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2 June, 1911.] Labour Exchanges and Emigration. \4tth Day. Sir JOSEPH WARD— cont. recommend the Government of New Zealand to give it a trial on the basis of co-operating with the High Commissioner. We want a certain number of people, and, if it is any advantage to the British Government labour exchanges, that they should filter through them and the people conform to the conditions we require, I see no objection to it. But as far as New Zealand is concerned we could not go for a system that would allow an indiscriminate number of people to be sent out to our country. We should require to regulate that. But upon the whole I rather favour the proposal, provided the flexibility necessary to meet the local conditions is recognised, that is, assuming all of us put it into practical shape; I am prepared to consider the matter contained in this resolution. General BOTHA : I can only say that I agree with what Sir Wilfrid Laurier has said. We intend to make use of the labour machinery here to get the men that we want from here; but we shall have to be very careful in South Africa. As you know, we have in South Africa, a large number of labour men earning a wage on the contract system of about QOl. a month. The average man in Johannesburg gets about BZ. a week. That class of man earns enough to look after himself. Besides that we have a large number of men in South Africa. Our labour market is quite full, and we therefore have a large number of men in Johannesburg and Pretoria to-day who have no work at all. Labourers are attracted in a very large number to South Africa where these wages are being paid, and the Government has to keep a large number of men going now at temporary work at 3s. and 4s. a day. We have been paying large sums of money, and I think we have 4,000 or 5,000 people now working at 3s. and 4s. a day on relief works, just to keep them going. Now that class of man we cannot afford to have in South Africa, and we cannot encourage that class of man to come to South Africa. Therefore we have already had our difficulties with this class of man, and we must be careful. My Government has spent a large sum of money in trying to make agriculturists of some of these men, and have placed a large number of them on the veldt; but I am sorry to say we have met with hopeless failures as regards some of these men, and I shall not be at all surprised if we lose a lot of money over them, because you cannot change a man from an ordinary labourer into an agriculturist at once; it takes some time, and it is too expensive. Now I am very much in favour of supporting emigration to South Africa, but there I do not want men who will be idle in the streets; I want agriculturists, and for that class I am prepared to spend money, and I hope if we get over this difficulty we have—with the difficulty we have with the Union-Castle Company-—and get that settled to make provisions to support our immigration scheme, because we are in favour of it, and we are going to encourage it to a very large extent, but at the same time I think we shall have to be very careful in bringing in, or trying to bring in, the best and the right men to South Africa. Unless we are careful it will be a hopeless failure and a great drawback to us in South Africa. Everything therefore depends solely upon the selection of the men. Sir JOSEPH WARD : I agree. Sir EDWARD MORRIS : I am in favour of the resolution, if the labour exchanges can be secured. Mr. BATCHELOR : The Agents-General state that their own methods of obtaining direct were much more efficacious than supplying through the labour exchanges. Mr. BUXTON : I am very glad we have had this discussion, and I think it has been of value to us here from the point of view of the labour exchanges and the question of emigration. I brought forward this resolution, not with any intention of pressing it on the Conference if there was any objection at all, but with a view of raising the point for discussion. We have had various representations made to us from various quarters that it would be expedient, and that the Dominions themselves would" welcome some co-operation between

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