CANADIAN IMMIGRATION.

Auckland Star, Volume LII, Issue 72, 26 March 1921, Page 11

CANADIAN IMMIGRATION.

'' AUSTRAUAN COMPETITION. : ARMY OF IDLE WORKER?. | i i I (From Our Own Correspondent! VANCOUVER, March i. : \ subject which is exercising considerable attention in Canadian circles is : that in respect to immigration and the present unsettled state of unemployment throughout the British Empire. Canada has a vast army of idle men workers in the country, principally through the tightening up of the bank- , ing institutions of the Dominion, ami the : ' world readjustment in business. When ; lhe banks refused to advance loans for j speculative issues many concerns were : forced to close, and the process of re- : rommeiK'ing is extremely slow as yet. ! 'As a coneequence. directly Lloyd | {Jeorpi , .--ujrge'>ted sending many thou- j ' RritauiV unemployed to Canada , and other parts of lhe Empire, a vigor- i ous shout of disapproval was heard from ', ■ lluliiax to \ancouvcr, as it was con- j tended that this would simply mean fur- ! tlior flooding f>f the ranks of the work- ! Now Canada ht-ai,- -.villi interest that ; Australia is launching J campaign oi ; competition with Canada for immigration ; fro-.ii the British Isles, by Australia i offering a grant of £ 1-2 towards the j total third<-lans fare of £38 to suitable j immigrants from the United Kingdom. It . lis stated that of the remaining £2fi, the Australian Government offers to lend another £ 13, leaving only a similar amount for the prospective citizen to pay himself. I Under the proposed expenses scheme <of immigration now under discussion, (Canada; like the other Dominions, may be. askod to co-operate with Great Britain in defraying at least part of the prevailing high passenger rates for immigrants, but nothing will be finally decided upon until the Prime Ministers ' meet in June. i The position of the ranks of organised I labour in Canada is that there should ! be no restriction to emigration from the United Kingdom to Canada, as all should be gladly welcomed to a Dominion about the size of Europe itself, and furthermore, Canada being possessed ot j boundless possibilities for development, every inducement should be offered to : bring- into the country men of the I stamina of British workers, anxious to I ■ try their luck overseas. Unless this is done throughout the British Empire, [patriotic Canadians fear the surplus in I the Old Country may drift to the United [States and other foreign climes and, in a j way, be lost to the circle of Britishers I around the world. I It is pleasing to note that financiers in England are exhibiting an ever-growing I interest in the potentialities of Canada", and during the last few months intiuen,tial representations have visited Canada I and investigated its possibilities, with I the result that efforts are being made to develop the mining, lumber, hydro-elec-tric and other sections of Canadian in- . dustry. and thereby provide employment j for thousands of hard-working Britishers j who have recently worked at easuallv , ■ through la<?k of domestic capital " i ! I With all this prospective work in i : view, Canadian organised labour will I J welcome al! who care to cross the \t- , ;lantic to become settlers in the Doi mim-on. as they realise the v will prove i acceptable citizens and further increase industrial possibilities of the British - -North American Dominion. 1 DISTRESS IN CANADA. ; Distressing conditions exist m many t of the cities and towns but J every effort has been I Federal and Provincial Governments to i oop with dispensing funds for relief of destitute families. In the province of Ontario, where two million Canadians are domiciled, and where many of the ' i Dominion's leading manufactures are produced, unemployment has wrought ■ ; terrible hardship. I n this connection a - i heartrending statement of the condition iin industrial Brockville has been . : received i n Ottawa in a letter from the [ president of the Brockville branch of . the Ureat War Veterans" Association, to . Mr. C. (!. Mac Nell, Dominion secretary. ; The statement describes conditions , which compare with Armenia, Ukraine, ! and other war-swept countries: children t garbed in blankets and wearing bags l about their legs and feet: women forced to dress in remnants of their husbands'. clothes in order to keep warm in the! ' j Eastern frigid winter, and men begging ; j with tears in their eyes for food fu# ■ . themselves and families. i I In some Canadian cities, notably Mon- 1 ' , treal. crazed workless have been driven 1\ to desperation through inability to i \ secure employment, and have invaded . ; shops nnd restaurants to obtain food j for themselves and their families. Some .! of the idle have gone so far as to i demand the right to o[)erate the closed ■ factories themselves, afid many have . urged Government ownership of these ■ sources of wealth. . J Competent judges of the situation ! helieve that Canadian industries are fundamentally sound, and that the I Canadian market will be one of the . firpt to recover from the temporary j depression. i