RENEWED MIGRATION.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LVII, Issue 7, 7 December 1936, Page 6

RENEWED MIGRATION.

At a recent meeting of the council of the Wellington Chamber of Commerce, Mr M. G. C. McCaul, who is the immediate past-president of the Chamber, said: “X do not altogether agree with the suggestion put forward by the Minister of 1* mance that nothing can be done in New Zealand while we have 3(J,U00 unemployed. That is one of the reasons why something should be done.” Mr McCaul, however, did not elaborate his tliesis. The migration problem is as stubborn a ionc as is unemployment, and we have not yet seen a sound proposition put forward that would solve the problem on economic lines, so far New Zealand is concerned. Even if the number of unemployed were normal, the difficulty would still remain. The question cuts deeply into our economic, political, and social life, and that must first be considered. Why is it that the natural increase in population is so restricted ? The last census revealed an increase of an average of 16,000 a year. The birth rate is falling and students of population statistics declare that after 1941 the population of New Zealand would be on the downward trend. Before we consider the question of importing people, would it not be wiser to inquire into the faults that are apparent ? Why is the birth rate falling ? Is it because our economic conditions are unsatisfactory? As things go New Zealand appears to be making economic recovery equal to other countries. But perhaps this economic recovery is being obtained at undue cost, and is somewhat artificial. Is it because taxation is excessive? New Zealand is the heaviest taxed per capita in the British Dominions, and every addition to the family means adding to the family taxes. Since we are the heaviest taxed, is it a fair proposition to ask others to come in ? Those others, incapable of sharing our taxation burden, on the contrary may cause that burden to increase because the rest of the community would have to be taxed further to sustain ,the immigrants. The solution of the population problem is a difficult one, and there seems to be little hope of a satisfactory answer being provided. The difficulties from a financial point of view in rearing families to-day are so great as the result of taxation and the high cost of living that married couples are not anxious to accept greater responsibilties in this direction than can be avoided. Can the State find a solution of the problem?