The Gisborne Times. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. MONDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 1910. IMMIGRATION AND DEVELOPMENT.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVIII, Issue 2735, 14 February 1910, Page 4

The Gisborne Times. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. MONDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 1910. IMMIGRATION AND DEVELOPMENT.

The report that intending immigrants from Denmark and Sweden have been warned against journeying to Australia or New Zeaand. is, naturally, very disconcerting to those Government officials wliu have conceived it to be their duty to hold up these countries as providing splendid opportunities for all who desire to try their luck in a new land. AYo know what our own Premier, in his breezy optimistic manner, is constantly saying about New Zealand; and the same tune, though possibly in a more subdued key, is played by the heads of the Governments in the neighboring states. For instance, farmers in England are told, verbally and in official publications. that New Zealand possesses unrivalled opportunities for land settlement, when the hard fact is that the bulk of our land is so locked up that our own people are unable to obtain allottments. This is strikingly shown by the number of unsuccessful applicants who are perforce turned away whenever selections are opened np by the Government. Doubtless a similar state of affairs exists in New South AValcs and Victoria and, if so, there need be little surprise that immigrants, coming out to settle on the land, have met with deep disappointment. The greatest object lesson in the way of an immigration policy has been provided by Canada, which has obtained many hundreds of thousands of settlers, including the pick of the United States, Britain, and Europe. The phenomenal manner in which the tide of immigration was set towards Canada some years ago was due to the Government’s recognition <>f the fact that the man who wrests produce from formerly barren soil is the man who must be looked to to found a nation. Free tracts of country were, therefore, offered to all legitimate settlers, together with reduced fares on steamships and railways. In tliis country we have not the vast area available which would warrant the granting of free land, but certainly a Government which appreciated the first principles of nation-building would take some practical steps to open up all unoccupied areas, and would make, them available for closer settlement. This is the main fact governing the development of a country, but it would seem that Queensland alone of the Australasian States has grappled with the position, in a really determined manner. Of course, as has been made plain in Australian cablegrams, all immigrants are not capable of becoming farmers; and we may add that under existing fiscal conditions, no country can afford to depend entirely on those who produce.direct from tbe soil. If the Australian States and New Zealand had industries which supplied the bulk of their manufactured goods, these parts of the empire would be able to absorb, not only farmers, but also tens of thousands of capable workmen from England and Europe. This is only possible by a judicious protection through the customs tariff, and, here again, none of the Colonial Governments have really tackled the problem in earnest. There have been 'numerous attempts at tariff tinkering, but, except in rare instances, the protection has been insufficient to place the different industries on a really sa-

tisfactory footing. In New Zealand we have not made the headway that- might reasonably have been expected; and at the present time we spend from £16,000,000 to £17,000,000 annually upon imported goods. We send our wool 13,000 miles to England and got it back again in the shape of English and Scottish tweeds; and the hides from our cattle make a similar journey so that British or American workmen shall get the job of making our boots and shoes. It is not easy to I'eincdy those economic defects, for at the bottom of all lies the inherent belief that there is heresy in any interference with free trade, but as free trade, as a world-wide policy, is impossible under existing circumstances, it remains for our Government to see that, in the adjustment of tariff laws, the industries of this country are not kept back. Unfortunately, behind the legislative incapacity of the Government in regard to land settlement and development of manufacturing industries, comes the unfortunate attitude <>f a large section of the workers. They adopt a dog in the manger policy, apparently believing that by preventing other workmen from entering New Zealand, they are really bettering their own. condition. Then, many of the conditions which they seek to impose upon their employers have no other effect than to decrease the production from which their own wages have to be taken. Legislation, based on these demands, does hurt to our industries, and defeats the ends for which the workers are striving. These are the chief facts underlying the immigration question, and until they are successfully handled, there will always be a difficulty in absorbing more than a very limited number of immigrants. In the meantime we can scarcely blame the Danish Minister for desiring to keep good farmers in his own country and despite all that has been said by Sydney journals, the fact cannot be gainsaid that newcomers to colonial cities very frequently find extreme difficulty in obtaining employment.