IMMIGRATION

New Zealand Times, Volume XLVI, Issue 10651, 26 July 1920, Page 5

IMMIGRATION

QUESTION OF UNDESIRABLES. A.S.R.S. OPINIONS. The question of immigration was discussed at some length at a meeting of the Thorndon branch of the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants held yestorday, and eventually the following 'motion was carried unanimously: — "That the members of this branch of the A.S.R.S. iproteßt emphatically against any policy of immigration being introduced into this country until housing accommodation is available for the whole of the population; that we are of opinion that the Government is disregarding any other aspect of the question beyond creating . a reserve army of unemployed, with the obvious intention of keeping down wages and further lowering the already reduced standard of living of the workers of this Dominion; that we again draw attention to the deplorable fact that some immigrants who have arrived recently in New Zealand have applied aheady for charitable aid; that the immigration scheme for ex-soldiers and their .dependants promoted in Great Britain is liable to serious abuse, in that it may mean the shirking of pledged obligations to ex-soldiers and their dependants by the British Government, and the consequent foisting on New Zealand of disabled or partially disabled men and weak and helpless women and children; and we submit that before any immigrant is allowed to leave the Old Country .for New Zealand strict inquiries should be made as to his or her character, health, and physical and mental capacity for work.'*