100 BRITAIN FOR THE BRITON 



averase of 302,456, emis-rated from our shores to countries out 

 of Europe ; while in 1907 the enormous total of 395,680 

 persons of our own flesh and blood emigrated from the United 

 Kingdom.* 



During the same period, i.e. for the five years ending either 

 1906 or 1907, according to figures available, but 1,183,064 

 persons of the nationality of the following countries found it 

 necessary to take leave of their native land.f 



1. Norway 114,216 



2. Sweden 117,315 



3. Denmark 40,638 



4. Holland 12,549 



5. Switzerland 19,628 



6. Belgiinn 72,041) 



7. Portugal J 113,699 



8. Spain § 49r>,151 



9. The German Empire .... 155,139 

 10. France || 42,680 



1,183,064 



This means that, with the exception of Austria-Hungary, 

 Italy, liussia, and some of the minor States, the total emigrants 

 from the rest of Europe, for five years ending 1907, were 

 331,215, or one-third of a million souls short of the enormous 

 number of British and Irish emigrants who were compelled to 

 leave the shores of the United Kingdom during the same 

 period.lF 



If these figures prove anything it is this, that despite the 

 vaunted trade expansion and the growth of our manufacturing 

 industries, the people of this country find the necessity of 

 emigrating in alarming numbers every year, while the millions 

 that are left behind experience ever-growing difficulty in 

 obtaining employment. It therefore becomes evident that the 

 contention of the leader of the Opposition, in this connection at 

 least, cannot be maintained. 



* " statistical Abstract for the U.K." 1893-1907. (Parliamentary Blue 

 Book.) 



t " Statistical Abstract for Foreign Countries." (Parliamentary Blue 

 Book, Cd. 4265 ; 1908.) 



X Figures available only for five years ending 1904. 



§ Besides emigrants proper are included soldiers and Government officials 

 proceeding to Spanish Possessions, tourists, etc. 



II No figures are available for France since 1893. The figures given are 

 based upon the total emigrants from that country from 1876 to 1893, viz. 

 153,651, or 42,680 for five years. 



^ The difference of treatment adopted in European countries in arriving 

 at Emigration Returns makes a really accurate table of comparison difficult. 

 The figures given, are, however, near enough to illustrate the enormous 

 difference between the numbers emigrating from the United Kingdom and 

 the countries enumerated. 



