The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. THURSDAY, JANUARY 30, 1908. MORE POPULATION WANTED.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVI, Issue 2102, 30 January 1908, Page 2

The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. THURSDAY, JANUARY 30, 1908. MORE POPULATION WANTED.

It is difficult to ascertain upon what facts the Canterbury Trades and Labor Council is basing its objection to assisted immigration to this country. It is all very well to assert that there is not work for those who are hero and that immigration will have the effect of depressing the labor market. As a matter of fact the first contention is entirely opposed to the reports of the Labor Department’s officers throughout the Dominion, and also to the observation of anyone who is conversant with things as they arc. There are, indeed, very few avocations in New Zealand at the present time in which a good workman cannot make fair wages and have con stunt work, and in many branches the scarcity of labor is so marked as tc seriously harass the industries concerned. Wo have become so used to relying upon our raw products ns the sole sources of producing wealth, that wo have to a great extent neglected the manufacturing industries, with the result that last year wo spent no less than £14,000,000 upon goods manufactured in other countries. Tins is an enormous sum. for such a small population as ours, and whilst it indicates the'exceptional spending power of our people, it also affords lamentable evidence that we apparently lack the necessary intelligence and energy, to make the things necessary for our own requirements. A very large proportion of these goods could profitably bo manufactured in this country, particularly if our great water falls were utilised to supply cheap power, and one has .only to think of the effect that would ensue from the expenditure of half the sum mentioned, £7,000,000, to realise what the result would be for the Dominion. Wo have alluded to this position to show how important is tlio business of manufacturing to all New Zealanders. Despite the fact that in the past it lias been customary to neglect our own manufacturers in favor of England and tlio foreigner some very important industries liave been started and have made remarkablo headway considering the extent to which they have been handicapped. Now they have got to a stage where their output is limited because of tho scarcity of labor and under the circumstances it appears to be a most selfish policy on the part of tho representatives of labor to object to immigration. If they complain ot tho wages paid or the conditions ol their work we are willing to concede them the right to seek a remedy and the Arbitration Act gives them an effective means of standing out for fair treatment, but it is simply nonsense to argue that immigration will inevitably spell depression in the labor market. A factory may be compelled through stress of foreign competition to go in for a most extensive and costly plant. Its possible output is immediately increased; but the fact is of no advantage if workers are unobtainable. In several of the biggest factories in the Dominion this is the present position and businesses are being hampered because workers cannot be obtained. If the plant were fully utilised the output would be greatly increased and the added profits would enable the proprietors to pay as high if not higher wages than before. Failing that we are simply

tu-rning away Imeinoss that wiv could liavo and handing it to Lho foroignor who, oneo getting a fair hold, will probably monopolise it in tho future. This, from a national point of view, is exceedingly had business.

Them there is tho farmer. On the question of tho wages paid wo aro convinced that a good case can ho mado out by the men for an increase in many instances, hut tho real trouble for tho producer is not ono of wages, hut of supply of labor. Only the other day a local farmer was offering Is Gd an hour for harvest hands' and could not get his wants supplied. In recent years tho man on tho land lias boon loss and loss disposed to grow cereals, or any other crops for tho matter of that, ono of tho chief reasons being tho dilliculty of getting a regular supply of labor. A similar position enters into tho many problems that vex the housewife. Sho cannot obtain assistance although tho remuneration offered is considerably in excess of what it used to he. At one time this trouble, which lias been merely accentuated recently, was attributed to the disinclination of girls to take up do ict- | lie service as a means of earning a i livelihood, hut a.s the same scarcity : is now prevalent in factories and dressmaking establishments, it is ap- ! parent that this factor cannot now be ! considered the main cause of the inconvenience that ensues in domestic, households.

There is in fact a scarcity of lab >r in many branches of industry, and tho position has become so acute that the progress of the country is , being impeded as a, result. The prospeJs lor the future aro by no means rosy. Our advertising columns aro daily utilised by those desiring boys and youths to enter offices or trades, and the demand is constantly above the supply- Nowadays any lad showing promise is “booked” for a position long before be leaves school. It is dess tho Trades and Labor Council taking up an attitude which seems to have for its foundation the belief that the less workers we have in tho Dominion the higher will wages be, for this

is an economic fallacy that should be transparent to any thoughtful person. There must be immigration, and that, too, on a much more extensive scale than lias hitherto been the case. The Government very properly prohibits private individuals from importing labor wholesale, under the contract system, and it cannot shirk the duty of taking all possible steps to get the population that is needed for the proper development of tho country, and which is still more necessary from the point of view of national defence. So long as our population is restricted to a mere handful of people we can only be said to bo occupying the country on sufferance, and must daily pray that England’s protecting influence may ever prove strong enough to guard us from danger.