EMPIRE’S VACANT LAND.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19980, 23 December 1926, Page 15

EMPIRE’S VACANT LAND.

SALVATION ARMY AND MIGRATION. COMMISSIONER LAMB’S REPORT. (Fbom Oub Own Coeeespondent.) LONDON, November 4. “So far as the British Empire is concerned it seems to me important to remember that if, notwithstanding our needs, the genius of the British people should fail to fill the vacant spaces within the Empire with people of British stock, we cannot deny the rights of ether nations to go in and possess the land. ... I certainly do feel that folly reaches a kind of zenith in the failure to bring l together th® hungry* idle, homeless, people and the verdant land* waiting for their labour.” These statements are made by General Booth in a foreword to “Our Heritage The Empire,” a report by Commissioner D.-C. Lamb. Director of the Migration and Settlement Work of the Salvation Army, on his 52,000 miles tour into the overseas dominions with regard to the migration made in 1925-26. Commissioner Lamb urges the imperative need for a new effort on independent lines, and says: “One object of my tour was to find out what openings there would be in the overseas dominions for partly-trained married men. between the ftges of 30 and 40 with families. The scheme you (General Booth) provisionally approved before I left London contemplated taking men whose careers had been deflected by the war and post-war conditions and by intensive training in agriculture teaching them to milk and to plough. lam confirmed is the possibility of quickly equipping these men for useful and productive work overseas. Hundreds of such families could be absorbed unddt existing Government schemes. As to boys, the Commissioner writes:— “There is abundant evidence in all parti of the Empire of an almost insatiable demand for such boys as we have been sending out. They can be quickly absorbed by thousands. They are welcome, because they are adaptable; they fit readily, into tha economic and social life overseas; and they carrv with them a breath of the Homeland.” THE WOMAN’S PART. .... The authorities everywhere spoke in high terms of the class of settlers sent out by the Army. The many thousands who havi gone to the “New Lands” have established for themselves a reputation for character and ability which is gratifying to all concernod. Increasingly are they making good in the dominions and their influence on intending emigrants is as beneficial as their advice is sound. “Particularly did we find a strong call for women in all the overseas dominions to take their share in the management* and eventually in the establishment, of honies. People went so far as to write, pointing out the wisdom of urging the migration and settlement of suitable .-women equally with men, and there is everything to be said for their advice. We met at reunion meetings many women, young and old, who had emigrated -through the Army, and we were especially gratified with their obvious happiness, healthy appearance, and prosperous circumstances. It was a regeneration in itself to- witness the very evident progress most of these women had made compared to what might have been possible in present-day circumstances had they remained in the Homeland. The absence of the right type of woman in the overseas dominions, if allowed to persist, will react adversely against migration generally, for the' lack of home influences, a potent factor in all settlement problems, will ultimately lead to discontent and lost of incentive. It is vital to the well-being of the whole Empire that this matter should be dealt with promptly and sagaciously along wise and generous lines.” The commissioner things that probably the most fruitful of the meetings in New Zealand will be those held with the chambers of commerce, rotary clubs, and agricultural societies, whose members took the keenest interest in what we had to say—about social and economic conditions in the Homeland and their relation to the development of New Zealand. “On the other hand, the value of the public gathering* must he considerable. Here we dealt faithfully with what appeared to be the indifference of the people in the Dominion —having special reference to the of the worklesa in the Homeland. New Zealand is ready, I believe, to consider schemes of development designed to call for an increased number of immigrants from Home, but much remains to be done. Every one is apparently comfortable and comparatively well off. as I repeatedly declared ; so much so that, they did not feel the extraction of ‘the necessary’ (money or goods) required to pay the ‘dole’ in the Homeland. Still, I think they grapsed the significance of the fact that the worker has to keep the idle man. X paid a short visit to Flock House Orphanage, the generous acknowledgement of debt of New Zealand sheepowners to British seamen. I was much impressed by the combination o. shrewd business management on the farming side, and the kindly disposition throughout tha home itself, where we saw the THE TIE THAT BINDS. “Right through our travels, especially in New Zealand and Australia, we were much impressed by the earnest and affectionate wav the settlers in these lands referred to the Old Countv as ‘Home. The children, and the children’s children, are growing up to regard it in the same way, whatever the further generations may do. “Emigration is not a panacea for unemployment, but it meets the dual test of labour absorption and creative value. Wisely directed, it affords new opportunities to those who are workless and create* new markets for those who, m future, must manufacture for exchange. ——— i