GENERAL BOOTH

Southland Times, Issue 19518, 18 May 1922, Page 7

GENERAL BOOTH

General Booth, who recently returned to England from abroad, believes that the worst of the period of unemployment and distress is over, and that in. the near future there will be a great exodus from the Old World to the new Western and Southern lands. In a statement published in the War Cry he declares that there ought to be no unemployed problem, in view of the resources of the British Empire. The Salvation Army intends almost immediately to put into operation a scheme for the early transfer of 10,000 women to the Dominions, every one of whom will be going to assured employment. General Booth thinks that the proximity of Canada will always prove to be a powerful factor with some, but the sunshine and brightness of Australia, with its enormous untapped resources, will always prove alluring. Dealing with the heavy transportation costs, he asks why there should not be an exclusive scheme for the equalising of steamship and railway rates for emigrants. The same postage stamp takes a letter to any one of the Dominions, and if for migration purposes a “free ferry” to all Dominions be possible, then an equalised rate should be devised, and the allocation of charges be settled on an Imperial basis. The cost of one of the scrapped battleships would more than finance such a proposal.