EMPIRE'S EMPTY SPACES.

Auckland Star, Volume LV, Issue 119, 21 May 1924, Page 5

EMPIRE'S EMPTY SPACES.

TO FILL WITH BRITONS. MIGRATION COMMITTEE REPORT. MOSTLY ABOUT AUSTH.AI.IA. (Bj Cable.—Press Association.— Copyright J LONDON, May 20. The report of the Overseas Migration delegation has been published. It covers 124 printed pages, and is largely descriptive of the conditions in Australia. Apart from the general recommendations previously published, the report refers to the suspicion that the Australian mission was due to the British Government's desire to reduce unemployment in Britain. That view was : fostered by the prominence given to the grievances of isolated settlers, while the success of the majority was not mentioned. The report deprecates applying the word "failure" to settlers who have not settled down immediately. The evidence taken by the delegation, says the report, showed that the majority of the settlers in Australia, even those who were disappointed and dissatisfied in the first few months, generally settled down congenially before the end of two years. , The delegates found no evidence among the disappointed settlers that Australia House had given them definitely misleading information. ■WORK, -WORK, 'WORK. Many settlers had, however, arrived in Australia with exaggerated ideas of the ease and speed with which wealth could be acquired there. When they saw pictures of smiling homesteads, migrants were apt to overlook the hard work and discomfort preceding such prosperity. The delegation thought that the termination of casual agricultural employment, without notice, weighed hardly on newcomers in Australia, and often drove them toward the cities. Recognising that modern farming in Australia needs considerable capital, the delegation approves of settlers being required to find a, portion of it. Where a man had nothing of his own invested, however, the temptation to withdraw under initial difficulties often proved too strong to resist. Where possible, it would be best and safest for an intending settler to have at least a year's practical work on a good farm in the district where he wished to settle prior to taking up his holding. t GROUP SETTLEMENTS. : The delegation recommends that i migrants for group settlement should ' not be exclusively grouped on a large - area, but should be associated with ; Australian settlers. i Commenting or; the difficulties of a few families who went to Western - Australia for group settlement, and I were rejected after their arrival, the delegation expresses the opinion that ? the selection of candidates for group . settlement should be made in London, 3 but states that it was contended that : this is not feasible. 3 Tho delegates were impressed and j most encouraged by the working out .of the boy migration schemes. They i thought boy immigration should be j confined to definite schemes of training j and apprenticeship, which were not ex- » tended to the nominated system.—(A. and N.Z. Cable.) ,