LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
[Correspondents are requested to keep their letters as brief as is reasonably possible. Signed letters are given a preference over those bearing a pseudonym, and the latter must be accompanied by the name and address of the author, which will be treated as confidential.—Ed. THE SPECTATOR]
THE ADMISSION OF IMMIGRANTS
[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR] SIR,—Mr. Douglas Reed's objection to " your advocacy of most liberal, if not unquestioning, admission of immigrants
to England " seems to me to confuse the results of what is
happening under the Government's present policy regarding immigrants with what would happen if a more liberal and far- sighted policy were adopted. (No one, so far as I know, advocates completely unrestricted and unregulated admission.) First, he believes that a large proportion of the immigrants now entering are of a type which will be of " no gain to this country." So far as this is true, it is mainly due to the fact that, under the regulations of the Home Office, before an immigrant is admitted he must prove that he has either capital enough to maintain himself or well-to-do friends who through one of the recognised refugee organisations will guarantee both the cost of his maintenance in this country and that of his eventual migration. This results in bringing in chiefly elderly commercial and professional people, and in excluding the artisans and agricultural workers who might be useful either to this country or to the colonies.
Mr. Reed mentions instances of immigrants who are enjoying safe positions in hospitals, Government offices, &c. Considering the rigidity of the restrictions on aliens obtaining paid employment, such cases must be few indeed. Broadly speaking, the regulations grant permits to work only to domestic workers and nurses—occupations in which there is an acknow- ledged shortage—and in a few other cases where there is water-tight proof of no ousting or undercutting of British workers.
As to military service, whether under conscription or other- wise, I agree that if a more liberal policy were adopted it ought to impose the obligations as well as grant the privileges of citizenship. But of the present immigrants, I doubt whether more than a negligible proportion are males of military age. Through a recent Parliamentary question, I suggested the formation of a British Foreign Legion, which might utilise the services of some of the thousands of Spaniards, members of the International Brigade recently fighting in Spain, anti- Fascist Germans, Austrians and Czechs, who have shown their courage in combating Fascism at home and have military train- ing and often valuable war experience. I was told that the proposal would not fit in with the British military system! So these brave men are left to rot in the refugee camps of France or to live the lives of hunted fugitives in their own land.
As to the other advantages to ourselves of a more generous policy, let us remember that, in the opinion of population experts, we are on the verge of a decline in population so steep that we are " heading for extinction." Let us remember that there are Colonies and Dominions within the British Empire so underpopulated that they provide the aggressor Dictator nations with both an excuse and an opportunity for aggression. Let us remember all we have gained in the past, from Huguenot times onwards, by importing foreigners with expert knowledge of the industries and markets of their countries of origin. And let us remember, lastly, our own traditions as a refuge for the persecuted.—Yours faithfully,
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