CONCENTRATION ON MIGRATION.

Press, Volume LIX, Issue 17756, 7 May 1923, Page 11

CONCENTRATION ON MIGRATION.

THE COMING OFFICIAL

TOUR. NEW ZEALAND TO BE INCLUDED : JB.hH OVX OWS LONE OX. March -2*. In a few days' time a tspeoialiy selected delegation will leave for Australia at the invitation of the Common wealth Government to examine the schemes for settlement already in force there (or in contemplation), and the arrangements which have been made for the reception and absorption of settlers. By the time tins delegation lias completed its survey it is hoped that the conference in London will have made appreciable headway. This organised concentration of activities to deal with the great problem of interImperial migration is nro'bably unparalleled in the British Empire. Thoso who are going out are: Mr William Windham. C.L.E.. Miss Gladys Pott. 0.8. E., Mr James Wisnall. Al.l\, MiFrank B. Smith, C.M.G., and Mr It. G .Somervell.

Although as yet there is no official intimation that the delegation will visit New Zealand, I learn on good authority that the l>omhih>n will be included in its tour, and that the official announcement to this effect will be made after the party has arrived in Australia. Miss Pott is a very well known authority •on investigations of the kind about to bo undertaken, for she has made official visits to Canada and South Africa, and has been unofficially in India. On return she has supplied valuable reports on conditions and prospects in those countries. It is becoming generally recognised that if the lands at present tine, ltkated an:t unoccupied in Canada, Australia and New Zealand could 'he -made to contribute their quota to the wealth of the Empire the result would be of the highest importance. There would be the direct yield in commodities, an absorption of nersons unable to find employment in Great Britain, and the crea-" tion of additional markets for certain classes of goods manufactured at homo. All things being equal, every migrant from Groat Britain becomes a representative of that country in the commercial sense, probably, in some instances, unconsciously so, but nevertheless an agent.

Dealing in a leading article with the all-important matter, the "Western Daily Press" (Bristol) remarks: "Of course, it is easy enough, to recommend emigration as a panacea for the industrial congestion at home, but it is not quite so easy to overcome the prejudice against quitting the Old Country. This is a matter of sentiment which is praiseworthy on the whole; but surely it would be better for those concerned to enjoy the chance of a fuller and more hopeful life in the overseas Dominions than to be condemned to lead a precarious and not very happy existence at home. The problem is manysided, and suitable emigrants are under no obligation to sever themselves from their families. Swift and cheap intercommunication between the overseas Dominions and the Mother Country has greatly reduced the asperities which fell on the earlier settlers. As time goes on these facilities will be multiplied, and emigration does not imply by any means banishment from the Old Country, or serious alienation from it. What Canada and the oversea Dominions want are emigrants who have been born under the British flag—white men and women, prepared to engage in reasonably hard work, at least for a time, until the conditions of their environment have undergone improvement, 'lhe worst of it is that if we systematically emigrate the best types of our men and women at home, we lay ourselves open to the risk of admitting from the Continent aliens who are inferior in physique, who have lower ideas of the standard of living, and who are by no means averse to the undercutting of the prices in the labour markets. That is a danger, however, against which we have our own remedy, if the Government is willing to enforce that remedy. This aspect of the problem will have to be considered very carefully, lest Great Britain be led into the sacrufice of the substance for the shadow—or, to put it more plainly, lest we. be induced to send away our own vigorous and healthy people and to accept in exchange for them persons of an inferior type. The 'Governments of the overseas ' Dominions appear to claim the to pick and choose amongst what to be our "surplus" population in Great Britain, and we must make sure that this severely discriminatrirv selection does not leave the Motherland with the nucleus of an undesirable residuum, prepared to subsist on the dole rather than earn the wages of honest labour. But when safeguards in this respect have been devised it would appear that the policy of State-aided emigration on a gigantic scale is worthv of encouragement and development."

When a Man "Makes Good." At a farewell dinner at the Lyceum Club last night Miss Pott said the object of her mission to Australia was to find out the facts touching the migration of H'omen to that country. Incidentally, she expressed it as her strong conviction that married men who migrated to Australia should take with them their wives and families, as previors experience in other Dominions had convinced her that the presence of his wife and children was a stronger incentive to a man to "make pood" than any other incentive of which she had any knowledge. Under the Empire -Settlement Act passed in 1922, the Imperial Government has power to co-operate with the Governments of the Dominions and other organisations in formulating and carrying out agreed schemes for assisting suitable persons in the United Kingdom to settle within the British Empire. The expenses incurred are shared between the Governments concerned. An agreement between the Imperial and Commonwealth Governments a .scheme of assisted passages to Australia has been m operation = sir,ce Julv 10th, 1522, and consideration is being given to agreements relating to land settlements in various States. The delegation will consider what lines of development afford the best hope of progress, having regard to the different classes of settlers and their general welfare and prospects in the future. They will also confer with the Australian authorities as to the •best means of carrying out the common objects in view, and will endeavour to collect as full and authoritative information as possible on all present and future aspects of the settlement problem. Jt is thought that a personal interchange of views will be of the utmost advantage in promotinr the co-operation which is essential tc a comprehensive policy of emigration and settlement.-