MIGRATION BOTTLENECK

Rotorua Morning Post, Issue 5311, 25 January 1947, Page 4

MIGRATION BOTTLENECK

TN a recent broadcast, Mr. Charles Carrington, an English visitor, pointed put that in ten generations, the British race had expanded from an agricultural community of 7,000,000 in the British Isles to a worldwide people of 140,000,000, and that the limit . of this unex- | ampled expansio'n had now been ! reached. The British, aided by ; their dominant position in trade • and their unique series pf | successes in war, backed by a ; rigid social system in foreign 1 climes, have retained their racial I purity to a remarkable extent, | but fears have been expressed ! that the process of dilution, already begun, will be acoelerated by post-war exigencies. This fear, reinforced by economic considerations, is at the 1 back of the obvious reluctance I of the United Kingdom, as well ' as the Dominions, to recruit labour so urgently needed from ; the most readily . available ' sources of supply — eastern Europe and Asia. 'Although a Government White Paper issued in London this week emphasised that there was a deficiency of 33,000 agricultural workers in ' the United Kingdom, the Minister of Labour, Mr. Isaacs, said in the House of Commons that he was not prepared to consider applications by Italian ex-pris-oners of war to return to the country for farm work. He said he was hopeful that sufficient men would be found by enli^fcing

Poles, of whom there are about 130,000 still quartered in England and Scotland, and many of whom have been recruited for I the mines and heavy industry. If, as the Minister's i'eply indicates, there are still large numbers of these emigres not ^ainfully employed, the Government should make employment obligatory for those who wish to remain in the country. To this rule there should jbe no exceptions. The plight of the British farmer, however, is not the main difficulty, for the shortage of labour is so great that 657,000 more workers are required in industries which are essential to the Homeland's export trade. These figures illuminate the reluctance of the British Government to assist the migration of its people to the Dominions, and the liberal iilterpretation now given as to what people are.eligible for eHtry into Australia and Canada. The Commonwealth plan, however, in no way envisages the abandonment of the White Australia policy, although it would be more correct to interpret it as near- white. Preference is still being given to intending migrants of British stock and it has been suggested that in default of shipping accommodation, the new colonials should be flown to Australia. New Zealand's policy is still nebulous. We are already behind scratch in the race for British migrants, although this country's appeal, economically, geographically, and culturally, is at least as great as that of the larger sister Dominions. The Government should state clearly • what it is prepared to undertake in this connection over a given period, and widely advertise the fact, so that people both in Great Britain and northern Europe, who would make this country their first preference for a new home, will not have their ambitions thwarted by deferred hope.