The Star. MONDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 1926. THE DOLE AND IMMIGRATION.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18016, 29 November 1926, Page 8

The Star. MONDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 1926. THE DOLE AND IMMIGRATION.

Sir James Parr has been telling a London audience that New Zealand is an ideal country for retired professional or business men, or farmers with a thousand two of capital. And, of course, he is perfectly right. New Zealand is probably the most ideal country in the world to live in and to work in, and it wants population of the right sort. But it must depend finally on -workers for the success of its immigration policy, and the important thing is to attract workers of the right stamp. The Imperial Conference has been faced with this important subject, and as Mr Baldwin said its purpose was “ to take stock of our situation as a whole, to locate our weak places, and to do all We can to strengthen them.” It would probably come as a bombshell to those who have been thinking up complimentary phrases about the Dominion Prime Ministers, to learn that the principle of the dole, which has created one of the most pressing problems in Empire immigration, has been introduced by the Government of which Mr Coates is the head. The growth of population in the Empire depends on emigration, said the “ Daily Mail,” editorially, on October 22. and here as we have repeatedly pointed out, new difficulties hate been created by the vast system of doles and public relief which has recently sprung up in Great Britain. The Dominions have organised measures for the reception and distribution of British settaers since the war, but. so far, without marked success, and for two reasons. The first is that the Dominions are unwilling at present to take any but the best, whom we cannot well spare. The second is that large numbers of young people in . this country prefer an easy life on the dole to independence and hard work m the Dominions. It might be thought that the paralysing influence of the dole at Home would have been a sufficient warning to New Zealand not to introduce the principle here, for it is already felt in some parts of the Empire that the British workman is lacking in manly pride so long as he is content to live on the dole. When a man is out of work, as Mr W. E. Sill remarked at Auckland yesterday, “ he loses spirit and he loses ambition,” and the dole encourages him to stay in such a frame of mind. The dole, also, discourages emigration at precisely those ages when the prospects of life overseas should appear most attractive, and yet the greatest fear entertained by the Dominions has been that they would get only those workers that Britain would be glad to get rid of. The dole has “ anchored the unemployed in Great Britain,” and it is to be hoped that the fact that the principle has been introduced in New Zealand will not lead to any ill effects in regard to the stream of immigration. There used to be a time when employers did not altogether approve of their staffs giving much time to sport. In the bad old days, indeed, before men of enlightenment came on the scene, there was not much time for sport, but now things have changed, and employers, appreciating the importance of a sound mind in a sound body, are encouraging tin r staffs to take recreation and exercise. It is gratifying to see that the idea of factory sports grounds is extending. There are several firms in Christchurch that have provided for tlie recreation of their employees. Wood Brothers have a bowling green, the Woolston Tanneries have tennis courts and even a poultry club; and Aulsebrooks, Ltd., opened two asphalt tennis courts and a bowling green oil Satur ay. There are a good many other firms that encourage sport in various ways, it may be with the gift of a challenge cup or by providing facilities for the formation of cricket or ritl shooting clubs. The modern employer, too, is generously minded in the matter of granting leave to men who gain representative honours and are obliged to go on tour It is a good movement, because amateur sport requires all the assistance it can be given, particularly in the provision of recreation grounds. There is simply no limit to*heageat which a man or woman may lake up sport and the onlj rearet New Zealand need have in this respect is that daylight saving has been resisted so long by country residents, who are out of touch with the modern trend of thought on the subject.