OUR POPULATION INCREASE

NZ Truth, Issue 1063, 8 April 1926, Page 6

OUR POPULATION INCREASE

What Must Precede Extensive Immigration

A CCOEDING to a statement made recently by Professor J. B. '* CWdliff c to the , 'Canterbury Branch, of the Economic Society of Australia and New Zealand, our rate of population increase is the highest m the world. From 1881 to 1921 — a period of 40 years— tlie rate was 23 per 1000 per annum, which is one per 1000 above Australia's rate. At a rough estimate this means that between 10,000 and 15,000 men and women are annually thrown upon the New Zealand labor market. \a/E have not yet reached that stage m our development when we can readily absorb such a large total annually. There can be no doubt of that: Competent, independent experts eon--tiriue to testify to the fact m the face of repeated Government denials and explanations. I J NEMPLOYMENT exists. It may not be as rife as the Labor Party maintains ; but neither is it as rare as the Reform Party would have us believe, and it affects both the native-born and, the new arrival. TO continue bringing several thousand migrants to the Dominion annually is, therefore, exceedingly dangerous. There are times when immigration can prove a false policy, altogether detrimental to a country's interests, and it is so with New Zealand to-day. ' . \a/E do not decry immigration. Thousands of acres of fertile land is lying idle m the Dominion, and to make this land productive increased population is essential. But a man who is going shooting or fishing first provides himself with bullets or bait. He does not yenture forth with unloaded rifle or hookless fishing tackle. Similarly we should not embark upon an extensive immigration scheme until we have created a demand for further labor and provided the openings whereby new arrivals will be absorbed. XIIIS can only be done m two ways — by the extension of our primary industries and 1 the building up of our secondary industries. . • • ■ • ■ THE former is by far the more important, but at the present time the high land values offer a stiff obstacle to rapid progress and expansion m this direction. They effectively prevent the settling of more people. IN view of this fact, it is essential that a progressive policy m the opening up of our unproductive waste lands should be inaugurated. ThesQ lands will not be occupied until they have been prepared for settlement and until the proper facilities for the marketing of produce have been created, and this should be the immediate objective of the Government. IT is, of course, more or less a question of finance— at any rate, when tackled on the subject the' Government invariably takes refuge behind the time-worn and exceedingly unoriginal excuse of "no funds available". " ' . *'. Nevertheless the money can, and should be found: Money spent m the opening up of land for settlement is not > money thrown away: It is an investment which returns a handsome profit m a very few years. QUR secondary industries have made great progress within recent years, but still greater progress can be made. "We cannot become a great manufacturing country, but we can at least provide for our own needs, and m .this direction it should be our aim to become self supporting. THE present immigration system is a failure. It is neither fair to the migrant nor to the native-born, and it would be well for the Government to admit at once that the present system requires re-organizing. But the expansion of our primary, and the encouragement of bur .secondary, industries must precede the inauguration of any extensive system of immigration.