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Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVI, Issue 20, 24 June 1913, Page 4

ASSISTED EMIGRANTS. The Hon. T. Mackenize, in an unobtrusive manner, has already done a good deal to justify his appointment as High Commissioner. He has been continually in evidence as the representative of the country wherever it has been necessary or advisable, and his ability and unvarying tact and courtesy have won him scores of friends. His latest mission has been the arranging, under Government approval, of a revised scheme of emigrai . tion for the Dominion. Under bis supervision it is proposed to give assisted passages to suitable classes of people who wish to settle in New Zealand,' These, of course,/will, be mostly farm I hands and domestic servants, and these, if they have not the necessary money to pay their passages, will have the shortage advanced by the Government, conditionally upon their undertaking a bond to repay the amount by instalments. There is no intention, however, of making the country a dumping ground I for undesirables, for assisted passengers \ will have to satisfy the High Commis- j sioner of their mental and physical fitness before being "adopted" by the Government. There will, of course, be no| difficulty whatever in absorbing all thej domestic servants that are offering, for girls for household service arc almost as scarce now as the extinct moa, and, farmers also are still complaining of the shortage of farm labor. But, as the Hon. W. IT. D. Bell has pointed out, a good deal rests with the farming community itself, and farmers must be prepared to do their share of the work and assist the Government by seeing that the imported laborers are paid a decent living wage and are properly housed. Mr. Mackenzie himself places the minimum wage for boys at 15s a week and found, and this does not sound at all exorbitant for the services of a healthy and handy boy, who, at the same time, will be equipping himself with the necessary knowledge and experience to himself become a useful settler. We shall, no doubt, have, the usual complaints from the ultra-Socialists that the Department if-: attempting to lower the rate of wages by importing labor, but there is room enough and to spare for thousands of willing hands upon the lands, provided that the right class of men and women are assisted to settle in our midst, and Mr. Mackenzie appears to be taking every care to see that this desideratum is accomplished. Our own crying need for years past has been an increase of population, and the Government must be approved for recogiii.-iiug this, even if its new settlers have only the initial capital of sound bodies and willing hands. Poor men with able bodies are of more value to a young country than consumptive millionaires, and we can do with as many of these as Mr. Mackenize can find for us. It is satisfactory to learn, too, that the shipping difficulty has been overcome and that the High Commissioner has made satisfactory arrangements with the shipping companies to reserve sufficient space for the year for our assisted emigrants. The new regulations and conditions, in fact, bid fair to go a long way towards solving the problem of the supply of rural labor.