Australia Wants More People.

Timaru Herald, Volume LXXXI, Issue 12637, 25 March 1905, Page 2 (Supplement)

Australia Wants More People.

Australia's chief -want is population. (Melbourne -Argus.") Everyone admits that a great fertile continent thinly populated is like a giant withbaby muscles. Australia has an area of 3,000,000 square miles, and a population of 3,900,000. With the exception of Siberia, no other large tract-of country is so sparsely settled. A comparison of the density of population per square mile in a number of countries will show what vast possibilities of /. settlement the Commonwealth holds out- for the future. It is: .not contended of course, that at .-. this stage of the development of Australia we should show the same .density as countries like Egypt, Belgium, Holland, Great Britain, Japan, Italy, . Germany, Switzerland, Or France. But few, if any, of those countries possess better land than Australia, yet they carry populations equal to from 200 to 750 persons to the square mile to Australia's one. A glance at the following table of persons to the square mile is instructive: — 4 Australia ..................... 1.32 Egypt proper .750.5 Belgium 588.7 Holland 406.4 United Kingdom 341.6 Japan 308. Italy 293.5 Germany 270. Porto Rico 264.3 • Austria 225.8 Switzerland 214.3 France 190.7

'lf Australians are wise in, their day, they will devote themselves with etergy,_ and earnestness to the problem of securing a population 10 or 20 times as great as the present one. No one would seriously suggest that the blank spaces on the i continent of Australia should remi® until filled by the natural increase of ■ births over deaths,: assuming that. natural increase which is only small, to be continuedi. A rough calculation will prove that, relying solely upon the -. natural increase, it would reuire over 600 years for Australia to reach the poulation of-America to-day. Australia must, therefore, look for rapid growth of population and proseprity to increases by immigration. If Australia, were keeping pace with other young countries, there would be no need of alarm. It is a notorious-fact, however, that, we are being hopelessly beaten in the competition for immigrant- population.. The figures on this point are startling. Taking: four decades from 1861, the net additions to population in Australia, America, Argentina, and Canada amount, to : ; - • America • 14,181,649 Argentina' 1,712,100 Canada : 1,259,000 Thus, for every immogrant added to the Austra'ian population, .18 went" to America. Frequently during the period mentioned America received more immigrants in one yeaT tlian>did Australia in any of the ten years' periods. It is worthy of special notice that between 1881-90 the immigrants who pSfared into America. ; would almost have doubled the present' population of Australia. And in the years 1902 and 1903 America obtained a sufficient number of people by immigration to populate thre* cities as large as Melbourne. Another remark-; able fact is that in the year 1903 the. immigrants to America, numbered 77,667 more than the total immigration to Australia for the forty years from 1861 to 1900. Since 1900 the position, as far as Australia is concerned, has grown worse. America has increased enormously, Argentina has maintained steady aditions, and Canada has very much improved her position. , Australia alone has lost, population, if_ we consider the excess of emigration over immigra-" tion. The increase of births over deathshas counteracted" -that loss, it is true, but leaving-that factor out of account, 'we have lost, and if the figures for 1903 alone, be taken into consideration, the state-of affairs is still more alarming for Australia. They are:— ■

Australia (loss) . . 7,056 - America-(gain) 857,049 Canada (gain) 128,364 Argentina, (gain, 1902) ... 165(353 Thus while' other young countries «»• increasing their population by immigration in tens and hundreds of thousands, Australia is now actually losing hers.