16 MARCH 1929, Page 2

One of the most welcome points in this Report is

the interest taken by the Trades Union Congress in emigration. There is a regrettable fashion at present in the homes of wage-earners, to regard. life overseas as a kind of punitive exile. The idea of emigration provokes the equivalent of the old dislike for " taking the shilling." ,Emi4ration is regarded as a sort of degradation. The Labour Party could do much more than any other party to instil the idea that pioneering overseas, and helping to make new countries, is ope of the most attractive and honourable careers that any boy could adopt. As regards con- structional schemes for the relief of unemployment it is to be noted that the Report underlines the importance of the work having permanent value. Mere " Relief Work " is radically uneconomic. It is even doubtful whether it is a cure for personal demoralization as few workers are so stupid as to be unable to distinguish between creative work and mere " work for work's sake." Whatever the immediate effects of this very important Report may be, the fact that it is the joint product of Capital and LabOur is a portent of our times for which we are profoundly grateful.

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