EMIGRATION AND FLAG.

Press, Volume LXV, Issue 13375, 17 March 1909, Page 6

EMIGRATION AND FLAG.

The formation of a Settlers' Information League at Home, to encourage British emigrants to proceed to the colonies in preference to foreign countries, has come none too soon. The emigration returns for 1907 show that 103,&j9 emigrants left Great Britain for foreign countries, the bulk of them going to tho United States. This represents n drain on tho resources of the Empiro which it can ill afford. It is quite unnecessary, for tho Empire is quite big enough and varied enough in the opportunities it presents, for nil tho would-be emigrants in tho British Isles now and for very many years to come. What is wanted is some intelligent direction to prevent this flow of good human material to an alien country. Official England is verycold towards emigration. It regards it as a necessary evil. A minor member of tho present Government, has even described it as a counsel of despair. There. is something in this; it is lamentable from tho strictly English point of view that England should be drained of much of her best blood. But failing measures to keep this blood in the country, it is surely highly desirable to- prevent it from enriching a foreign naticn. Tlie official connection with emigration is through tht» Emigrants' Information Office, under the control of tho Colonial Ofh>o. According to the London correspondent of tho ''Age," so far as the Emigration Offico is concerned, the emigrant may go to America, the Argentine, Russia, oven to Iceland, if he wants to; tho Emigration Office thinks its duty is done when it has told him how ho can go. "He is supplied with information, by " no means always correct, about eeve- ' ral parts of the British Empire. But " he is also impartially informed of at- " tractions in other parts of the world. "There is a branch of the Colonial '• Office actually spending British money " in regularly advertising foreign cotin- " tries, and the officials are almost " fanatically cautious in their anxiety " to make it clear that while supplying •' "facts," they are not to be understood

'• a.s advocating emigration to British " Dominions or elsewhere." An Englishman complains in the "Standard of Empire" of tho difficulty he had in getting information about the Pacific Islands from the Colonial end Emigration OfFces. Tho former

gave him some information apparently culled from a reference book of fifteen years ago; tho latter knew absolutely nothing about the subject. A Cana-

dian emigration agent, dir-ciissing emigration with an Australian investigator the other day, emphasiscel that Canada did not mind if Australia attracted large numbers of emigrants. So long as they were prevented from going to the United States, it did not matter to Canada which part of the Empire

cured thorn. This journalist's investigations showed that all the energies o F Canada's agents were- being directed to deflecting emigrants from New York. This ;'.tti*!ide is perfectly rt-asonab!'.*. Canada naturally prefers British to foreign emigrants, an.! ferls annoyed to Fee thousands of Englishmen. Irishmen, and Scotchmen entering the Cnitcel States and helping to strengthen her rival next door. But my groa-r change in the nfTUial attitude towards emigration is unlikely at present, r-o we must look to private or semi-private enterprise to do what it can to make emigration follow the Fug.