JUGOSLAV SETTLERS

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 19504, 4 February 1926, Page 11

JUGOSLAV SETTLERS

“DESIRABLE CITIZENS.” AUCKLAND BUSINESS MAN’S OPINION. What manner of man is the Dalmatian resident in New Zealand? Every now and again a newspaper correspondent will fly into print with a tirade against the “square head,” as he is popularly termed, and an Auckland “Star” representative thought it might make interesting copy to ascertain the views of local business people, who have dealings with the Serbians, Croatians and Slovenes, living in New Zealand. “Dalmatians, eh? Well, they have certainly taught us the kauri gum business,” said one business man, when the subject was mentioned. “And they have kept the gum business alive. Had it not been for the Dalmatians the inIdustry would have died a natural death. They are great workers, but by experience of them is that they arc no good to the employer on wages. They do jvery well on a contract. When J hoy • are paid wages they will usually take j things easy, since it is not their way to I allow-an employer to profit by their = labour, but give them a contract, with j a chance of making money for them'selves, and you won’t find more industrious workmen anywhere.” Great Co-operative Workers. The informant instanced the transformation of swamp lands in the north into rich dairying country, all as the result of the dogged perseverance of Dalmatians, who, he said, were great co-operative workers. Where colonials or Englishmen would give in. the Dalmatian would go ahead, content to rough it and work hard, so long as there was a reasonable prospect of making money. Another who had had dealings with Dalmatians over a long period of years, said he had found that the majority of them did not have a high sense of business moralty. That innate sense of honour, which was the boast of the Britisher, seemed to be lacking in the Dalmatian, who usually seemed to be 1 out to profit at the expense of the other party to a deal. Chinese were | good business men, but their sense of I business honour was higher than hat of a Dalmatian. “Mark you. the Dalmatian is quite a desirable citizen, de!spite this characteristic.” he added. “He is infinitely preferable to a Chinaman. As a grafter, he is unequalled. Regarding morality in the ordinary sense of the word, those to whom the 'newspaper representative mentioned the point were of the opinion that the Dal[matian was, as a general rule, a good Giving fellow. His besetting sin appeared to be gambling. “A Dalmatian will j gamble anywhere, any time, on anything.” said one man. “It’s born in i him, and he can’t help it. You invariably see the gum diggers come down fro«i the north at holiday time, attracted by the race meetings. They are fairly lucky too.” said a man who has lived in the North Auckland district for some years. He recounted several instances of having seen Dalmatians gambling in the gum-diggers’ camps, where, not infrequently, large sums of money could be seen on the tables, the stakes rising as the night drew on. Only 2500 in New Zealand. A shopkeeper, who numbers several Dalmatians among his customers, said he had found them a quiet, well-behav-ed class with whom to do business. They had a sharp sense of money values, and it was seldom that they purchased anything for which a fancy price was asked. However, Dalmatians as a class invariably paid their debts, and were honest enough in the general sense. Of course, there is always a tendency to over-estimate the number of foreigners living in New Zealand. A statement recently published that there were from ten to fifteen thousand Jugoslavs Jiving in the Dominion is altogether inaccurate, according to a local merchant who is in close touch with the gum-diggers. lie was confident that the total number of foreigners in New Zealand whom one might classify as Dalmatians did not exceed 2500. Many of these were naturalised British subjects. Finding of Commission Recalled. A correspondent made the assertion the other day that “morally the young Jugoslavs are a menace,” but the commission appointed in 1916 to inquire into the alien problem in the North of Auckland found that Dalmatians were “much more law-abiding than the rest of the population.” Taking the amount I of crime per head (or for 1000 or any I other number) of each class, the com- ; mission found that they commit only ' about one-half of the number of crimes ! that other people do. Most of these offences were breaches of the Kauri Gum Industry Act. “They are, as a class, remarkably free from serious offences,” was the commission’s verdict. Lt was an extraordinary thing to find amongst us a large community of aliens of an entirely different race, so well behaved as the Dalmatians. That they were “better behaved than the bsst of the British communities” was stated by the members of the commission to be “as striking testimony in their favour as sojourners or citizens, ’ and their loyalty was undoubted. During the war many people became alarmed at the reports spread concerning the alleged pan-Austrian sympathies of the Jugoslavs, and the Commission of Enquiry was set up to report on the whole question. It was found that many wild and reckless stories wore circulated about them, and a diligent search for evidence of disloyalty revealed nothing. A number of Dalmatians served with tho New Zealand Expeditionary Force, and many “Diggers” will remember what excellent marksmen these “square heads” were. They were among the best snipers the Dominion sent overseas.