The Hawera Star. THURSDAY, DECEMBER 11, 1924. LINKING THE EMPIRE.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 11 December 1924, Page 4

The Hawera Star.

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 11, 1924. LINKING THE EMPIRE.

Delivered every evening by 3 o’cloeK In Hawera Manaia, Normanby, Okaiawa, Eltham. Mangatoki, Kaponga, Awatuna; Opunake. Otakeho, Manutahi, Alton, Hurleyvllle, Patea, Waverley, Mokoia, W.bakainara, Ohaugai, Merernere, Fraser Road, . and Ararata.

Mr L. S. Amery is one of the keenest advocates in Britain of ways and means of linking the various parts of the Empire in the closest union, and his desire that Britain’s statesmen should visit the Dominions is one that the leaders of the nations overseas will be ready to support. A year or two ago Mr Amery did splendid work in urging an Empire emigration policy. He pointed out in speeches and in special articles in English papers that Britain was over-populated., while the Dominions contained thousands of square miles of territory very sparsely settled, and that one of the most important problems facing the nation was that of effecting) a satisfactory redistribution of the Empire’s population. The very distressing unemployment situation in Great Britain could not in his opinion be dealt with satisfactorily while' such an uneven distribution of population existed in the Empire. The months that have passed since Mr Amery made his speeches and wrote his articles on distribution of population within the Empire have not brought a great change, and, though Britain is in a stronger position financially than she was then and certain improvements in trade have taken place, there is still a huge army of people in Britain who are out of employment and dependent upon doles to keep them from starving. Britain cannot possibly stand the strain of carrying indefinitely an army of urnemployed numbering as many people as the Dominion of New Zealand contains, and the time for the nation as a whole to deal adequately with the difficult problem is long overdue. Emigration is taking place steadily, but it is not keeping pace with the natural increase of. the population of Great Britain. The people of the Dominions realise that many more immigrants of the right type can be absorbed into the population, but in Britain and the. overseas Dominions there is not in existence the machinery required to effect a rapid and satisfactory redistribution of the Empire’s white population. Prime Ministers have several times gone to London. and advocated better policies for emigration to the Dominions, and the Imperial Conferences have received them very sympathetically, but there the matter seems to rest until another Conference brings the opportunity for discussing it again. Not long ag'o the British Government sent a Commission on Overseas Settlement to the Dominions, and in the short time at its disposal the Commission gained a fair knowledge of the position. But much more can and must be done before a sound solution is found. The idea of statesmen of the Empire meeting in conference in the vairous parts will be welcomed by those who realise the seriousness of the problem of securing a much better distribution of the nation's man-power and woman-power. We have referred to immigration because it is one of the most important questions connected with linking up the Empire, but there are others, such as naval and military defence, Empire communications, Empire trade, and economic. matters, which merit the best attention and investigation by the nation’s statesmen. Ministers in England cannot grasp the needs of the whole Empire adequately unless they visit its various parts and gain first hand information. So deep-rooted was the old conception of the Empire as a family consisting of the Mother Country and her children that even now there are comparatively few statesmen and politicians in Great . Britain who have a clear realisation of the change during the last ten years, in which the children have grown up and are keen to develop to the full their nationhood won bv their magnificent, work during the war period. Mr Amery does realise it, and it is to be hoped that he will be able to secure rapidly increasing support for his views, so that in a spirit of United Empire the statesmen of the several parts may become fully conversant with the nation’s needs and may find the best- way to solve its many important problems. Ihe outline of Mr Baldwin’s policy contained in the King’s Speech shows

Unit the nett' Government is keen on close co-operation with the Dominions, and the proposals made concerning Empire matters are designed to encourage unity and 'clear understandings between the Motherland and the British nations overseas.