TE AWAMUTU COURIER. Printed on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. FRIDAY, 3rd JUNE, 1938. UNDESIRABLES.

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 56, Issue 4056, 3 June 1938, Page 4

TE AWAMUTU COURIER. Printed on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. FRIDAY, 3rd JUNE, 1938. UNDESIRABLES.

MISS ELEANOR RATHBONE, a member of the British House of Commons, has asked the Prime Minister, Mr Chamberlain, whether he will consider convening a conference of Dominion representatives for the purpose of formulating an Imperial policy regarding political refugees. Mr .Chamberlain very circumspectly replied that the admission of refugees was a matter for each Dominion Government to decide. In New Zealand political refugees of a class would not be welcome. What particular class of refugees Miss Rathbone refers to is not mentioned in the cablegram, but those most prominently figuring in the world to-day are persecuted Jews in Germany and Austria and those loyalist Spaniards who have been driven from their homes by the rebel forces. Neither of these types could do New Zealand any good, and much as, we may deplore their unfortunate predicament through the misfortune of war or because of Nazi racial hatred, it would be suicidal policy to invite thejn here. New Zealand’s birthrate is so disgracefully low that if the population is to be built up to anything like the population the Dominion can carry then immigrants must be looked for. But we want immigrants of the right kind. Refugee Jews from Germany and Austria will not help to develop the country- A number of Germans, fed up with Hitler and Nazi-ism, might develop into useful settlers and artisans. The Jew mostly contrives to live wherever he goes, but his manner of obtaining that living is never by developing the natural resources of the soil. The spade and shovel work, so essential to the development of a young country, does not appeal to the Jewish nature. The Jews are an exceedingly clever race; they are lawabiding and hospitable; they are exceedingly conservative in their religion and their customs; they are cleanly and courteous; keen in business; they are valuable contributors to literature, music, and art; but they have not the pioneering instinct—they < are not of the class that makes gar- I dens and smiling fields out of the wilderness: they prefer the city which follows the gardens and the smiling fields. It is the pioneering and artisan class of immigrant that New Zealand needs. Men of the Nordic race this . country might safely welcome. The Latin peoples, and the Spanish race in particular, do not make good immigrants. Had the Spanish been good immigrants both the Americas to-day might have formed a greater Spain. The European situation has created a very pitiable state for those weak ones who have been the innocent victims of brutal force; but New’ Zealand must look to the well-being of her own people before receiving the stranger with open arms.