Evening star., 1925-07-12

letter, things are distinctly better
than they were a year ago. and there
is no reason to think they will not
continue to improve slowly. But any
nation of 45.000.0 900 persons which
has / 1.250, 900 workers unemployed and
drawing unemployment doles is cer-
tainly far from state of high pros
perity.
This word dole" needs a little eX-
PLANTATION. 1t is objected to strongly
by British workers, but is used COM
monty when speaking of unemploy-
ment insurance. AS a matter of fact,
the fund from which unemployment
benefits are paid is derived from as
sessments against workers and en-
ployers and by government contribu-
ions. in the proportion of approx
mately one-third each. 1t is an elab-
crate and expensive scheme of pa.
ternalism, but British statesmen gen
orally, regardless of party affiliation,
think II is the only thing that could
have saved their country from chaos
and possible revolution, which would
have brought in It's wake far more
radical things. l have heard men of
ultra-conservative minds contend that
without some such scheme of os-
tensibly taxing the rich for the benefit
of the poor the very existence of the
endangered. They referred, of course,
to Communist propaganda, which at
one time threatened to make such
seroius headway in England and
which now has been checkmated, even
II It hasn't been wiped out.
The British papers publish a great
many stories of abuses of the dole"
there have been many prosecutions In
the courts, and now it is being urged
that Parliament undertake a search
Ing investigation of the whole prob
lem. But to an American 1t is diff
cult to see where there is much temp
tation to perpetrate unemployment IN
surance frauds. except in case of the
chronically lazy and worthless In
the class of workers who ordinarily
would earn SIS to $50 a week the
maximum dole for a single man is
about $3.50 a week. and for a man
with a wife and three children 1t is
$3.50 a week. OF course, there are
men who would rather draw one.
Fourth or one-third pay than to buckle
down to a regular job, but they can
not De numerous among a people who
are as naturally Industrious as the
British
Problem of Overpopulation.
Bound up with this whole question
or unemployment is the question of
oVerpopulation and relief through emf.
grafton. Everybody recognizes that
there are too many people in the Brit
ish Isles, and all sorts of schemes
nave been proposed and undertaken to
get several millions of them to migrate
10 the colonies. So far these efforts
have met with only Indifferent sue.
cess. to say the least.
The latest Of these schemes is a
very elaborate one entered into be.
tween the British and Australian gov.
ernments, and under which it is pro-
posed to assist $50, 900 Britons to mi
crate to Australia. 1t involves an ex-
penditure of $500, 900 900 over a period
of 10 years and has been so worked
out that the emigrant need have no
be more successful than other schemes
of assisted emigration remains to be
seen.
Intelligent Englishmen believe that
a steady flow of emigration. from the
United Kingdom to the British do
minions would be the best and surest
solution of their problem, If only II
could be made to work. And on it's
face 1t would seem that the hard
pressed British would be glad TO mi
CRATE. Take the case of Australia,
which is and will be kept a white
mans country. There are only few
thousands Of black natives there, and
the bars are up against all the races
of color. black, yellow or brown. Aus
tralia has a population of only about
s 100000 and is easily capable Of sup
porting a population 10 to 20 times
that great. With a sufficient number
of migrants from the United Kingdom
settled In Australia that country could
supply most Of Britain's food require.
ments and would, in turn, assure a
certain market for the products of
British industry.
Obstacles i'm the Way.
Such an arrangement undoubtedly
would be immensely to the advantage
of both countries. Both countries are
in favor of 1t, at least in theory, and
it seems strange that they can't get
the movement under way. But ap-
parently they can't. The short view
overcomes the long view. Immediate
interests outweigh future prospects.
Preferential tariffs would be neces-
sary to the scheme, and though they
are advocated they are not adopted on
any wholesale scale. Englishmen. in
theory, want to eat Australian wheat
and beef and mutton, but in practice
they will eat ii only when 1t Is as
cheap as, or cheaper than, wheat and
beef and mutton from elsewhere. Aus
tralians, in theory. prefer to use Brit
ism manufactured goods, but in prac-
tice they buy American or German or
Japanese goods whenever the Amer
leans or Germans or Japanese can
undersell the British
l have used Australia as an Illus
tration but the main facts, with varia-
tions as to detail, are true with re-
spect to Canada, to New Zealand and
to South Africa. India, equatorial
Africa and the various secondary
British colonies are in a somewhat
different case.
So far as assisted emigration has
succeeded at all, it has not succeeded
in a way to relieve the situation in
the British Isles. Up to the present
altogether too large proportion of
emigrants have been skilled work
ers-workers Great Britain will badly
need when industry Is fully revived,
especially in view of the deficit in
trained workers which resulted from
the war.
Doesn't Want to Migrate.
To the unskilled Industrial worker.
the kind of which there is too great
surplus the idea of migrating to
distant land and living on farm SIM
ply doesn't get over at all. And under
the new agreement with Australia he
would have to enter into contract.
covering a considerable period of
years. to live on the particular piece
of land to which he was assigned. The
average British worker, apparently.
would rather be a free man in the
poverty of his surroundings than live
in comparative luxury under condi-
fioOS which he Regards as honda pe
And Australia, of course, cannot af-
ford to receive the emigrant and leave
him free agent, for as an industrial
1Inrxar he would only he burden