161

A.—s

light and easy, by the immigrant. The Crown still being the ground landlord, so to speak, for the time, is able to advance to settlers money which enables them to build their houses, and fence and improve their property, and to assist them in clearing the land. They now get a welcome, and every encouragement. We think therefore that the least to be expected is that a fair view of these facts should be put before all intending emigrants so that, when each makes his choice, he may know what Australia has to offer. If he keeps within the Empire we have nothing more to say. If he should leave it we regard him as a loss. We look upon emigration to foreign countries as draining the life blood of the Empire. We cannot consent to see people pass away from it who ought to remain upholding its flag. Sir JOSEPH WARD : Lord Elgin and gentlemen, I would like to say a few words upon this matter. New Zealand is in rather a different position from Australia. I think what Mr. Deakin has said with regard to Australia in its general application applies to New Zealand, but there is one important distinction, and that is that happily we have not a "coloured labour" question. It does not trouble us as a reality in New Zealand; in Australia it does. And from what I know of my own knowledge and have seen and heard from people in Australia, my opinion on the black labour question is similar to that of Mr. Deakin, that white labour could do all the work in Australia that black labour is now doing. Though there have been many statements made to the contrary by people, that is the general feeling of the people of Australia, and New Zealand most heartily endorses it, and I support Mr. Deakin in that respect most thoroughly. In New Zealand we are in a different position. We have been carrying out a system of immigration for a number of years, but have been doing it upon a scale and upon a system that I should not like to see departed from. The principle suggested or the proposal indicated in the memorandum from the Secretary of State for the Colonies about State-aided emigrants from Great Britain, is one which we would require to approach very carefully indeed, for the reason that I believe the troubles in the matter of an excess of people that you have to meet in England implies that the majority of those who seek to be helped out of your country, or a great many of them, would be the class that under ordinary conditions you do not care to retain. What I mean to say by that is that the class of people, if they were of a superior class, that you would want to help out in large numbers to our country, are the very people you ought to want to keep for yourselves. If you are going to have a system of State-aided emigrants to the self-governing Colonies, unless we had the right of examination and selection before they left here— which right, if you were giving State-aid or a large portion of that aicl, I presume you would want to retain in your own hands—the inference is we might get people imported into our country, or a portion of them, whom we would not care to have coming in in either small or large numbers. I am not for a moment presuming to make any reflection upon probably the most estimable class of people who may want to go to " fresh fields and pastures new "to try their fortunes there. But experience some years ago in New Zealand—and we can only look at this matter in the light of what we suffered many years aero—was in the nature of what I have endeavoured to describe, namely, that we got a very large section of people who were most undesirable; and our Colony would certainly not be prepared to go into anything like a wholesale scheme of immigration upon lines of that kind. The position that New Zealand takes up is that we are glad to receive immigrants if they are of a suitable class and have some capital: otherwise we are not. Immigration of that character is assisted now by the Colony

22—A. 5.

Sixth Day 25 April 1907

Emigration (Mr. Deakin.)