EUROPEAN MIGRATION

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XLV, Issue 10349, 12 March 1925, Page 3

EUROPEAN MIGRATION

PROBLEM FOR AUSTRALIA. “FLOATING TOWER OF BABEL.” Like a floating Tower of Babel, the Messageries steamer Cephee came into Fremantle this morning. Gazing hungrily at the land from the. third-class decks were 430 Jugo-Slavs,' 80 Italians, and over 300 Greeks, Syrians, and Macedonians, with a handful of Cingalese from Colombo. Among tho 14 passengers in the secondclass are five different nationalities. The firemen are Arabs and the stewards are Chinese.

Over 100 of these people are booked for AVest Australia, 17 for Adelaide, 100 for Victoria, and 631 for Sydney. Many of those booked for Sydney, however, are seeking permission to land at Fremantle. They are told that West Australia is a better country for them than the eastern States.

The 900 immigrants on this ship appear to he a great puzzle to the Australian and English people in the firstclass. “How is it,” they ask, “that Australia, which is so sternly discouraging the migration of English ano Scotch people, is opening her doors tc these Slavs, Italians, and Greeks?” Nl one can explain. The coming of these Mediterranean peoples may be an embarrassment, bin it also may prove a blessing. It rnaj force Australia to adopt and operate : definite and intelligent immigration policy. Australia wants white population, and must have it if she is to survive as a nation. She wants Britis. people, and anyone who has beer, among the British masses knows that unlimited numbers of British people will come if given the slightest encouragement or assistance. If the Britisl do' not come, then there are millions of other Europeans, who will come without either encouragement or assistance.

Inquiries show that practically every one of the men on the Cephee has left at home a wife or a brother or a cousin who is merly awaiting the word to follow him to Australia. There are two or three well-educated and intelligent men among these Slavs, who have been commissioned to let th< Jugo-Slav newspapers and public institutions know what are the conditions ir Australia. . , Australia must realise that a part ol the great Central European migration stream having been turned away from America is headed towards Australia, and will not easily be stopped. It is a curious thing that the call u Australia seems to have been heard in all these Mediterranean countries. While the Australian labour organisations have been fierce in discouraging the best immigrants of England ant Scotland, a determination to go to Australia has been sweeping like a wave over Italv, Jugo-Slavia, and Greece. The Messageries Maritime Line ha? been quick to take advantage of this development. The upper holds ot tfic Cephee have been converted to provide accommodation for 1200 men am women. When the Cephee, left preparations were being made in Marseilles similarly to convert two other steamer: of this company’s Australian line. ln< immigrants are being earned from the Mediterranean to Austrlia for 200. francs each (roughly £3O). The acconi-1 modation provided is remarkably clear and good. , „ i. Except that they are not of Bntisstock, there is little to be sard agamsi tlio quality of these new Australians They are young, healthy, and very *., telligent, and' decent and clean in then shipboard habits. The Jugo-Slavs particularly make a good impression. There are very few women; the> ait nearly all young men who themselves as farm workers U have a little money, and nearly all lmy some relative or friend in Australia, from whom they expect help; but Jper cent, of them know no more English than the four words I want - iob ” All are p*tlieticallv eagei to the assurance that they will be able U live in Australia.