THE EMIGRATION QUESTION.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 162, 26 November 1912, Page 7

THE EMIGRATION QUESTION.

RE-SETTLTNG THE- ■ WORLD'S PEOPLES.

_ The emigration of thcUnitcd Kingdom is assuming such largo proportions that it is beginning to rank with 'that winch has for some time obtained in the case of several Continental nations. It is hot only the case, as some people suppose (writes Mr. L. Chiozza Money in ;tlie London Daily News), that farm laborers are emigrating; the. greater.part of, our emigrants. .coiisi3.t..pf.,.aji:Ja?ans'. In a re-' cent quarter the single town of Ldeds' lost i : While the Efitisri'-population is exposed'to a special call from over the .seas] because of the "extensive British Colonial •Empire, .mam* other. European,countries •which do not possess colonial empires are also losing an army of people every: year. We cannot give 'for' the clifferen't countries figures which.are exactly'comparable, because . .emigration, statistics are 7iot always collected jn the same way, 'but the available facts show how great a stream' of .people'is, flowing from Europe to-the,New,World."•;■ ■ ■"'; The folio wing 'table gives' the ,la ; test information collected by the Board of Trade:-r . , , "■'' . l < ■'

EMIGRANTS FROM- EUROPE- IN A ' ........ YEAR,. 1 : Emigrants to > Places out of ..... ' • Europe .

The figures do not give the returning immigrants. For example., in 1011 • the United Kingdom received inwards from non-European -countries. 11)2.718 British subjects, and, if we subtract these from |thc 455,000 passengers recorded put-' wards, we get a balance of 202,000, roughly representing true emigration.The liflli European country which has'a very large emigration is Russia; 'whichdoes not furnish statistics.. We can, however, deduce from other sources that Russian' emigration is very great. It is very difficult for us-to realise the tremendous import of file changes which are summed up in the big totals above recorded. Bristol has a population of over 300,000. Imagine tha't in a.single year the whole of the people of Bristol, men. women and children, packed up'and left the country. The fact would seize upon our imagination; it would be unforgettable. How many of us realise that a much more .momentous thing is happening in the United Kingdom this year? If the whole of Bristol went, it would mean the emigration of 300,000, old and young, both sexes, all ages, from infants in arms to the aged. The,' 300,000 leaving us this year consist chiefly of men, and mainly of young men. The balance of forces 'in the world is altering before our eyes, and the thing is the move momentous because of the rapid fall in the European birth-rate.' Simultaneously, the old world is lending its capital to develop the lands to which its peoples are turning. Out of individual needs, out of a blind groping for better opportunities, out of disappointment and hope deferred, the world is arriving at new synthesis.

from' Year. No. Population U. Kingdom. 1011 455,'OOQ 45^000,000 Norway .... . 1910 19-.000 2 v 40fl',000 Sweden .... . 1010 ■ 25,000 5 ; r>oo,ooo Denmark ... . 1!)10 0,000 2.700,000 German Emp'e .1011 23,000 ' G5;00(]!,000 Holland . 1010 '3,000 0,000.000 Tlelgium .... . 1010 ■ 4,000 7,000,800 Portugal .... . 1008 ■ ■ 40.000 5,000,000 Spain . 1000 -118,000 10,000,000 Italy 1010 409,000 :u .7000,000 Switzerland . . 1010 ■ 5,000 3700,000 Aus.-Hungary nuo 2G>S,00() 40.000.000