BRITISH MIGRANTS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 23165, 11 October 1938, Page 7

BRITISH MIGRANTS

GOVERNMENT POLICY

; UNEMPLOYMENT SITUATION LINK WITH QUESTION DENIED [prom our ow>- correspondent] LOJCDON, Sept. 17 "One or two things that need to be cleared up about emigration " were dealt with by Lord Stanley, Dominion Secretary, when he Addressed the B ederation of Chambers of Commerce of the British Empire at their annual meeting. "I here has been an unfortunate tendency to link up emigration with the unemployment situation in England," said the Minister. "Nothing could be more unfortunate than because it tends to raise suspicion overseas and to prevent the Dominions from playing the part they might otherwise do. "It is quite wrong, because the Lnited Kingdom Government does not regard, and has never-regarded, emigration to the Dominions as a direct move to the of unemployment in this country. But we do say that, if you can get emigration going again, then indirectly you are bound to help unemployment and trade in this country very considerably, for the increase of population overseas would result in an increase in trade and would thereby indirectly have a decided effect upon unemployment figure* in this country. Large-scale Settlement ei." F® are - ™ry doubtful," Lord Stanley continued, "of the success of land settlement on a very large scale, schemes have been proposed at varioui times by which the British Government has to put down the whole of the money and transport families overseas. Ihe disadvantages are that the people taken out are not working on their own, and they do not feel a sense of responsibility. They are feeling all the time that behind them is the British Government, responsible for them, and that if they do not make good it will repatriate them and make good any losses. "The economic difficulty of settling a large group of people in any one area also has to be considered, fop an increase of 3000 to 4000 families in one area,-all trying to make a living in the same way, increases the difficulty of finding a market for their produce. It is much more difficult than if the same families were scattered all over the Dominions. "That is why we believe in the policy of infiltration as being the most successful, for the individuals go oufc to jobs they know of on their own responsibility; feeling that the future is m their own hands.

"If the Dominions let us know that there are those vacancies we will not be behind in assisting with passages to get the people outs'there." Next Pew Years Crucial The Earl of Dudley, president of the federation, who presided, said that if the How of emigrants to the Empira overseas, which must surely recommence, was to be mainly British, the next few years were crucial. r . Lord Dudley referred to the effort* being made to direct more attention to the teaching of the history an<J\ traditions of the British Empire in schools. Three books had been sponsored by the federation, and one had reached the third edition. "But," ha said, "there is no denying the fact, remarkable though it may seem to many, that it is no easy matter to move tha educational authorities, especially perhaps those in the United Kingdom. "The curricula of the schools, it appears, are mainly governed by examination subjects, and it is the examia« ing bodies, therefore, who possess tha key to the position. The federation holds strongly that th« British Empira is a subject in itself: the examiners think otherwise. THe federation ii doing what it can. but I am sorrv to say that it is a state of affairs which I personally can only 'describe aS shameful." . . • Empire Communications

! fieferring to tie advanced progress of Empire communications and the reform on air- mail routes Lord Dudley l said: "Tliere is one aspect of the question ,whioh the federation must continue to emphasise: the full advantage of air transport will only accrue when night flying becomes the rule. "We lo not underestimate the difficulties and the extensive ground oreanisation involved, but we feel that they are bv no means insuperable at this stage in the development of air transport." In this respect, added Lord Dudley, an example to he -studied had been set in the United Stateis.