Poverty Bay Herald PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING GISBORNE, THURSDAY, SEPT. 24, 1936. IMMIGRATTON POLICY

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19128, 24 September 1936, Page 4

Poverty Bay Herald PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING GISBORNE, THURSDAY, SEPT. 24, 1936. IMMIGRATTON POLICY

In unofficial quarters there has recently been a revival of interest in the question of immigration and at least two books have been published drawing attention to the serious posi tion which may have to be faced unless some steps are tnken to increase the population of Hie Dominion The problem is one of the most diffi .nit confronting the country and it is important that, some endeavour should made to consider it in its correct perspective. On the one hand it is contended, with n force that is not easily ignored, that, it would be folly t.ii encourage more immigrants while there is insufficient work for the existing population. The feeling is growing, however, that this seemingly obvious aspect has been unduly ex aggevnted, and there is even a lurking suspicion that, paradoxical though it might appear, lack of population is actually a cause of unemployment. Employment is provided, of course, by one .section of the community producing the goods required by others and it follows that the more people there are to provide for the more

work there will be. The solution of the problem, however, is not nearly so simple as this, and the greatest difficulty i.s to secure a balanced economy —to ensure that the distribution of the population bears some relation to the industrial requiremeints. It is a matter for speculation as to how far this lack of balance i,s< responsible for the present situation, for there is the further paradox at the present time that there i.s a decided shortago of labour in tho midst of plenty of idle workers. In some trades, it is reported, it is almost impossible to secure skilled artisans, while farmers are experiencing' difficulty in obtaining the necessary labour. Even the Government, it was stated recently,* was considering securing skilled workers from overseas. If these gaps were fdled by means of immigration could it be said that the present unemployed were being penalised? Would it not be the iea.se that these extra people would increase the demand for labour in those' spheres for which the unemployed are fitted? In an official publication this week it was stated that every 100 men engaged in productive industry provided work for 108 men in other directions. Docs this not mean that if 5000 immigrants were brought to the Dominion to fill existing vacancies, instead of inerea>.s,ing unemploymont, they would cause work to be found for more than 5000 of those at present unemployed? Consideration of the question docs not, by any means, end there, for the new settlers would create a demand for the products of other branches of •industry and might start a cycle of additional activity that would have nothing but .beneficial results. The essential feature of any-such scheme would be the careful preservation of a. correct balance, for any haphazard attempt merely to increase the population would aggravate rather than relieve the situation. Every aspect of this far-reaching problem is bound up with questions of Government policy, and for .this reason there are few things that are more important than, that the Government should clearly define its intentions. The existing population, for instance, can not possibly maintain an annual expenditure of £8,500,000 and the em ployment of 20,000 men on public works. It cannot continue to paj £.•> 0,000,000 a year by way of taxation without ultimately sapping • the lifeblood of industry itself, let alone pro vide for the expansion which is sc vitally necessary. The existing secondary industries arc approximate ly capable of meeting all the needs of the present population, but the Government has repeatedly announced its intention of increasing the scope for manufactures. Can it do so without causing further disequilibrium? Does not the best prospect for expansion lie in increasing the number of consumers for existing products rather than in attempting a further diversification of industry for a limited population? And what of the many services provided by the State itself? Roads, railways, hydroelectricity, almost everything that could be named are not being used to the maximum capacity becnuse the total available custom is inadequate, and so long as this condition persists the operations of the State are not fully economic. If the country is regarded as one vast industrial concern, the only possible conclusion is that the capital invested and the overhead expenditure arc out of all proportion to the present scant population, and the question inevitably arises: To what end is the Government designing its intricate social and economic structure? What is its real attitude to the question of immigration? The Prime Minister has repeatedly stated that the best defence of the Dominion—and this is another serious phase of the subject—is adequately to people it. In the House this week, a Government member stated that they had to consider whether they could continue to hold such a rich.and fertile country without making some attempt to populate, it as it should bo populated. On his arrival in London, however, the High Commissioner was emphajje. that there "would be no immigration until the present population was employed, and tho Labour candidate for the Manukau seat has insisted that the Labour Government is opposed to immigration until the present workers are absorbed in productive employment. The question to bo earnestly considered is whether immigration really would increase Unemployment or whether it might not assist to remedy it. In the meantime, there are still more registered unemployed than there were a year ago, the number of births continues to decline alarmingly, and morn people are leaving the country than are entering it. The whole position regarding population will require much more careful consideration in. the future than it has had in the past, for it may prove to be the real keystone of the whole economic structure.