js met in another by a strong protest against incurring any additional burden of public expenditure.

“A difference of opinion also arises as between those who believe that the country’s prosperity . depends’ vitally upon its primary production, and those who press for an explanation of the secondary industries as a foremost consideration. With regard to each of these questions there is a .moderate view which, we believe, has the support of the general public. The flow of immigration clearly requires to be carefully regulated according to the country’s capacity to absorb additional population—whether it he unon ■ the land or otherwise.”

In a series of. apprendices the migration regulations, the procedure under the nomination scheme, the activities of the Farmers’ Union, and the Immigration and Land Settlement League and State advances are all adequately dealt with. .

COMMENT IN THE TIMES

The work of some 48 pages is undoubtedly a carefully compiled report, and should be of great use as a textbook for those contemplating settlement in the Dominion. '" To ouote more extensively from it for the "benefit of New Zealand readers, however, would only be sending coals to Newcastle. Most of the London newspapers give a comprehensive summary of "the report, and I lie Times devotes a' leading article to the subject. “The report;” says the writer, “is a cautious document, and, while it speaks enthusiastically of the special appeal to the British settler that is made by New Zealand, it very rightly sets out the conditions which make the moderate policy of the present Government necessary and desirable. Last year New Zealand supplied this country with one-half of the total imports of frozen mutton and lamb, while in 1922 the value of the wool clip increased bv £2,000,000 in the twelve’ months, and reached a total of £10,000,000. These are notable figures for a population of fewer than 1,500,000 souls, hut their increase in the future, by the aid of the new settlers from overseas, is a difficult arid' delicate problem. The best lands of the Dominion have long been sold, and where good land remains available its price is abnormally high. The community has committed itself to very heavy expenditure in the repatriation and settlement of its service men; a certain* amount of unwise speculation and settlement has made it necessary for many farmers to proceed cautiously for a while in the employment of fresh labour. ■ln addition, New Zealand shares with other Dominions certain common problems, among them being the selection in this

country of the individual who is, to use a somewhat overworked phrase, ‘the right- type of settler’; the task of keeping him away from the cities when he arrives in the Dominion; and the suspicion and prejudice of organised Labour. All these considerations make it necessary for Mr Massey and his Government to limit their endeavour to the annual immigration of 10,000 men, women, and children from this country. The total ntimbea of assisted settlers for the first year of the present scheme was 8362, ‘leaving a margin between promise 'and achievement infinitely smaller than is usual in the story of oversea settlement. All this reflects.great credit on the present New Zealand Government and its representative in this country. Apparently the Prime Minister himself, is at the moment facing another of those occasional assaults in the House whmh have .from time to time ruffled the calm of his 12 years in office. Mr Massey stands alone as the last of the | Prime Ministers of the war period. His cheerful acceptance of the increased I naval programme made necessary by I the. abandonment of the Singanore scheme is proof of the way in which his devotion to the Empire has risen

superior to his natural disappointment a t the abandonment of those Imperial policies for which he fought so hard. Amid the many perplexities which boset the British Commonwealth to-day it is pleasant to reflect that so groat a sense of service remain to insoiro the leader of our most remote Dominion.”