POPULATION DRIFT IN NEW ZEALAND

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 87, 4 July 1927, Page 14

POPULATION DRIFT IN NEW ZEALAND

DAIRYING IN THE NORTH ISLAND The movements of population in New Zealand were traced by Dr. E. P. Neale in a lecture at the Leys Institute on Saturday evening. As far back as 1858 the North Island had a population of 34,000 and the South Island only 25,000, but three years later the census showed the position to be quite changed. The North having 42,000 and the South 57,000. » But the end of the Maori troubles and the passing of the gold rush days gave the North an advantage and by 1901 it was once again in the lead. The 1926 census showed 61.87 per cent of the population of the Dominion to live in the North Island. The dairying industry, said Dr. Neale, accounted for the growth of the population in this Island, for it supported more persons to the acre than did grazing. There was no higher rate of natural increase in the North but there was a stream of young people coming in from the South to the greater opportunities to be had and there was a tendency for immigrants also to stay in the North. During a decade past Auckland, Hamilton, and New Plymouth had shown a larger percentage increase than any other towns. Of the 10 smaller centres, Hamilton, New Plymouth, Palmerston North and Wanganui had increased most rapidly and Nelson was the slowest.