THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 13, 1912. THE WORK OF COLONISATION.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIX, Issue 15174, 13 December 1912, Page 6

THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 13, 1912. THE WORK OF COLONISATION.

The Minister for Finance will soon be in London and will there find much to do, in conjunction with the High Commissioner, on behalf of the more effective colonisation of New Zealand. This work of colonisation, so far from being completed, is little more than begun. Those who land on the massive and modern wharves of Auckland or Wellington and never go far from the smooth asphalt j of Queen-street or the blocked pavements of Lambton Quay, may easily convince themselves that this new country is practically settled, and that we are no longer concerned as a people with the profound problems which confronted our pioneers. No error could be greater. Seventy years ago there were less intricate problems than there are to-day. The Maori was at no time a real menace to the European occupation of New Zealand and when the colony was proclaimed there was no Power in the world which could hope to challenge British supremacy at sea. Distant as these islands are from the Northern cradle of our race, toilsome and slow as 1 was the long sea journey hither before the days of steam, there was at the time a spirit moving in British hearts which stirred up an emigration to New Zealand since unparalleled. When we consider ' the hardships of the old j sailing journey, and the ruggedness of the colonial life to which came men and women born and reared in comfprtable British homes, it is easy to think that the colonisation work which now confronts our Dominion representatives is insignificant as compared to that done by those who inspired the founding of our cities and the forming of our provinces. Unfortunately, the modern problem is far from being as easy as it might be. With only a million inhabitants we have far too few to be indifferent to immigration, yet local conditions have become exceedingly complex. Financial problems, defence problems, commercial problems, social

problems, , beset our still primitive community. The need for roads and railways, for land, for money, for population and still more population, is as pressing as ever it was, while the condition of British society has undergone an immense change, and the international situation has been almost revolutionised. Underneath every problem and every question, is the serious fact that we have not yet made good our industrial occupation of the country and that the work of colonisation is more pressing than it ever was before. There are hew factors in European politics, new Powers in the Pacific, new combinations and looming possibili—pregnant with meaning to an isolated community which holds with a single million land which : should be carrying ten. million, and which, to make its colonisation effective, must maintain an inflowing stream of British capital and British immigrants, while it bears its share of the growing burden of Imperial defence and finds the wherewithal from increased production and selected markets.

Mr. Allen referred at Wellington to the untruths published at Home by those peculiar New Zealanders who delight in defaming their country because it has determined to ! defend its liberties against all possible assailants. An a matter of j fact, the attempts to ostracise New Zealand and Australia on account of their universal training systems have met in Britain with the reception I which was inevitable. > Canada is now appealing with little success to those intending British emigrants who can find the means and the opportunity to reach the lands of the Pacific and the sole effect of this organised defamation appears to be to frighten away those undesirables who wish to - throw upon others the common duty of defence. Instead of estranging the sympathy of intending emigrants, the defensive training systems have evidently had the opposite result, for a great change is gradually coming over the attitude of the British mind upon this question, thanks to the patriotic work of Lord Roberts, and his supporters. The dubious feature of British emigration, as it affects Australia and New Zealand, is, the ability of the United Kingdom to maintain the tremendous outflow of recent years. The net annual British emigration for the past few years has exceeded a-quarter of a million. During the decade 1901-11 nearly 2,000,000 English, nearly half-a-million Scotch and half-a-million Irish have left British ports for overseas ; at least half have settled permanently abroad. No country can sustain this tremendous drain for an indefinite period, for to it must be added the drain from agricultural districts into the great cities which absorb multitudes and disgorge comparatively few. 'The tendency of British migration at the present moment is to prefer ! the Pacific colonies to the trans-Atlantic, but shipping facilities are inadequate and the movement threatens to be checked by this unfortunate difficulty of transport. Among the matters which should receive Mr.

Allen's attention and be exhaustively discussed with Mr. Mackenzie is the possibility of providing more adequate shipping accommodation for emigrants to New Zealand. The Australian authorities are our rivals in this, and are very naturally leaving nothing undone to secure ship-1 ping advantages at our expense. Another most important matter, in connection with the work of colonisation, is the surveying and opening of all unoccupied land. Land settlement has been brought almost to a standstill, although the North Island contains millions of unoccupied acres, The so-called " settlement" of Native Lands upon short leases which do not encourage development is a mere evasion of the problem. The speedy construction of such lines as. the East Coast, the formation of good main roads and the opening of all suitable lands to bonafide agricultural settlers, are necessary aids to the. encouragement of immigration and to the complete colonisation of the Dominion.