SERVICE SETTLERS

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 167, 9 April 1919, Page 7

SERVICE SETTLERS

MANY INQUIRIES IN LONDON BUT FEW OPENINGS AT PRESENT By Telegraph-Special Correspondent. 1 London, February 21. Everywhere in Britain nowadays oue hears discussion among sailors and soldiers ft> to the prospects of life in tho Dominions. The inquiries for passages to 'Australasia alone are slated by Mr. H. E. Easton, the lion, secretary of the British Empire Land Settlement League, to number no fewer than 360,000, while, according to Hansard of the House of Commons, there are .lover 750,000 people anxious to take-up land.-in tho Old Country itself, These people, mostly service men, are wanting small holdings, and aro apart from the large .arniy of allotment holders who aro clamouring for assured tenure. A considerable proportion of these"inquiries would be nn«ui(table for the Dominions, but thero is a vast body of potential settlers of excellent' stamp and in possession of small sums of capitartb bo had by tho Doming ions for tho asking. ■ ( , At the present moment everything is in' the air, and is. likely to remain there as far'as-the officials are concerned until tho transportation of the Dominion forces is completed. An :official circular.-issued ,by the Colonial Office states that littlo or no shipping will bo available for the carriage or settlers and emigrants to Australia and New Zealand for at least 12 months; and eight months in the case of Canada, Newfoundland, and South Africa. The cheapest rates of passage to tho different Dominions compare as under with those ruling before the war, only the cost of the actual sea passage being included in" each case:— ■ To '•Before the war To-day. Canada .£6 10s. .£ll ' Australia .£lB m New Zealand .... 319 ' ..£37 '< South Africa ... .£9 9s. - .£l9 10s. ilt.tho moment there is.no indication anywhere of a return to more normal conditions, nor of any special concessions to' Imperial ex-service men in lower passage rates. . The Queensland Scheme, • .

The only portion of the Empire with • a definite - proposal for. tho settlement of Imperial soldiers is stated to be .Queensland.- The Queensland .scheme is ' contingent on -a loan of from the Imperial. Exchequer; The loan-so far is not forthcoming, and. there the matter rests, though suggestions have-been mado-that if -no encouragement is given soon, to such .a magnificent offer it should be made elsewhere.

Briefly the proposal is to set aside a block of a million and a half acres in one of the .most .healthy districts of Queensland exclusively' for British ex-ser-vice men who have been serving apart from the Australian units. The land' is saidttd. be suitable for intensive - cultivation arid to have an assured rainfall. It is estimated that 9000 settlers and their • dependants • could be placed on it, the average holding thus working ■ out' at about IGO acres. ,-The loan of is required to build a branch line of railway'into the block and to finance the settlers, the scheme in contemplation' being for advances of ,£SOO per head, repayable over a long period. The British"Empire Land 'Settlement League has been active in pushing the claims of this Queensland • scheme, but the attitude of the Imperial 1 authorities has not been particularly encouraging to date. What is'the use of attempting to do anything at present when there'are no ships fo send settlers out? it is asked. In this connection Mr.'Easton makes an interesting point. He 6tates that rome thousands of .tons of German shipping, formerly engaged in tho German-Austra-lian trade, is at present lying idle mostly in German ports. 'Australasia, he maintains, has a prior right to these vessels, and when there is a definite offer of land for Imperial soldiers in Queensland and men, in thousands 'waiting for-a chance to take advantage of it, common 6ense dictates that the ships should be put into commission without delay and sent out with the settlers/Moreover, British shipping companies interested in Australasian, trade are prepared to charter or purchase the sfceamors and to Lave, them in commission within a month.

■ ■ ■■ Other Schemes, ■ _■ '- "the Emigration. Office pamphlet it appears tliat all ' the' Canadian land ''settlement Bchemes are open to ex-servico men from any of His Majesty's naval and military forces,, with tho one exception of that of Quebec, which makes no provision for men from the United Kingdom. But the men in Great Britain are not told where tho . selection will be made, and they want to know in the. event of a man with his wife and family proceeding to Canada at his own expense?, and being found tinsuitable, what his position would be. Under.the heading "Australia" particulars are given of facilities for the settlement of British soldiers and Bailors iii five-of the, six States. South Australia alone announces that she is iinable to do Anything until the settlement of her own letnrnea soldiers is completed." The paragraph relating to, New Zealand, states:—The Government of New Zealand does not ..offer any special facilities for acquiring land for ex-service men .from the United Kingdom, but it offers certain special facilities to officers and men of the New Zealand contingents, and to residents of tho Dominion who have'served in some i other portion of His .Majesty's Forces.

The earlier resumption of shipping services, the smaller cost : of passage, and the special facilities offered, point to a large influx of Imperial soldier-settlers hto Canada on the approach of more normal conditions. New Zealand has not large areas.of vacant land like' Canada and Australia, and, as has been frequently pointed out .by our gricultural experts, it is on closer settlement-and intensive farming that our growth depends. It, is worth. bearing in mind that if in .addition, to the settlement of our own returned soldiers w'e.are unable to secure also our sharo of the Imperial ex-service men bound for overseas, the inevitable result must be. a steady decline of our position in.the Empire as settlers pcAir in elsewhere, and we lag behind