THROUGH ENGLISH EYES.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19760, 10 April 1926, Page 12

THROUGH ENGLISH EYES.

IMPRESSIONS OF DOMINION

BRITAIN OF THE PACIFIC.

RUOM FOR MANY MILLIONS,

Some interesting observations on conditions in New Zealand have been recorded in the Yorkshire Post bv Captain Anthony Eden, M.P., who was that journal’s representative in the Empire Press delegation which visited the Dominion last year. The Dominion of New Zealand has special claims upon the attention of the Mother Country, says Captain Eden. Its affinity is in many respects' closer than any other; Now Zealand is the youngest dominion, it has been most recently settled, and its white population is. almost to a man and a womatij British. The visitor will find (his ancestry a source of pride, and justifiably so, to all New Zealanders. The settling of the Dominion, in the main so comparatively 'recent an event, and the purity of the British stock turns every New Zealander’s heart and eyes instinctively toward the “Old Country,” ns he invariably names Great Britain. Ask a Now Zealander whether ho was born in the Old Country, and the answer is almost invariably “No. but my father, or my grandfather, was, and my people came from Devonshire, or from the North Country.” Add to this common parentage a territory only a little larger, a climate similar in its eccentricities, if generally milder and sunnier, homes and habits the very duplicate of our own, and ..let all agree that the Britain of the Pacific is truly named. . The atmosohere is very British; the sense of attachment to the Mother Country is very strong. For many in New Zealand Great Britain is still home: for the rest a second home. EVOLUTION OF NATIONAL TYPE. The Dominion is so young that there-has not yet been time for the evolution in New Zealand of a distinct and national individuality as unmistakable as that in Canada or in Australia. Yet that evolution is in progress, and the time is not far distant when the personality of the New Zealandrr will be as marked" and as unquestionably his own us that of a citizen of any other part of the Empire. New Zealand is established as a young nation j its growth into a fuller and a larger nationhood is taking place 10-day. New Zealand happily has thrown off sooner and more successfully than certain other parts of the Empire the effects of post-war depression. This is all the more remarkable in that her efforts during the war were such as to impose a severe strain upon so young a country New Zealand sent near a tenth of her male population overseas. Reviewing the Dominion’s trade, Captain Eden emphasises its importance to Britain. As the Dominion grows in population and in wealth, and it is doing so rapidly, so will ihis market grow in importance for the Mother Country, he says. There can be no greater mistake than to neglect a market because it is far distant and supplies a population which is small when compared with the teeming millions of China or of India. New Zealand in present value, and even more in potential value, is one of the most important of Great Britain’s customers. The future will rot take care of itself.

'' THE IMMIGRATION SYSTEM. Captain Eden briefly expresses his impressions of Auckland and Wellington, and of tho thermal regions, and then proceeds to review the immigration system, explaining in detail the method of nomination and remarking that the immigrant is assured of a friendly and warm-hearted welcome from people of his own stock. Proceeding, he says;— . The system has worked well, 23,4i3 immsgrnnus mewing availed themselves of these assisted passages in the three years 1920-1922, this being about double the number who did so during the three years immediately preceding the war. Had migration to all parts of the Empire shown improvement at the some rate there wouid be no cause for anxiety as to the position to-day. The advantages of the nomination system are self-apparent; the immigrant is assured of a helping hand in his new home, and is able to assure himself, through his nominator, of w-ork and opportunities such as he desires before ho embarks. The peril of square pegs in round holes is thereby reduced to a minimum. It is doubtful whether any scheme other than the present one of nomination could bo successfully put into operation between New Zealand and Great Britain. New Zealand is more thickly peopled than is either Canada or Australia. All the best land is already taken up, and, though there is still land to be had w T hich could by skill and hard work be made a profitable source of livelihood, it would not bo fair or reasonable to ask tbe newly-arrived immigrants to undertake so stern a task unaided. . Not only is tbe better land in New Zealand occupied, but it is expensive. The verv best land fetches prices which seem excessive to the traveller. £IOO an acre is by no means an unheard of price, and even prices have been paid considerably in excess of this sum. Tho absence of available and suitable land makes any large immigration scheme, or scheme of group settlement on a large scale, impracticable in New Zealand.

LAND FOR NEW SETTLERS

It might be thought that certain portions of that land which in its present condition is not suitable for settlement might be made so if the prospective settler were given help both in training and in capital. A scheme on such linos might prove workable, but the settlor would have to be paid bv the Government in the earner stages, and he would have strong claims to easy terms when, the land once _ developed. he entered into ownership. The terms would have to be attractive and such as to give genuine and lasting reward for efforts demanded. Some such scheme as this might give to the settlor opportunity-, and to New-Zealand increased wealth. It is c suggestion, but any such scheme would have to be on a small scale. I.et it not bo thought from anything that has been written that a population of a little over a million and a-quarter is the utmost that New Zealand can support. Far from it. New Zealanders would he the first to emphasise that the Dominion will be able in the course of years to support many limes that number. But the progress must ho gradual, and progress has not been slow. The population has nearly doubled itself since the beginning of the centurv. and the growth has been unbroken. To attempt unduly to force the ts-K-e would be short-sighted statesmanship.