IMMIGRATION.

Southland Times, Issue 20172, 7 May 1927, Page 9

IMMIGRATION.

To the Editor. Sir, —In reply to “Southlander’s” letter I ; must congratulate him on his happy knack I of turning my statements to suit himself, I said that in one of the leading hotels (not | all as he states) 80 per cent, of the em- j ployees are immigrants. This information was given me by an employee. He also stated that practically all the staff before and for some time after the war were New Zealanders. I asked the employee how it came about there were so many immigrants employed in the above hotel. “Why,” he said, "they will work for half the wages we do until they get a few pounds together,” "But,” I said, “how about the award rates ?” He answered: “What’s to stop them making their own arrangements with the employer and when their ‘heads are above water' they naturally want the award wages. “Southlander” says the immigrants are asked £5O per acre, that is the land our grandparents and descendants cultivated, and with sheer hard work and long hours brought the land up to its present value. Southlander has fixed a good price per acre I notice, that proves my statement, no immigrant should be allowed to land in this country at the present time unless he has sufficient capital to enable him to carry on. Southlander admits the immigrants coming out now cannot do that, but as I stated in my previous letter an immigrant with some capital could get very good bush land at £3 or £4 per acre and cultivate it and by doing so bring it up to the value he states —£50. If Southlander read my letters more carefully he would not have to ask so many questions. What I stated was "New Zealanders are taught to use their brains, because they have to learn the trade properly or else they would be nowhere. In the Old Country most of the employers specialise on mass production, and you will find the employees are making the same little part all his life. Like Southlander I was led to believe it was only the nominated immigrant that had nearly all his passage paid out with the exception of a few pounds, not as he would have us believe, very little paid for him, and if he makes inquiries he will find there are dozens landing in New Zealand at the present time who are not nominated, and who also get their passage paid like his nominated friends. Anyone can nominate. If I am a farmer or employer, I could nominate a man in the Old Country and have him sent- out. What's to stop me? Absolutely nothing and by doing so I may be landing one of England’s biggest wasters in New Zealand and no good for himself or country. No Southlander, the only immigrant wanted in New Zealand at the present time is the one with capital. You admit in your letter that the ones coming out can’t afford to buy land and thus help themselves and our country. At present we have quite enough unemployed to fill the very few vacancies offering at present. One question to “Southlander.” Howdoes he propose to absorb the hundreds of unemployed in the country at present not mentioning the immigrants that are on their way and the hundreds who will be following shortly? He also admitted in a previous letter that the immigrants are getting a fair deal so why should Mrs Neilson travel up and down the country complaining about the treatment of immigrant's. Surely he will admit she has very little to do. That is the reason why I took up my pen to contradict her statements. As for the immigrant, personally I bear no iIL feeling, but what I object to is the dumping of England’s unemployed on to New Zealand when there are hundreds out of work here at present and likely to be for a very long time yet,—l am, etc., A NEW ZEALANDER.