LORD HAIG'S ADVICE

Evening Post, Volume CV, Issue 23, 27 January 1923, Page 7

LORD HAIG'S ADVICE

"MEN STARVING IN AUSTRALIA"

SIR JOSEPH COOK'S. PROTEST. 1 / ■■ ■■' ' . (FROM OBR 6WN COIiRESFONDBNI.) LONDON, 14th December. Sir Joseph Cook (High Commissioner for Australia) has made a spirited reply < to the statement by Loi'd Haig at Manchester. Speaking at the opening of\ new branch clab for the British Legion, Lord Haig said that the parochialism which kept so many of the unemployed in this country hesitating to emigrate to the vast rich lands within the Empire overseas was_ maintained because those who did emigrate did not always find their expectations realised. He added: "What I want to get are letters. from the colonies to men here saying, 'Come out here. There is a good job and 'plenty to do.' . In§tead~ j. have had letters Horn , Queensland and certain other Dominions saying that men who have gone out are starving. I have had a telegram from a colonial Governor asking for £1000 to help some men who had emigrated. Until the Governments of the Dominions Set their house in order, I am not going to say to ex-service jneh here, 'Go and emigrate.' To do so at the present time would be unfriendly."

Lord Haig's statement was cabled out to Australia and New Zealand, and promptly there came from the States of tHe Commonwealth arid from New Zealand repudiations which were duly published in London dailies. On the whole, the affair may do more good than harm, for a great many letters from disgruntled settlers are appearing in the provin- | cial Press, and go for the most part un--1 ttiallenged. Coining from Lord Haig the statement necessarily roused a storm of protest and incidentally made an opportunity for an explanation of these pessimistic letters which are doing so much j harm to overseas settlement. ■ HASTY, GENERALISATIONS. "I read Lord Haig's Manchester speech with infinite regret that a great soldier should have been led to make it," says Sir Joseph Cook, in a letter to "The Times." "That there are emigrants who do not find their expectations always realised may very well be. But what other section of people in the world ever does completely? One would have thought that a distinguished and experienced commander, of all men, .would have avoided any hasty generalisations from the receipt of 'some letters' and telegrams from a colonial Governor. "I do not know, for Lord Haig does not: tell us, who the colonial Governor is who sent him this'S.O.S. on behalf of some men who had emigrated. I cm, however, remember a case of this kind in which I was interested as ActingPrime Minister .' some righteeh months ago. An appeal was made to me on behalf of, some ex-service men who had gone out to one of the, States. I promptly sent some relief. On investigation it was found that these men had gone out, 'on tTieir own,' without reference to us in any way whatever. Moreover, and this is the point, these men should never have gone at all. They were in everyway quite unsuitable for the hard work of pioneering, and quite unfit for the tasks ahead of a healthy migrant. "But incidents like these, I. suggiset, are hardly a reason for asking us to put our 'house in order.' Lord Haig says he has letters from Queensland saying that mep who have gone there are starving. The plain iirtt is that no man who can work in the country districts of Queensland or any other State need starve. And whoever or whatever is to blame for the fact. alleged,, it should not be hastily eet down to a disordered Dominion house. _ Since the war w« have spent /in Australia over £100,000^000 on the repatriation of our own ex-service men, and, in addition, we have settled thousands from this country also. "OOME OUT HERE." • "But perhaps I had better state the; following fact.. In these last three months over three thousand ex-service men have booked to leave for Australia. Some of them are already there. Others are on the way, and the balaace of 1200 sail durjng this month. Ev6.yono of these three thousand hi these three months have been- re-juisitionKl fcr. Some of them have been nominated by friends and relatives. To quote Lord Haig's words, 'Letters torn the colonies to men here saying, "dome out here, there is a good job and plenty to do," ' have been received. The balance of these ex-service men has been requisitioned by the various State Governments, who undertake that every one of them shall have employment on arrival, and, ultimately, if he desire it, settlement on a farm of the value of £1000 or £1500. "These are the bald, bare facts, and I cordially invite Lord Haig to visit Australia House and verify them for himself. He may see, at the game time, | piles of letters from these men expressing the greatest satisfaction with their treatment. Finally, let me cay this: We gnSrantee to every man whom we send a chance, a good 'chance, to succeed. We can, however, hardly guarantee beforehand that every one of them will snoceed. This depends .largely on the man himself, and is not in ovr power absolutely to control., I suggest to Lord Haig, with the deepest respect, that it is unfair to erect these unfortunate, and, in some cases, unavoidable incidents into major reasons in opposition to a policy which I venture to say is at least as imperative for this country as for the Dominions." , ■ ' "AWFUL CONDITIONS PREVAILING". Two Fetters appearing in provincial newspapers last week will probably be of interest. They are both typical of what has been served up to the public for a very long time, and only bear out the contention that more letters from the majority who have been successful would help to maintain a right perspective regarding the present conditions in the Dominions.

Here is a letter to the "Sheffield Independent" : "I am a Sheffielder, bred and born and lived 1 there all my life—4o years—but as things 'were so bad I left there and camo out her (South Australia) early in 1921, but if I had known what thi actual conditions of life> sfeje

I should never have come. I send you a few newspaper cuttings from the Adelaide papers of September, from which you will see the true condition of things here; and which; I trust may be the means of preventing other Sheffielders from making life harder for themselves by listening to the false propaganda issued from Australia House* Strand, W.C. 2. . s The taxation of the working classes is unbearable. There are only jnst over 5,000,000 people, here and the pnblic debt is £832;000,000. The governing classes know their only hope of salvation is to get more people over here to help carry this crushing burden. Many, however, who do come, when they see the awful conditions prevailing, either return Home or go to New Zealand.. Do please use your pen f* warn the poor boy emigrants. Their lot is hard and they little know the life they are coming to." . MISERY IN NEW "ZEALAND. And this from a returned emigrant) writing to the "Newcastle Daily journal. : "lii the interest of truth, and for the . benefit of intehSihg . emigrahls, I would like to state that if there are ho Imperial ex-soldiers starving in New Zealand it is. because they have displaced New Zealand workmen or are in receipii of charity. I left New Zealand two months ago. I was" a member of an unemployment* committee in one' of the cities,', and state solemnly that unemployment and charity were in marked existence in the country. Further, public subscriptions to alleviate, the unemployment and misery were being appealed, for in the newspapers, and "two depots at least were established for- the distribution of second-hand clothing, mat, etc. Land speculation that took place during the war, and the tendency towards-in-flated land . values have worked havdc with the agricultural and industrial activities of the country, and until land is obtainable in NeV Zealand at genuine value unemployment must continue."