LONDON'S EMIGRANTS

Otautau Standard and Wallace County Chronicle, Volume VII, Issue 313, 2 May 1911, Page 2

LONDON'S EMIGRANTS

LESSONS OF A TOUR IN AUSTRALIA

AND NEW ZEALAND

LONDON, March 3. After six months' tour through Australia and New Zealand, for the purpose of studying the condition of the emigrants despatched thither, Mr G. A. Williamson, tlie organiser of the Emigration Department of the Central Unemployed Body for London, iias no>v leturned home. He brings back a collection of facts and impressions that are likely to have considerable influence upon the attitude of the Home authorities towards the emigration question.

— The Rush for Australia. —

In his report to the Emigration Committee the returned traveller, after stating that the accommodation for emigrants on all vessels proceeding to Australia, and New Zealand is excellent, recommends the chartering of special steamers to overcome the difficulty of securing berths m connection with the ordinary sailings. He says :

The task of finding berths for emigrants to Australia is likely to prove one of great difficulty for some time to come. All the berths on the regular lines of steamers are booked several months m advance, and while the shipping companies can practically fill tlleir vessels Avith passengers at full fares, they can hardly be expected to reserve much accommodation for assisted emigrants at the £12 rate. Tliis difficulty affects the States Governments as well as our organisation, and has been met by Western Australia, Victoria, and New South

Wale 6by chartering special steamers.

The capacity of Australia of absorbing strong and steady men for development work of all kinds was strikingly indicated m the course of Mr Williamson's journey of 10,000 miles through the country by train, motor, and buggy ; and there is further proof of this shortage of labor m the fact that he will be busy throughout the year sending suitable men to the Australasian colonies m small parties as quickly as the limited accommodation on the steamers will permit.

— Repayment of Cash Advances. —

Much of the money advanced to the unemployed Londoners for emigration purposes, it i 6 well understood, never comes back to the ratepayers' representatives, and m this way during the past six years something like" £60,000 of public money has boen spent by the Central Unemployed Body ; but out of the £30,000 that has been advanced to the families m search of work beyond the seas £7,000 has already been paid back, and money is still flowing jn from the colonies at the rate of £100 per week.

" My circular letter to all our emigrants m Australia and New Zealand," says Mr Williamson, " brought an excellent response. The sum cf £196 was sent to me, find a much larger sum was remitted to London. On this consideration alone, I think my visit was justified. I traced a large number of emigrants of whose whereabouts we knew nothing. Large sums are •.till received by every mail. One thousand five hundred pounds has been repaid since my arrival m Australia, and I think a large proportion was secured by reason of the local application for it. Wages are so high that a good number oi men have repaid all their passage money within six months of arrival, and I anticipate a. very high percentage of refunds." Mr Williamson emphasises tbe point that those emigrants who have been most generously treated are the least inclined to acknowledge their indebtedness ; but he hastens to add, on the other hand, that many of the assisted persons prefer to regard their passage-money as a loan rather than as a gift.

— Londoners as Farm Hands. —

In New South Wales, at all events, there are farmers to be found with an appreciation of the services of the much-despised Londoner as an agricultural laborer : —

Some of our men have learned sheepshearing, and quite a large proportion

have gone to farm work and remained there. Although not of great use to the farmers at first, they seem soon to get used to the ways of the country. Our London men are, generally speaking, smart and intelligent ; and many farmers and other employers assured me they prefer the Londoner to the Old Country farm hand, who had so much to unlearn, and was, moreover, often stupid and unadaptable.

Mr Williamson reports m glowing terms on the prospects of the London emigrants m Western Australia. Settlers are arriving m the country, he says, by hundreds every week, and are immediately absorbed. Every kind of labor is required, and the authorities are utterly unable to satisfy the demands for hands. He thinks there are wonderful possibilities m this vast territory, which so far has a population of about 278,000, m connection with the emigration work of the Central Unemployed Body. " Land is cheap," he 6ays, " and there is an advanced policy of railway construction ; and during the next few" years there is likely to be a large stream of emigration to the State." «

Among other interesting items of information, Mr Williamson's report contains a reference to the scheme for sending London-bred lads to New Zealand, under which Mr Sedgwick has recently conducted a trial party of lads to the Dominion under the auspices of the New Zealand Government.