The Wanganui Herald. [PUBLISHED DAILY.] THURSDAY, JANUARY 19, 1911. POPULATION WANTED.

Wanganui Herald, Volume XXXXVI, Issue 13279, 19 January 1911, Page 4

The Wanganui Herald. [PUBLISHED DAILY.] THURSDAY, JANUARY 19, 1911. POPULATION WANTED.

The wonderful progress Canada has made during the last decade as the result of a comprehensive and systematic scheme of immigration, and the crying need for population in Australia, and New Zealand, should influence the Governments in this part of the Empire to put forth far more energetic steps than have hitherto been taken to attract new’ settlers. New Zealand could well support a population of ten or twenty millions, hut if progress is to be no faster than it has been during the last fe wyears, it will be many many 'centuries'before a nation worthy of the ' name of . the “Britain of the South” is built up. In 1909 the excess of arrivals over departures was but 4719, and for the year which has just closed the excess has been .loss, indeed it has been the smallest that has been recorded since 1900; when the arrivals in,' Now Zealand totalled 18,074 and the departures 16,243—-a difference of 1831. From whatever point of view the question is looked at, such a small increase cannot be regarded as satisfactory, and population is urgently wanted. Progress is hampered for the want of it. Take the building trade, for instance. We have no hesitation in, saying that hundreds of capable artisans—carpenters, plasterers, bricklayers, painters and plumbers—could and would be absorbed tomorrow if they were available, and a lesser number of- cabinetmakers and other skilled workers would find ■ ready employment. to say nothing of farm labourers, bnshmen. domestics, factory girls, and other workers. If all. channels of employment now available were filled, there would he largely increased activity in other directions. The butcher, the baker, the candlestick maker,' the grocer, the

draper, and the house furnisher would do increased business, more buildings would be, required to accommodate the workers and theif families, and there woulij be good scope for the investment of capital in. ordinary business enterprises and the establishment of industries. Then, indeed, the old adage, “hothing succeeds like success,” would be exemplified in a thousand ways. The present is an opportune time to push on with, a progressive scheme of immigration. The North Island during the next few years should be able to give employment to quite an army of industrious workers on the land alone. There are hundreds of thousands of acres of lands about to be opened up: the busbman is wanted, the.farm labourer is required; their wants will have to be attended to by the merchant and the small trader; and other workers are required on railways and roads to open up the country. The opening up of this land means many more thousands of sheep and cattle added to the flocks and herds of the Dominion ; it means increased activity and increased labour for our moat exporting companies; it means that the banker, the broker, the shipper, and the merchant will have bigger scope for their respective operations; it means- increased revenue for the railways and steamship companies; it means hundreds more settlers and workers drawing personal, domestic, and station requirements from our shops and stores; in fact,there is no limit to the progress and prosperity influenced by the successful settlement of the land question. If then, the Hon. the Native Minister will pursue anything like a progressive policy in the matter of land settlement, and insist, as he has repeatedly promised, on the natives either improving ihe lands themselves or putting someone else in occupation who will make the “desert blossoms as the rose,” there should be good times ahead for New Zealand, especially for this island, and many more thousands of settlers of the right stamp could with advantage to themselves and the Dominion generally be annually received here. There would be no difficulty in inducing small farmers and small capitalists to leave the Old Country provided they were assured land was available in New Zealand and avenues were open for the investment'of their means. A progressive land settlement scheme—the occupation of the Maori lands and the cutting up and close settlement of the many big estates in New Zealand—carried on side by side with an active immigration propaganda would result in the Dominion progressing and flourishing at a rate hitherto unheard of of in the Southern Seas. ■