EMPIRE SETTLEMENT.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XLII, Issue XLII, 13 October 1922, Page 3

EMPIRE SETTLEMENT.

NEW ZEALAND PRAISED A LONDON, July 27. The Saturday Keyiew makes reference to the great work which Mr. Mas- j sey has 3bne for New Zealand and the ' Empire, and adds:"We say it without meaning any offence, but we have always thought that New Zealand was ' in many ways the most British, and in some ways jfche most English; of all the far-flung lands of the Empire; and we can imagine no finer scope for those who ar© crowded out of England than that which a vigorous life in New Zea- 1 land ofljers.'' ' ; Mr.- Ralph Williams, who writes as ! one who knows the Dominions and cpl- I onies, tells readers -of The Times that j the thousands of young Englishmen, largely from the Navy and Army, wh© are now contemplating■ emigration and i a transfer of their energies and small i capital to other lands, would do well to ponder on these things, and to make their decision with a full knowledge ot the idosyncracies of those among whom they intend to cast: their lot. ' 'It is , riot out of place to'remember that NewZealand, one of the finest of our Do- : minions, was largely created by the ! exertions of the younger sons of Eng- } Hsh and Scottish country gentlemen ! and tenant'farmers■>». !

He describes Canada as < 'the great- j est, its resources are the Richest, and | it is certainly the most beautiful of all the. great British possessions," and says that in the Dominions the young Englishman is at once taken for what he is. If he is an ass, and he sometimes is, they do not hesitate to tell him so; but he" has not got to live •down a prejudice. 5' *^ ! PEOPLING THE EMPIRE. ! ''■ "There is no item of;: Imperial policy one-half so important as that of multiS plying the British stock under the British flag," says the Sunday Times. "The days when the settlement of the -Empire vyas left to chance are definitely gone. : We are now deliberately and judiciously, and with a wealth of accumulated experience behind us, co.V operating with the Dominions in solving a problem that is as. much our.', problem as theirs. People the Empire^' with men and women of British blood, and its future is seemed for all time." Sir Joseph Cook tells the public that the 14,000,000 acres of pastoral lands ■ in Australia which in 1930 produced a cash value of over £220,000,000 apart from their value in the provision or -foodstuffs and" their ,valu© as » source Of employ nteiit for thousands, are the merest fraction of -the available agricultural lands of th« Commonwealth. Scores of > millions of acres are available. Their capacity of production is boundless. They need only millions of workers, and it is these the migration schemes will provide. ' 'But before we take millions of settlers to Australia,"' he says, " a great deal has to be done in preparation for them. A good deal is already being done—by our irrigation schemes, for example, on which Australia ; > is spending millions of pounds. ■■'. We want to extend thoseschemes, and we want toNprovide the ' necessary railway, and road Qpmmuhicationa, to prepare the lands ror settlement , and generally to give: ea^h migrant a fair start. Migrants\to Australia should in all cases be agricultural workers. If they are without capital ' their to settle on the land; wjli, if they are otherwise eligible,,-en-title them to the advantages of assisted passages.'' ' • THE ECLECTIC STANDPOINT. Commenting upon the emigration agreement, the Yorkshire Post remarks: "Under schemes judiciously devised and carefully worfied, there -should be ample room in most of the Dominions for all the emigrants likely to be sent. At the same time the objection, and the steps that may be taken to meet it, give emphasis to some misgivings which necessarily arise on other grounds. The development of the Empire and its resources with British bone and sinew is a high Imperial object, and while unemployment prevails at home there is a material advantage in sending overseas some of our superfluous workers: but it is not easy to contemplate with unqualified enthusiasm schemes which, if worked from the eclectic standpoint of the Dominions, may have the effect of depriving the Motherland of great numbers of the most virile and most , enterprising of our young people, and j that partly at the expense of the British taxpayer. This is an aspect of the question which cannot be ignored; but neither can we ignore the fact that whereas we have 394 persons to the square mile, Australia has. but 1 6 ..Canada 2.5, and New Zealand 11V There is evident scope for redistribution, but if we help the Dominions to populate their wide spaces, we may ' reasonably hope that they will not in sist too stringently on taking onl y of the best.** y

NEW ZEALAND FOR PREFER- . ■•: . ENOE. : A_ retired sheepfarmer, aged 53, is i anxious to emigrate, with his wife and! daughter-. ' Ho wants to buy or rent ' a hill or sheep farm where he could have lots /or rabbit shooting. New. Zealand is the country he prefers, for he has distant relations who. went to Dunedin many years ago/ He has sought information from the Bazaar Exchange and Mart, and the following are among his \ inquiries; "Some years ago you stated that a man's £5000 here was equal to £7500 in_ Australia or New Zealand. Is this still so ? While we are looking round, what about cost of living and travelling to see the country and 'prospecting' for a likely place to settle down m?'» ■> ■ . . ■ i*? *f l oId: "Prol)aWy the South Island of New Zealand' would suit you best. The climate is very much the satoie as that of the United Kingdom, pnly warmer and more equable. There is less fog and mist, and more sunshine than we experience at home. New Zealand is a promising field for farmers with capital, but the cost of good agricultural and .pastoral land is high. The capital required for' working & farm, exclusive of the cost of the land, is about 30s to 60s an acre. Information as to the price of the land ?S?.' *** obtained at the Grown Lands Office at the port of arrival. Rabbits are looked upon as vermin, and are trapped or poisoned. They have proved a curse to the farmer on account of the damage they do to all kinds of crops;" He is told of the shooting and of the excellent trout fishing available in all rivers'and lj£kes. "