The Daily News MONDAY, JANUARY 29. OUSTING THE NATIVE BORN.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVII, Issue 8039, 29 January 1906, Page 2

The Daily News MONDAY, JANUARY 29. OUSTING THE NATIVE BORN.

A prophet is without honor in own country, and the same .sentiment, with little alteration, will do in referring to people who go in for other businesses, outside the prophet industry. This reflection is forced on us by the recently published fact Unit not only are the most important billets on many of the great Australian papers occupied by New Zealanders, but the said papers are always on the lookout for underpaid New Zenlauders to oiler them better billets, but the New Zealand employers are apparently cheerfully unconcerned at the constant drain that goes on in every profession. In fact, it seems chat New Zealand is becoming a mere training-ground for New Zealanders, so that outsiders may get the benefit of that training. * * * *

That distinguished young scholar, Mr Robertson, who was a New Zealand Rhodes' scholar last year, and whose profound researches have made his name known all over the scientific world—although he is not yet twenty-two years of age—was asked before he left Oxford : " And when you have finished your course at the University, you will come back to New Zealand ?" He replied: " No; I shall probably never return to New Zealand except as a visitor, because the countiy does not encourage specialists, and expects any kind of native specialist to accept a ridiculously inadequate salary." This is all right if you are going to socialise the country into economic equality, but it neither encourages learning nor ambition, New Zealand is a line training ground for young brains, simply because it is not crowded, the conditions prevailing giving those physical advantages without which it is impossible to rear healthy brains. Some examples of the ousting of the native talent occur to us.

Tiiuiifi is no scope in New Zealand, < foi' instance, for Professor Rutherford, the distinguished New Zealand - er. There js no nurket here for his talents, and no offers suitable to his gifts have ever been made in order to try to rdtain Ids services to his native land. Dr. James McLaren, a Thames State school and .School of Mines boy, specialising in metallurgy, hail to take his wares abroad while he was a mere youth. lie obtained a position as Government Geologist in India at £IOOO per annum, free quarters, and as many native sarvants as he needed. The New Zealand Government, feeling that the young scholar ought to be dying to geb back to the land that appreciated his services so little, offered him the same kind of a billet in this colony at £6OO per annum. It was probably very much sti.' prised that this ungrateful boy should refuse to throw away four hundred a year. The Government did not appoint a New Zealander. It fell back on a very capable Canadian in the person of Dr. Bell.

Da. King Adams, of the clever Now Zealand family, which numbers among its members Arthur Adams, the poet and associate editor of the " New Zealand Times," couldn't get anything in the New Zealand Civil Service that would give him a return for his brain-ware. He was a judge in India at something considerably over a thousand pounds a year before ho was thirty. Another brother—Mr C. E. Adams - was the presiding genius of the Thames School of Mines, before-mentioned, and revolutionised that institution, It wasn't worth his while to go on revolutionising metallurgy and mineralogy in New Zealand, Ho is in Westralia now, where he is getting a salary commensurate with his unique training, experience and talent. If there happens to bo a dooont billet for which a specialist is required in this colony, the usual way is to keep New Zealanders at bay. What can a New Zealander, who was born and reared in the country, know about his own land? Let hi in go to the Ivloudvke, or the Gold Const, or Australia, or India, or any other old place.

TiiKiiK is. of course, no doubt Hint, the young New Zealandec, however talented, limy become cramped and narrow by remaining hi Now Zealand altogether, but there is also no doubt that be is not encouraged to come back by the oiler of any overpowering salary. The best man for a job is the man for the best salary, and it doesn't matter whether the man is a pick and .shovel person or a professor of dead languages Nearly all the talented young men born he/etrek for climes where there are plenty of other lalente,! persons, .seeing that, the population is denser. Thus we stand a rather good chance of getting the giants weeded out, while we retain the mediocrities, It doesi't seem to matter so long as the " hornyhanded " get all their souls desire, but it may occur to you that although the horny-handed are the backbone of any country, thebackbono isn't much good without a brain at the north end of it. Wherever it is at all practicable, our own engineers, our own 801101111*, our own experts in every line, should be given preference when a fat billet is going a-begging.

Ni:w Zealand ollicialdoni doesn't always get on well with the imported expert, though in this connection it is fair to say that we have been exceedingly well served in this mutter. I'llo .small (jiiiu reb; over veterinarians and dairy experts will be fresh in the memory or the reader. While not denying the ability of any of the Government experts, is it not just possible that there are native-born men, trained in jN r cw Zealand, who might be able to (ill some of the billets when next any of them fall vacant? We have imported veterinarians, an imported military commandant, dairy experts, vitic.ulturists, balueologist, engineers by the bushel, geologists, and wc even have to send

Koine for drill-sergeants to lick into shape tbo type of soldier that put up the best work of all in the South African war, according to Generals Roberts, French, Maiion, liailenPoivell, and several other generals. Far be it from us to assert that the young New Zealander bus nothing to learn from bis Old World relative, or that be has any right to instruct bis grandmother in the art of extracting nourishment from benproduce. But presuming that he knows as much about a specific subject as the imported person, is it not right that he should get the big billets at the big prices when they are available?