Manawatu Evening Standard. Circulation, 3,500 Copies Daily. WEDNESDAY, APRIL 13, 1910. SUITABLE SETTLERS.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLI, Issue 9188, 13 April 1910, Page 4

Manawatu Evening Standard. Circulation, 3,500 Copies Daily. WEDNESDAY, APRIL 13, 1910. SUITABLE SETTLERS.

A new phase of the immigration prob-

lem is being widely discussed in Eng-

land and is also being brought under the notice of the public in New Zea-

land. It is proposed that the scheme should be propounded whereby youths of suitable ages would be enabled to emigrate from the cities of the Old Countries to the colonies. A committee has been set up in London to further the project, and there is at present in Auckland a representative of the committee, who intends to address meetings throughout the Dominion. This gentleman, Mr T. E. Sedgewick, says the working lads in the great cities at Home might be described as the backbone of the Empire. The labour market in England is more overcrowded than out here, and from the time the lads are 16 years of age it is very difficult for them to obtain employment. A number of them got into the English Post Office, but last year about 4000 boys with good characters were dismissed from the Post Office service simply because there was nothing more for them to do. If some of these lads could be got on to farms out in the dominions overseas it would be of great assistance to, the Old Country. There is no doubt that a scheme which would enable that to be done would confer undoubted benefits on all

parties. The pressure on the overcrowded labour market in England would in time be partly relieved, the colonies would receive much-needed population of a desirable kind, and the lads would be given a chance of establishing themselves in new countries and under fresh conditions. The I youths would not be of the pauper class, but would be material from which good settlers and colonists could be made. In New South Wales it is intended to divert the money raised for the Dreadnought fund to the provision of training farms where the lads oil arrival will receive instruction for a few months in agricultural , work. Criticism of the scheme comes, of course, from labour circles, but it is

pointed out that the proposal seeks to remedy the error of previous emigration systems. Hitherto men have been sent out who >vere too old to learn or to receive proper training for work on the land, and they could never take up an agricultural life with much hope of success. The youths, on the other hand, would come to the colonies during a period of adaptability and would become an integral part of the population. There is much to be said for the proposition, and if the Government would go into the matter they would probably find that the money now being spent on emigration would be more productive of good if diverted into this other channel.