EMPIRE SETTLEMENT BILL.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LIX, Issue 18076, 28 April 1922, Page 7

EMPIRE SETTLEMENT BILL.

DEBATE IN THE COMMONS.

EFFECT ON UNEMPLOYMENT.

ULTIMATE GREAT BENEFIT. Py Telegraph- Press Association—CopTright. (Received 5.5 p.m.) A. and N.Z. LONDON, April 26. Lieutenant-Colonel L. C. M. S. Amery. Financial Secretary to the Admiralty, who is chairman of the Overseas Committee, in | moving the second reading of the Empire | Settlement Bill in the House of Commons, | pointed out that a large proportion of the : ex-service men who had emigrated under : tho earlier Overseas Settlement Commit-' tee's scheme would probahlv have enii grated of their own accord if the war had not broken out. A considerable percent-, age of ex-service men thus sent out were j now progressing well toward substantial j prosperity. If they had remained the, majority would certainly have needed un- j employment benefits, and the cost of their, passages was, therefore, well spent. The , present Rill enabled the Cn!on ; al Secretary ' and the Overseas Settlement Committee to co-operate with both overseas Governments and responsible private organisations in approved emigration schemes. It should be remembered, continued i Colonel Amery, that Britain had a surplus 1 of 13 millions of women, while the short-1 j age of women in the Dominions was pre- J | judieinc (.heir social life. The Imperial ex- . | penditure in tho first year was limited to [ £1,125.000. Two millions would make. I j possible the assisting of from 60,000 to, | 80.000 persons a year. Before long, he , ! believed, the House would regard the j amount as quite inadequate, but in view | of the present financial difficulties, and | i with the object of gaining experience, he j had prepared a substantial instalment of a | I larger future . policy. The Imperial ex- J I peuditnre was contingent upon the Doj minions undertaking considerably larger I expenditure on land settlement. j First Step to Economic Recovery. j Direct settlement of men on the land | must be tho foundation of any policy of ■ economic regeneration of the Empire, i After the first year the Imperial expenditure 'ture would be £3,(XX),000 annually, of j which about £1,000,000 would be devoted to the provision of passages on a half-and- ! half basis with the Dominions. He comi mended the Bill as a first step toward the | Empire's economic recovery and an | economical unprovocative measure of Im- ' penal defence.

Mr. J. R. Clynes, Labour member for j tho Platting Division of Manchester, said I that while some might support tho Bill j under the impression that emigration would relieve the burden of unemployment, as a matter of fact it did not touch | tho root cause of unemployment. He: feared that Colouel Amery would be dis- j appointed in the ultimate cousequencc of | the working of tho Bill, He could not j accept Colonel Amery's conclusions that it was advantageous to neglect trade opportunities in Europe in order to cultivate closer economic trade relations with the Dominions, He hoped no attempt would ba roado to subsidise private agencies like the shipping companies, who were merely pecuniarily interested in emigration. Ho asked whether the Dominion Labour organisations had been conI suited.

Mr. D. McLean, Labour member for Govan division of Glasgow, said In hoped that free passages for ex-service men would remain open another year, and that the fraudulent emigration agent drawing fanciful pictures of conditions that really did not exist in the Dominions would be swept awfty. Tho reniovcil of JaJid restnetions in Britain would mitigate the need for the present measure. Australian Schemes Ready. Major-General Sir Newton Moore, Coalition Unionist member for Islington North, and formerly Premier and later Agent-General for Western Australia, expressed disappointment at the smallness of the first year's expenditure, when there already wore three definite Australian schemes ready to launch. Sir Frederick Young, Coalition Unionist member for Swindon, said the Bill offered only a slight immediate contribution toward the solution of unemployment. Eventually, if a long view prevailed, it would prove a great factor in that connection. Australia afforded great opportunities for settlement if expenditure were confined to schemes definitely offering emigrants a proper livelihood. He favoured extension of tho boy emigration scheme.

Colonel J. C. Wedgwood. Labour member for Newcastle-under-Lyme, said the Labour members could not bo enthusiastic regarding assisting people to go to Australia when they could more cheaply bo enabled to take up small holdings in Britain.

Major Wood, Under-Secretary for the Colonies, in replying to the debate, admitted that the Bill was not a panacea for all industrial ills, but it would ease the situation by giving people opportunities in remaking their lives elsewhere, where they would benefit the Home trade and commerce.

The second reading was carried.