Expert Views on Empire Emigration. 



179 



only too glad to take whatever number ot l)oys this 

 farm could produce, say after a couple of years of 

 agricultural training. And I am also quite sure that, 

 speaking for my own particular State in Australia, 

 hundreds of farmers would he only too glad to 

 take boys on the lines of the policy which is being 

 carried out by the Victorian Government, which 1 

 had the pleasure of inaugurating some three years 

 ago. These lads were sent out in batches of twehc. 

 and before they reached the Colony the Govern- 

 ment had arranged that practical farmers should 

 each take a boy for twelve months, giving him his 

 food and keep for that term, in return for his 

 labour, which may be regarded as a kind of premium. 

 The system has worked remarkably well. (The accom- 

 panving photograph illustrates the type of boy that 

 was sent out. Each of the.se boys is doing w-ell,many 

 of them sending remittances home to their parents.) 

 An Imperial Board of Emigration would serve a 

 useful purpose, and I think the time has arrived 

 when the peopling of the Empire is one deserving 

 of Imperial consideration and Imperial action. A 



SIR WILLIAM HALL JONES, late 



I thank you for sending me the July Review 

 OF Reviews containing the article upon Imperial 

 Emigration. Perhaps you were not aware that at 

 the end of May I retired from the position of the 

 High Commissioner for New Zealand ; but it may 

 interest you to know that in New Zealand there is 

 an Immigration Department and a Labour Depart- 

 ment, each controlled by Ministers with Portfolios 

 so named. The Government then ascertains the class 

 of labour most required in the Dominion. For some 

 time this has been those connected with farming and 

 domestic servants, and assisted passages are granted 

 to them, the essentials being experience in their 

 work, good health, and good character. Those living 

 in New Zealand may nominate relatives in this country, 

 but they are mostly selected by the New Zealand 

 Ofhcial Representative here. This is done by adver- 

 tising, etc. In obtaining the class of labour required 

 they have the a.ssistance of the Emigration Office of the 

 Government here, and also of the Labour Exchanges, 



great deal could be achie\cd. as is pointed out in 

 this article, throughout the elementary schools, in 

 teaching the rising generation what the Empire is, 

 what it means to the Slother Country, and the great 

 responsibility that is attached, from the defence point 

 of view, to keeping our own people under our own flag. 

 It is appalling to read that we have in this country 

 a quarter of a million of pauper children ranging 

 up to sixteen years of age lixing upon charity, 

 when there are such fine opportunities for placing 

 them throughout the Empire. I am quite confident 

 that thousands of these children, if they were 

 placed on a preparatory agricultural .--chool-farm, 

 would make excellent lads for planting in different 

 parts of the Empire. I am quite in accord with 

 the statement in the article that " Young countries 

 need young blood," and in carrying out an Imperial 

 policy such as I have suggested I am satisfied that 

 an immense saving could be effected in the cost to 

 the ratepayers, and at the same time useful citizens 

 of the Empire would be produced under the best 

 possible conditions. 



High Commissioner for New Zealand. 



and I am doubtful if an Emigration Board would 

 w^ork as efficiently as the Labour Departments of the 

 Colonics, working in co-operation with the Labour 

 Exchanges of this country, in obtaining the class of 

 emigrants desired by the different Colonies. Here are 

 many wishing to emigrate who have not the means ; 

 a Board as suggested might arrange for the cost of 

 outfit and passage cost being advanced, and repaid by 

 instalments. This was done some years ago, but 

 discontinued, as there was frequently difficulty in 

 collecting the investments, and sometimes the immi- 

 grant left the countr)-. .Much could be done in this 

 country in training lads for farming life, both for 

 service in this country and in the Colonies, and I 

 heartily agree that " The Emigration of the young 

 is the keynote of the Empire's future " ; but there must 

 be the preliminary training, which as stated should 

 begin in the Board Schools, where, with a better 

 knowledge of the Colonies, there should be little cause 

 for complaint that our emigration does not sufficiently 

 follow the flag. 



SIR JOHN McCALL, Agent-General for Tasmania. 



I quite agree witii what is said in your article in the 

 July numbtr, that it would Ik' very advisable to have 

 a proper system for fli-.posing of the surplus pojjulation 

 of this country, and placing them in the various parts 

 of the Empire, where there must be any amount of 

 room for them. As far as Tasmania is concerned, we 

 have for some time ceased to assist ; but recently the 

 Government have again started their system of nomi- 

 nation, by which the people resident in the country 

 become responsible for the care and employment of the 

 immigrants when they arrive, the Government contri- 



buting something towards their passage — (ft in the case 

 of a man, and £9 in the case of a woman, and a small 

 amount for each child. That system has just been 

 reintroduced, and already we are sending over peo|)le 

 under the system. During the whole time 1 have been 

 in England we have really been seeking the class who 

 can not only pay their passages, but with capital suffi- 

 cient to take up farming. In the majority of instances 

 they have gone in for fruit-growing, an industry well 

 established, and giving very substantial return. We 

 have also had a limited number of miners on the West 



