BRITAIN'S CONSESTION.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18325, 15 February 1923, Page 7

BRITAIN'S CONSESTION.

MENACE TO THE RACE. RATI ON TH SOLUTION. OUTFLOW TO DOMINIONS. Br Telegraph— Association—Copyright. A; and N.Z. LONDON. Fob. 13. The Oversea Settlement Committee's report for 1922 traces the steps leading to the Empire Settlement Act, and points out that the year was spent in negotiating schemes under that Act. The population of Britain has increased by 1,250,000 since 1913, while the post-war dislocation means that Britain will not be maintain in the near future employment for a population as large as in 1913. The present over-population forms a menace to the well-being of the whole community. f , The committee believes that the best remedy consists in State-aided migration. The committee holds that if the population of the Dominions were increased their larger. per . capita purchases of British goods would enable Britain to maintain a higher population than she can now. It emphasises that all the present migration schemes refer exclusively to land settlement. The Dominions are mainly agricultural, and need population for the development of primary resources. Thus they have openings only for male settlers and land workers. Canada, and more so Australia, urgently need population, but the committee desires to emphasise } that the. populations of the Dominions as far as possible 'should be I British, in sympathy with the spirit of their origin. Obviously the thinly populated areas overseas require population to ensure safety and to share their debts. Every new migrant settled becomes a valuable capital asset. Th© values per capita of oversea population in terms of exports bought from Britain are: New Zealand £12, Australia £8 7s Id, Canada £2 3s 6d, France £1 2s 7d, whole.of Europe 10s 2d, United States 9s 3d. The problem is not one of relieving immediate abnormal unemployment in Britain, but finding how to facilitate the expansion of the British race, which, if ■it continues to be overcrowded in Britain and sparsely scattered in the Dominions, will be likely to deteriorate..\ , j. Here, in these circumstances, it is hoped that the proposed Imperial Economic Conference will find a means of removing difficulties hitherto tending to check the flow of migration to the Dominions, and to establish r.'.ch a system of State-aided migration as to ensure a steady and increasing outflow of men, Women and children to the Dominions. ... The committee decided to participate in, the British Empire Exhibition as affording a unique opportunity for calling attention to overseas openings available for British settlers. 7 ■ :'' "i '•-■ ':•= ■:,-'.-