BRITISH IMPERIAL LAND SETTLEMENT

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2685, 3 February 1916, Page 5

BRITISH IMPERIAL LAND SETTLEMENT

SIR, RIDER HAGGARD'S MISSION,

By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright (Rec. February 2,- 8.5 p.m.)

London, February 1. 'Tlio 'members of the Royal Colonial Institute entertained Sir Rider Haggard prior to Diis departure- 011 a tour of the Dominions. Lord Curzon, who presided, said that the settlement of tlio soldiers on the land was one of the most urgent problems. ' Probably two millions would return. The labour market would be congested, and wages would fall. After their open-air life, soldiers were not likely to return to factories and offices, and would want to settle down to a healthy life on the land. Britain's home areas and economic possibilities were restricted, and as we want to keep them British, our citizens must be guided elsewhere. Sir Rider Haggard, replying, said that the Dominions presentedl an endless vision of vastness and richness. After the Boer War there were 250,000 emigrants, of whicli 123,000 went to the United States. We wanted to keep every ono of our soldiers for our own Empire. Tens of thousands of the surplus women of Britain could bo spared for the Dominions. "We must have cheap cable communication-rone of the strongest bonds of Empire," lie said. Ho added that it was not intended to interfere with existing schemes. He would probably write a book upon the Empire and its lands.