OLD THAMES GIRLS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22398, 20 April 1936, Page 3

OLD THAMES GIRLS

ANNUAL PIONEER REUNION NEED FOR COLONISATION A largo gathering of members and friends attended the ninth annual pioneer reunion of the Old lhames Girls' Association, held in Scots Hall on Saturday afternoon. The president, Mrs. Alfred 'Oldham, presided, assisted by the Rev. J. Olpliert. Reading the president's welcoming address, Mr. Olphert spoke of those members of the association who had passed away during the last year and requested those present to stand in silence in tribute to their memory. He spoke briefly of the long ana successful existence of the association, which had so ably held together members of one of the oldest and most important pioneering districts of New Zealand.

A delightful programme was contributed by members and visitors, comprisirfg duets by Mrs. G. De Berg and Mrs. H. S. Hurle. songs by Miss J. Payne, Mr. Clifford Firth and the Rev. A. E. On - , monologues by Mr. Frank Penn and humorous recitations by Mrs. ,J. Pool. Mrs. N. Walker and Mrs. R. Reed acted as accompanists. Addresses were given by Mr. W. F. Doidge and Mr. W. O'Hara, both of whom were former residents of Thames. Mr. Doidge said few people to-day, particularly those of the younger generation, realised how fortunate New Zealand had been in its early colonisation, or what a large part Thames had played in the early progress of the Dominion. To-day emigration had again become an urgent problem, upon the wise solving of which depended the economic and industrial relations not only of the British Empire but also of the world. One-fifth of the world belonged to the British Empire, and since the Great War, when emigration had been practically abolished, members of the Umpire were not making the most of their heritage. In New Zealand alone there were 100,000,000 square miles of spare land and a population of only one and a-half millions. With the millions of people forming the ranks of the unemployed in England, New Zealand offered an avenue for solving an already desperate problem. "If the gates of emigration are not soon opened they will be burst open," Mr. Dbidge said. The root cause of most of the internal and international strife in the world wasN the lack of territorial expansion, and unless emigration was made possible the large and over-popu-lated countries of the world, including Kngland, were faced with an economic starvation.

Mr. O'Hara, who recently flew the Tasnmn in his own aeroplane, spoke of the emigration problem as he had seen it in the Dutch East Indies. The question of emigration was becoming increasingly urgent, and attempts were being made by Dutch planters on other islands, such as Sumatra and Borneo, to employ Javanese on contract to work on their plantations, but always as soon as their contracts were fulfilled the Javanese returned to their own villages. It was extremely difficult to persuade the people to leave their own villages, and once they had been away they refused to bo uprooted again, Mr O'Hara said.