Ashburton Guardian Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. TUESDAY, JUNE 29, 1915. IMMIGRATION AFTER THE WAR.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XXXV, Issue 9178, 29 June 1915, Page 4

Ashburton Guardian Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. TUESDAY, JUNE 29, 1915. IMMIGRATION AFTER THE WAR.

Though .the main.business just now of statesmen and social economists and the military authorities is to assist in, the vigorous prosecution of the war, the conditions that .will existi.wken it has come to an end need a good deal of expert consideration. It has always been found, after a war, that a restlessness seizes upon the participants, and those of them whose avocations keep them indoors show a very natural disinclination to return to the dull routine ■ of office and factory..-. They have been bitten with the love of adventure, and the life out of doors calls to them un- ' ceasingly. That this will be the J case after the present war there is no reason to doubt, and the i problem of dealing wifh the) changed outlook- is one that! should not be left to settle itself. | Braced by danger and discipline,! and in the bloom of j'outh. and I ;healtli, the survivors of this, -ti-'; tanic struggle will be the finest j material the State-builders ever had at their disposal, and the overseas Dominions of the Em- \ pire will miss a splendid opportu-! nity if they do not. endeavour to divert to their shores a stream of these immigrants. The Little Englander will complain that the, heart of the Empire will be weakened if -iii loses its finest Jtype of. manhood, and there would be force in such an argument if the j war ended in such a way but that in which we intend it 'to end- I—that1 —that is, in the complete and lasting defeat of the Germans. Arguing from that

premise, there are certain eon-

siderations that are worth bearing in mind. The end of the war will probably see a great shifting of danger-zones and storm-centres in Europe, and Britain will be

free from serious menace, for many generations to come. The weakness of the Empire will be found in the vast unoccupied areas, especially in those that border on the Pacific. In the days

when the Labour agitators were a power in New Zealand,.-they used to protest against any form

of immigration, claiming that the Dominion had a great a population as it could-find work for. But comparison, with Japan will prove that we have plenty of space to.fill with immigrants of the right class. The area, of New Zealand is, roughly, ,103,000 square miles, and the population is 1,000,000. The area of Japan is 170,000 square miles, but it carries a population of 52,000,000. | A still greater contrast is to be i found in the case of Australia, where 13,000,000 square miles are peopled by only 5,000,000 inhabitants. Such a. country cannot fail to be a temptatipiv to earthhungry peoples and a source of real weakness to the Empire. It would-be a stroke of re*al statesmanship to transport a few hundred thousands of disbanded British soldiers to these southern lands, where they would remain good customers of British goods, adding hugely to the prouction of food s.upplies for British people, and providing the best of-all guarantees that these isolated portions' of the Empire would have tlie strength and will to-defend- them against a foreign foe.' With over 2,000,000 men returning to civil employment in Great Britain, some provision will have to be made, and preliminary stops in tho direction of an emigration scheme have already been taken by a committee of the Colonial Institute in London. The London "Standard" summed up the keynote of the movement when it said "the question involved was a truly Imperial one, and should be approached by the Governments of all parts of the Empire in the spirit-of joint enterprise, so. that supply and demand may be brought together.". The only

phase of the scheme, so far as the overseas Dominions are concerned; that must not be lost sight of for one moment, is that their own men must take precedence when the doors are opened. '