Poverty Bay Herald PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING GISBORNE, WEDNESDAY, MAR. 4, 1936 AN EMPIRE PROBLEM

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 18955, 4 March 1936, Page 4

Poverty Bay Herald PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING GISBORNE, WEDNESDAY, MAR. 4, 1936 AN EMPIRE PROBLEM

Recent international events and speeches by British and foreign states men suggest that one of the mo.si seri-. otis questions to bo discussed at the rmperial Conference this year will be that of Empire migration, and it is certain from the diverse views expressed that the problem will not be settled without a great deal of careful thought and investigation. In his notable speech at Geneva a feu months ago, Sir Samuel Hoare made it clear that the time was fast ap proaching when those nations possess ing a wealth of raw materials and unpopulated or sparsely populated territory would have to recognise thai they owed a serious obligation to the world and would have to revise many of their previously-held views regarding the rights conferred upon them by reason of their occupation. The primary cause of international discord clearly is economic, and griev-

ances in this connection arc aggravated in the eyes of some countries by the knowledge that while their great need is the opportunity for expansion the directions in which there is the greatest scope for expansion are closed to them. It would be a mistake to assume, however, that this problem is solely, or even mainly, one of population, that complaints are confined to those countries with inadequate territory, or that immigration will itself provide a solution. The first consideration of any country must be the Welfare of its own people, and for one with large numbers of unemployed—even though it might still be greatly under developed and under-populated —to open its doors to unrestricted immigration would not ameliorate the existing difficulties in the slightest degree; it must be the cardinal principle of any migration plan that now settlers should be accepted only in the proportion that they can bo economically absorbed. The position to-day, admittedly, is that some countries have more territory than they can profitably use while others have larger population!' than thoy can comfortably accommodate; but it is not logical to infer from these facts that a remedy can be found merely by a redistribution of peoples. Were it the case that a shortage of labour contrasted with a surfeit of it, the position would be different, but as is is there is practically no country in the world that is not, troubled with unemployment. Nor can it be said that the mere transference 0 r people from one spot •to another would provide employment; the immediate result, would be to relieve the position in one place at the expense of the other. The question of immigration, therefore, is bound up with the whole international economic structure; it is not itself a cause of disequilibrium, but a product of it, and it is from this angle that the problem must; be faced. The position Is best considered, and most easily demonstrated, from the viewpoint of the British Empire, which, because it accounts for 27 per cent of the earth's surface and 25 per cent of the world's population, is the envy of the rest of the world and the real focus of all foreign observations. II is trite to remark that all of the Dominions are under-populated, but, in the face of the unemployment situation, can anyone logically or reasonably contend that their populations arc insufficient for their present needs, and that, surely, must be the real test? It is true, again, that the Empire controls anything from 20 to 50 per cent of the world's supply of the chief raw materials, but this can not be construed as meaning that other countries cannol obtain their requirements, or that the Empire is not exploiting its resources to an extent commensurate with the world's needs, in actual practice, the populations of the Dominions have been governed by the demand for what they produce, and so it will continue. So long as Groat Britain was able and willing to absorb unlimited cpia.ntilios of New Zealand agricultural produce for instance, the, Dominion welcomed new settlers and was able to absorb them economically and profitably, and once the markets of the Mother Country and the rest, of the world arc again opened to her, she will bo able to resume her arrested development and will not only receive immigrants, but will actually demand them. As it is with Ne>v Zealand, so it is with

other new countries; there has been no arbitrary or selfish restriction of immigration, but only adjustments to conform with conditions created, not by the Dominions themselves, but, by the nationalistic, policies of foreign countries which so frequently are the first to complain of the reaclious from their own conduct. It might almost be accepted an axiomatic that freedom of migration is regulated by freedom of trade, and the, world will yet learn that until trade barriers are removed, or at least reduced, the problem of the maldistribution of populations will never be solved. Acceptance of this view, however, docs not mean that the British Empire should remain inactive until Ihe rest of the world revises its attitude, for there are many things which it might do to relieve the immediate, position and prepare for the changes that arc inevitable in the future.