TOO MANY IN BRITAIN.

Taranaki Daily News, 12 July 1922, Page 5

TOO MANY IN BRITAIN.

Colonel Amery, in reply, said the most elementary fact was that the Empire occupied something like a quarter of the earth and its territories comprised every variety of soil, every raw material and every mineral which civilised life required. A visitor from another planet would imagine that its possessor- were concentrating on the whole of this estate, yet he would be surprised to find the bulk of its population was crowded on a fifth of the estate, while less than a quarter of ita people were thinly scattered over its wide domain. Our visitor would find us wasting far more time considering credit for the tottering fabric of Europe instead of developing our Empire and that our chief preoccupation to-day was whether, if we imposed 33 per cent, on German fabric gloves the Germans would cease purchasing our yams and buy cheaper and inferior material elsewhere.

Continuing. Coionei Amery eaid: ‘‘What we have to do js to abandon our insular prejudices and see the Empire a whole, and see to its development. This must be our < onception. It is in co-operation for the better distribution of our people that we have now made a beginning That a large number has gone to the Dominions was not due to anything done by the Imperial Government. but to the earnest work of the Dominions themselves. The war put an end to th> flow of people and we are now confronted with conditions that make resumption difficult. t»ne factor being the cost of transportation. We must, however, see that whatever flow take- place that it will be for the benefit of the Dominions and the Motherland. The new Act empowers the Secretary for the Colonies, in conjunction with the Dominions, to secure better

Colonel Amery said the first problem war transportation. There were thousand- ready to go. but they could not rfford the cost. He hoped very shortly to conclude an agreement with Australia. The next problem was to fit square pegs into square holes and round pegs into round holes, or smooth down the square pep* to fit round holes. They mwt concei -ate primarily on land settlement and train men in that pursuit. but the best training would be that which a men got under a practical farmer, before risking everything upon a holding of his own. There was something to be «aid for a short training on this side in order to weed ont those who ■would never be a success on the land. Colonel Amery advocated juvenile migration, as being most promising, particularly if the youngsters went under the care of their parents. The emigration of women waa also important. It was a great policy vf social regen eraion for those w’Jy lacked opportunity n this over-crowded country. The prerar flow of emigrants had strengthend this country's markets, and the Do--lin ions were onr best markets in the ’orM, reckoned bv purchasing power uer had. We cannot altogether ignore hat the economic value of the question dpends on our pursuing an Imperial eonomic policy. The Dominions’ preference grew up in fiteen or twenty years before the war ail has grown steadily since; it is now btng embodied in England’s policy and hebelieved it to be a vital contribution

to?ur settlement problems. We should gi» preference in the widest sense, not meely through customs, but in other waa: for instance, in the investment of cartel, and make it easy for capital to flor within the Empire instead of in fongn countries. Hp hoped in the near futre to see shipping by air as part of our transportation services.—Aus.-N.Z. Cab; Assn.