IMMIGRATION AND THE FACTORIES.

Marlborough Express, Volume XLII, Issue 93, 21 April 1908, Page 2

IMMIGRATION AND THE FACTORIES.

(By Erank Morton.)

It is a remarkable thing that, with

men here and there declaring that they can't get work, with the labour unions shrilling protests against the bare idea of immigration, all the factories are clamouring for labour. Hands are wanted to the woollen mills in Wellington and elsewhere, a.t the match factories, at the card-board box factories. I hear that they cannot get hands to cope with the huge and increasing demand at the big jam factory down at Nelson. In the towns, the. stores find it very difficult to get women for their work-rooms. And with all this, the scarcity and cost of domestic service becomes day by day a greater source of harrassment to the householder. On these facts, the conclusion is obvious. Whether the labour

unions protest or not, wei want more people in this country; and if our industries are to flourish and become .' permanently strong and sound, we want more people soon. This scarcity of factory labour would really ..tre' the easiest thing in the world to overcome, if the Government 4ared or cared to take intelligent action in the matter. .^lf Mr Reeves published in the great English centres information regarding the wages paid in New Zealand, factories and the conditions of, work, a million eager emigrants of the right sort, could be found. Jsut few of the million would have the money to pay their passages to New Zealand. That is where this Government would come in. I don't believe in pauperising the immigrant. But I see positively no reason at all why cue Government should not advance passage money in approved cases; and there seems to be about a thousand valid

reasons why the Government should All the coddling in the world will not develop an industry that cannot get hands to work it. Problem, then; which is the thing of paramount importance, to develop our industries, or to coddle the labour unions? Are we to govern for the whole people, or merely to govern by the methods of compromise and* claptrap in order to -conserve a/ precarious political majority? These are questions a statesman would answer promptly enough; but we have no statesmen yet. We have, on the one hand Mr Massey and his little lot; ,on the other \ hand, Sir -, Joseph Ward and his bigger little lot, his majority that depends absolutely on th© whim and will of the labour unions. I don't, believe that, so .far as the ultimate destiny and salvation of this country is concerned, it matters twopence whether Sir Joseph or his opponent rules the roost just now. It may be that, havingXno very intimate knowledge of Mr Massey ,1 -uo • him an injustice; that is conceded. But it seems to me that the strong man New Zealand wants will grapple , first of all with the labour question. Stand or fall, he will do the right thing, undeterred by merely political consideration. 'You ,-may not have noticed it, but there is all the difference in the world between a patriot and a \ politician. The politician is prepared tb hustle for his clique; tne patriot is determined to live, and in case of necessity to - ie, for his country. If any such spirit as this were demanded by the people, most of our present legislators would be forced out of politics. The new, strong man would be a lover of his country and a devout individualist. He would be passionately determined to defend the rights of minorities. At present, the theory seems to be that minorities have no fights. The new man would see at once that it is folly to boast of tne prosperity of the country, while making no adequate pror vision for the security of the industries on which tne prosperity of the country must inevitably be based. ' There is nothing on earth to prevent New Zealand being, proportionately to its size, one of the greatest industrial oountries in the world. We have an invigorating climate. We have abundant minerals and abundant water. Wfe have splendid ports that can easily be defended. Arid, with all this, we - nave just now scores of factories that cannot get labour sufficient to cope with the demands of present trade. .Here, then, is something for Parliamentary candidates to talk about. •: . I am driven to the conclusion that work is rather hateful in the eyes - of some of the young men and most of the voting women of the cities of the Dominion. Your young men will always work, unless he is an incorrigible waster; because work means certain things to him. It means possibility 01 fuller enjoyment, if not of fuller life. It has a distinct bearing on love, courtship, marriage, and some other things that still occasionally count. The young woman has less incentive. In the average case, her chief preoccupation is to look dolly and. nice until some man persuades her to take ma. name and the chances. If the young woman lives at home with her people, she is still less in love with work. She may consent to smirk behind a counter in a strictly superior shop, or her ambition may take her into the crowd, that is' constantly watching for a typist's billet. But if you suggest a factory to her, or ifyou dare breathe a suggestion of domestic service, you shall hear her jibe. The factory "may be good^enough for her father and her brothers; but she scorns it. And as for doing housefor a wage—well, your own experience will have taught you how she feels about that. This countr- wants just now a few thousand young women who are not so confoundedly superior. For. myself, were la bachelor-with a modest income, I would sooner marry a capable housemaid than a dressy shop-girl. Some of the neatest and nicest little housewives I' have ever Known have been housemaids in their youth; and some of the most dreadful shrew S and slatterns have been shopthS »™ ■ any Case ' * don>t think tha* is J*\7 mS co? te. mPt for honest work back to ™ g<K>^ And so I 8^ Sl« %J^J ori^ contention. *If Government can justly want aSJS? passages to gn-ls who come out fi S conTract and & "5° °°m?- out ™d" contract. Ihe domestic servant ?r!fffl b?T S increasingly acute It is difficult to get servant/ at all and it is exceedingly difficult to eel If a-thousand girls of the right character and class came out they could all find employment in ae^ cent houses A thousand immigrants ot that sort would be extremely welcome.