EMPIRE DEVELOPMENT.

Press, Volume LVIII, Issue 17609, 11 November 1922, Page 8

EMPIRE DEVELOPMENT.

NEED FOR COOPERATIVE EFFORT. NOAH-THE PIONEER PASSENGER AGENT.

( FB OU OVZ OWN COBBESrOKPBNT.) TX)\r)ON, September 29. At the annual meeting of the Bnteh - lints' Association, Mr C. Passenger Agents on 2nt A £ ct was 1-ed. *« Sment desen-ed special consideration Millions of acres of prairie and f !!* lands overseas awaited pioneers S tilers of tie soil, parts of which Lrative ease, and a ive employment to parni.no creating aUy tdustnal enterprise, and increased mdustn ai { tivi tdo ior a pros--S^r^rfihe^yn perieucca »b was only naS S it SoSd no P t be overlooked that it might, without proper care ■Srily lead to* discontent, instead of Sntment both at Homo and the nnminions. because the best anu ex JSS 'agriculturute were- required n the Homeland, and unduly .to induce them to leave for the Dominions might cSS discontent . ™° n 2 S employers at Home. Further, S went to the Dominions might find s&«£ «o entirely different from what thev expected that it might lead to diSmtent- among tho settlers, ow iw Empire development in the SS'st and test sense of. the term, 3d never be fully attained while there was in the minds of certain people a conviction that unjust competition was Roinjl on. or thm, f ««»»■« » striking difference of opinion .on lmDortant matters relating to migration settlement. The Empire as a whole undoubtedly needed, develop ment. It needed cooperative action, and it needed everyone to help in the development. There were thousands cf deserving unemployed to-day who would not be classed as best, "make good* overseas if given the opportunity. Magna 'Charta, 1922. I At the annual luncheon, yesterday, presided over* by Mr % E. CoWman (President of the Association), Mr B. Jackson, proposing "Tne Empire s Oppo'rtunitv," remarked that the measure recently passed relating to Empire settlement might prove as important as Magna Charta. Eightly administered it mirfit be of untold value. This country was keenly interested m the scheme. The fact that it supplied part of the finance was only one point. Ot greater importance was the fact that tho human element would be drawn from these shores, ai:d most pfobabl} from the best we could possibly spare. He might be excused for, mentioning the fact.that many of their members had grave misgivings that their worlj was not receiving the recognition that it warranted.. They claimed to be in %. better position .to deal with many ot the questions thnt bad ans-n than were some of the official and other bndies •vho wore nt p'reent dealing -with, those; ! mrtters. and to whom irid-?perdent set-. +lers did not. in many, cases carp to go for )riformntion,',prefo'-ri|ig ratlier ti> : w ■t'V'pnssenger-a nr e'hts w'h'o olr'ployed.! ; taff , ? Vho had resided, in the Dominions. He hoped, thvi matter woiild not lie. over'ooked. Under the scheme the bonds of Empire might l>e .drawn % still closer; what' we in the Old Country wanted be-. by the new .lands; and our nroducts •being sent to eur brothers and "sisters overseas. Exports and Migration. «• At the present mement; said Bumhnm. what- was, being .attempted was the redistribution of the manpowe- and the woman-power of the British "mpire, riot for the mere purpose of economic utility, but for the greatest happiness and highest welfare of, the greatest number of people. In this work thev craved the assistance end 'service of the passenger-agents What it meant was best explained, not'in'the I words of the rhetorician, but of a. Cir- ! ciilar he received from tho London I Countv and Westminster Bank, one of ' the "Big Five" in our financial system. Tn that circular it was. stated' that ••Australia, New Zealand, Canada. Newfoundland, and South Africst received between them 17 per cent, or our exports in 1913, 13 per cent, in 1990 and 15 per cent in 1921, and, without in any way belittling /the importance ot this proportion, it'is difficu't to-see how any marked increase can he effoct:d in a short time. The best chdnos lies in tho encouragement of emigration. Some nssistanco will shortly be rendered by the Empire Settlement Act, 1952." That this Act'was passed was largely owing to Colonel Amery. fO'-eers.) There srmetinie 5 : t'lk »•« if State-aided and State-supported settlement overseas was a r.ew-lnnglsdV.'l, possibly, a- Socialistic idea. On the contrary, though, tho overseas Dominions might be sparsely populated, ho was quite sure that, had it not been for State aid and Ktute support, the number of men and women, there of British blood would be insignificant today compared with those of foreign stoclc. Time- after time the State had supported schemes, more or k-ss 'successfully, and for forty years in the middJe of last century "there appeared in the Estimates preseut«l to Parliament an item for assisted passages te the colonies. That the sums wero quite inadequate he would admit, but still, having regard to tho financial principles of- tliose days, they showed that even the Manchester School counterianced' that form of Imperial development. Co-operation v. Exploitation. The total number of applications up to August 31st, 192*2. had been 133,007, covering 270,001) souls, and the approximate number of these wno liad bailed Up to Augus-t 31st last was 77,250. I" tne list ot figures relating to tnose wlw had sai.ed during the last montlij Lord Buinham was a litt.e surprised to tind Camida at the head with 10/0, ir.cn, women. i:nd children, with Australia following close behind. That was an incentive to representatives of Australia to see to it tnat those figures no longer icid good. Tnis was reterrel to as « policy ot resettlement, but we never nad had a policy of Km pit c settlement; at all evonts, we had never pursued it long enough to see what we could do witli it. . vVe were not going back to the old days when we thought only cf the esploit;iti:'.n of co.onial i-cs.;»ire s. Tho day of exploitation had passed and the day of co-operation had oegun, and lie hoped would be lasting. He conjiuded by quoting words, now eighty years old (and though they might seem a little old-fashioned, they had enough )f the guiding light of human enthuiasm to inspire us to-day). In the Hisirical Report made by Lord Durham n tho condition of Canada as he found b before the great reconciliation, these .rords were used of the Dominions of ■;e Crown: «'They are the rightful pat--.mony of the British people, the ample i vppanage which God and Nature have to set aside in tho new world for those

Whoso lot fcoi .L: W'"!'" '."«»sjv tHey presentstowflu•?• ««* tb£ been Penal mind: *•*! S Permanent suae* $Z£ s***& «J *' Imperial S3^«^»*2 Willing amd» ;w^ of the Overseas r^*"** burdon of debt whirh lft » B«t pudiated. and social reform and *» Imperial burdens abroad S m8 »« way to surmount the noUn.* ** ing these burdens wafer i? °* «*»■ of fresh wealth, wlff J&2V"?* country to make good whrt ffi«i m the war and W ia* I "** suffering a„d dens. B, th. cr.«oTJJ3> meant the development of nHS U sources by the hand and braS' * I Wo had the hands and t£w°* ready in this country one who W anythin e abotjtK* pire could doubt. was the proper coordination of &J§t rag hands and waiting lands, keen brains and the unused mpital ity In. the great task of Empß velopment the passenger agent,, J\ body of public servant*, p i aTc a LV. portant ->art before 1914. Befor* £ Avar not far from 300,000 persons a »» were leaving these shores, easin z fti situation where employment \jm o t* crowded, creating fresh emploTowl hero by sending raw material, an'd fo ing in better surroundings for the*" selves and their children. The nt stopped all that. During the jew, „$ the war, in spit© of the losses, toe mm. lation accumulated beyond our » sources, and the problem was how tog that beneficent stream of human mo* ment to the Dominions into mctft again. For one reason and anottt there was an enormous increase in ta cost of passages. At one time a ticto to the other side of the Atlantic «j 30s; now it was £l7. The'orguu» tions on the other eide had largely daappeared, and the Dominion! w«tt«. gaged with their own problems. Itn» essential that new impulse ahouH It given to the movemont, and that W to be given by the State. It ym i~ matter for co-operative effort between ourselves interested in one aspect of the problem, and the Dominions, no ko interested from their point of view, »a] so, on the suggestion of the Impeml Conference, the British Goveroriwi passed a measure which put on record our willingness for a long period ot yeare to co-operate, and co-opoiU practically with money and goodwill, in any scheme of settlement and davrament which they might bring forwitN. The object was not only to set ttejii in movement again, but also to letit moving under better conditions. On© of the greatest industries of this country was shipbuilding, and tkb question of migration was vitally boass up .with the question of shipping.uj shipbuilding. We were faced with i serious problem in the American restrictions; that 50 per cent, of the pro. duoo' should be carried in Amencu ships sounded a menacing blow to ii tish shipping, but wo vrere-'ndllknatiti to despair. Americans were perfeah; entitled to take what me'utuet: tin thought fit in their own interest*, fun if those measures hit us we ccala-iee to it that'we built up our Enpipßahi> ping which would far more tui Btup up for what we might'lose ii the direction of the United-States.-:ila«lilt groat process the, passenger .agjmyjjtJ tho one who.required, tbe.-Wwik knowledge of languages, was Nottt(laiighterj—who hid to deal not cwj i with the serious problems .likely J»-l arise in Mesopotamia, but with the s I vantages 'bf acruise to Ararat. (Lauft I ter.) Continuing, J'OoWmV Ame^Mii <! that there' was not'the Blightert,intention on the part of thbse reiponsible for working., the ™»mj£2 looking the .services agent could of migration. The W#Jffi ■ Staid think of doing and f Even if the Government attitude wJ that Government-assisted «g should be extracted. f*# routine, he felt that \tbfjwgf?£j were giving to those Wja Wg>* cient .means,, would, «&*Jg& which there would ■■K*JJ™fi. ticipating ed It was a * lkh& grow. In this schente twyj» » candle that'.would g* light, *pA ,in..a VW&fc JJJJ (Cheers.) : ., ~. .; ',',:■