The Taranaki Herald. (DAILY EVENING.) THURSDAY, MAY 9, 1912. POPULATION MOVEMENTS.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LX, Issue 143786, 9 May 1912, Page 2

The Taranaki Herald. (DAILY EVENING.) THURSDAY, MAY 9, 1912. POPULATION MOVEMENTS.

During tire year ended March 31 this Dominion gained 5892 people by excess of immigration over emigration. While 43,097 people arrived from beyond the seas, no less than 37,205 left. This, it is true, is a better result than in the previous year, when the net gain was only 3408, or the year before that, when there was a gain of 4719, but the figures are exceedingly disappointing. Hew Zealand is enjoying prosperous times, yet it seems able neither to attract population nor to hold the people who do come. In the period from 1888 to 1891, it may be remembered, Hew Zealand lost a lot of people by excess of emigration over immigration owing to the general depression, which was accentuated by severe economies inPublic Works expenditure. In the succeeding ton years there was an aggregate gain of 35,078 persons, or an annual average of 356 T. From 1902 to 1908 inclusive there was a total gain of 71,763 persons, or an average of 7170 per annum, more than double the average of the previous decade. Then came a marked decline to ijjie figures given above. In those days of travel it is difficult to separate the true immigrants from those who are merely making holiday or business trips, but the figures as a whole indicate that tlie Dominion is not attracting those Old Country people who are looking for new homes in anything like the numbers it should. This is admittedly one of the finest countries under the sun. With the splendid direct steamers now trading regularly between London and the Dominion it is accessible, and the fares are quite moderate. Yet we do not get our share of the emigrants from Great Britain. Apparently the Department of Immigration and the High Commissioner’s office are being left behind in the competition for these emigrants by the authorities of other Dominions and States. There is ample room for many thousands of immigrants of the right class every year, but only hundreds come; consequently there is an almost universal cry from end to end of the Dominion for labour, on tbe farms, on the roads, in the factories, and in the houses. But there is apparently , something worse than tlie neglect of the immigration department, and that is the constant drift of population away from Hew Zealand. Were there no employment to bo obtained, that could he understood, hut there is no need for anyone to leave this country in search of work. One reason for the exodus is no doubt the fact that the Government is not opening up new T country fast enough. Many of those leaving are land-seekers who after travelling from one pnd of the Dominion to the other, perhaps putting into several land ballots by the way unsuccessfully, leave for tbe Australian States, where the opportunities are greater. The high cost of living in this country and the harassing' nature of some of our industrial legislation are other reasons which prevent people from coming here and help to drive

away some of those who are here. Whatever the causes; the significant fact remains that New Zealand is experiencing very lean years in the matter of gain of population by immigration.