NEED FOR POPULATION.

Otago Witness, Issue 3103, 3 September 1913, Page 73

NEED FOR POPULATION.

.MR MacMASTER'S OPINION. AUCKLAND, August 29. Mr Donald Mas Master, K.C., Unionist M.P., who was one of the Parliamentary party which visited Rotorua on Wednesday, gave expression, in the course of an interview with a representative of the New Zealand Herald, to the great need for population in New Zealand. “The country,” he said, “has a great destiny in front of it. Here you have a single dominant race composed of the pick of the Motherland. In fertility and productiveness your islands compare favourably with any part of the earth’s surface, but you need population. You could accommodate 30,000.000 people on these islands. People and money are needed to fully develop the resources of the country, and both will come if judiciously encouraged. 1 hope that at no distant date there will be a population of 5,000.000 people in this dominion, and after that it will not be so difficult to achieve the 10,000,OCX) stage. Then, with your spirited arrangements for defence, this country will be placed beyond the risk of attack from any quarter.” Referring to the system of military training in force in the dominion, Mr Macmaster spoke in terms of unqualified praise. “New Zealand,” he said, "has done a splendid thing and has set a noble example to the rest of the Empire, in eluding the United Kingdom itself. Apart from the question of defence, the military training will prove of great service to the young manhood of this nation. It will not only tend to invigorate their bodies, but will also train them in habits of discipline, which will make for good citizenship. We may differ about methods quite honestly, but there is no doubt that New Zealand has led the way in Empire support.”