Science in Public Affairs 



and lays marked stress upon openings for British 

 trade. On the other hand, the quarterly bulletin 

 of the Imperial Institute continues to give par- 

 ticulars of its work, and reports investigations 

 carried out as to the economic value of various 

 products by Professor Wyndham Dunstan and his 

 staff. For instance, it was discovered that oil could 

 be extracted from a West African nut which had 

 previously been regarded as valueless, if it were 

 put through a certain kind of mechanical process. 



The transference of the congested population 

 of the United Kingdom to the British Dominions 

 beyond the seas is another matter of general im- 

 portance. So far as the colonies are concerned, 

 Canada, as is well known, is making every effort, 

 and with increasing success, to divert to itself the 

 stream of emigration which might otherwise reach 

 foreign shores. The conditions in South Africa 

 are not at the moment favourable to any consider- 

 able increase in the white population. Australia 

 and New Zealand are handicapped by the distance 

 from the British Isles, which involves the higher 

 cost of emigrants' passages. Beyond this, New 

 Zealand seems to be satisfied with the normal 

 excess of births over deaths, supplemented by the 

 few thousand picked persons who are attracted 

 every year by the exceptional soil and climate. 

 Australia is now awaking to the danger attending 

 a population of less than four millions spread irre- 

 gularly over an area of three million square miles. 

 Its policy in regard to immigration has given rise 

 to much misunderstanding, the existence of which, 



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