Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1922-03-26

ish publisher. II deals. as Will
mo iour succeeding articles.
with immigrant problems OF
Australia
Ky vIrcount NorthcIine.
Tho subject OF Immigration. nna
especially emigration TO Australia.
iIns 40 great a bearing on affairs IN
mo Far East. upon Australian war
fare. and upon the question OF un-
employment at home. that havo
spent much OF this visit to Australia
and Ncw Zealand In discussing IN.
conditions with experts. and In per-
sonal investigation among immi-
grants The results are summarized
In tho following memore ndum. which
was submitted to "a number OF com
pcteri authorities before Il wna re-
viacd for publication.
The first qualification OF the I'm
migrant is suitability. Tho only
peopl. In Australia who asked M,
for financial help were cmlgrants
from Great Britain. and In every
cRse they were insists" on the
other hand. talked with many
enlgrants, recently arrived who are
Wei satisfied. and in many cases dc-
lighted with their surroundings and
prospects. Almost all these were
married men who had had some OK
pcricnce In agriculture or horses at
homo
Mechanics do not seem so we'll
pleased: some OF those 10 whom /
spoke did not appear to think that
they were better on here than In
England. An English working man.
whom especially brough, with me
TO maize Inquiries about labor, found
mat there was considerable recent
incnt among skilled British mcchan-
ics at the methods Of trade unions.
found that a number o! occup;,-
Sional class. are distinctly less well
paid than at home. There IS absp.
lutciy no demand tcr clerks and non
d"scripts. black COATED labor
NY genera! conclusion was that.
with Tho Improvement Of world
''adc. Australia Will again become
most promising HON" FOR those
british men OF Drawn who wish 70
attempt tortun. overseas. Even at
the present time the Australian
working man seems TO M better on
IN almost every respect than any
have encountered Ia any other part
OF the world.
Policy and Prospects.
Australian authorities assure me
that given average seasons, and al
lowing Tor some fail In th" prices
OF such commodities as wheat and
butter Australia VIII by 1925 Ut the
latest. be making an annual gain Of
10000 immiErau,s Il year They are
ARMY convinced that Australia can
absorb ana prosper. without din
Guilty 100000 people u year. and
even up To 100000 4 year. provided
that the commonwealth has for
ward public works policy
immigration was rcupcncd carly
last year under the new Joint com
Honwcalth and state scheme Be-
fore the war each state was wholly
responsible for its own sCh,in. y,
decided upon the people IL wished
To encourage. and recruited them
through its aEcnt-scncra! in Lon
don. Tho commonwealth supported
the movement in u general way BY
PROPAGANDA. Til" system was cur3
bersomc and expensive. and there
was much overlapping.
Under the new joint common
wealth ana state scheme the work
is divided. The states dccid. and
declare 10 the commonwealth the
numbers of Immigrants they require.
The commonwealth IL then solely
responsible for the recruiting OF
these people abroad. and for their
transport TO Australia. The common
wealth provides all the reduced
steamship passages which are made
available To immigrants. and is re-
sponsib!c for the new settlers while
"
before their Decentralization in Aus
tralia. however immigrants pass
automatically TO the contro. of the
states. who are solely responsible
for their reception. placing in en-
ployment and general welfare. In
brief, the states do the work within
Australia ana the commonwealth
outside. The commonwealth bears
all the financial burden. and gives
the states blank check for immi-
grafton. The present commonwealth
government has made 1t clear that
IT will obtain. regardless OF cost. all
the immigrants desired by tile states
Defects OF the scheme.
one weakness OF this arrangement
il that it leave TO the individual
states the right To say how many
people shall be brought TO Australia
The commonwealth cannot five
financial assistance or other encour-
aScmcnt to a single person until q
request has been received from one
of the States. This leaves the move
ment at the mercy Of every political
change in any of the states. i'o-
lotical changes in Australia have had
more influence upon immigration
Than seasonal or industrial changes.
For instance. at present there arc
TABOR governments in New South
wales and Queensland. Many of the
hIiHiottIS IN those states appear TO
be strongly in favor OF immi grafton:
but was told that they are largely
nj the mercy of labor leaders out
sue Parliament. and these leaders
usually represent immigration as
capitalists device TO flood the labor
market. force down wages, and gen
orally prejudice working conditions.
me result is that, while the labor
governments at present in Australia
u n i,,N 10 T.
the war, have not Teen altogether
opposed to immigration. they have
never shown any real activity in Il.
Their immigration work has been
done almost surreptitiously.
"kept White" Is LocnI Slogan
But the main defect in leaving the
decision upon immigration with tho
states rather than with the common
wealth. as whole. Is that II robs
tho subject of the broad. national
aspect. Tho states regard IL purcIv
from Gloss. Industrial paint n,
view. They ignore the outstnndina,
fact that immigration is tho one
sure means by which Australia NAV
be defenned and kept white, TO uso
the local Slogan" They ignore. TOO
tho eject which immigration wouI6
have upon tho huge unreproduitive
war debt. Again. tho states run nm
independent and often divergent
lines. AT present some arc cncour.
aging one class OF immigrant ma
some another. This prevents the aub.
tact befnn conducf.d - :. 80