Empire Migration Lord Astor's Committee on Empire migration will occasion
no surprise by its pessimistic report. A hundred years ago the Spectator warmly supported Wakefield's schemes of mass emigration, first to South Australia and then to New Zealand, and was justified by the results. Nowadays, when the tide of migration has turned and more people are returning from the Dominions than going out to them, we can only give a regretful assent to the Committee's conclusion that for many years to come the Dominions arc unlikely to welcome new immigrants as they did immediately after the War. The Committee regards it as of importance that there should be a steady flow of British migrants to the Dominions, but the flow must be small. While agri- culture is depressed, there is no work for new hands. An unexpectedly rapid development of mineral resources might cause a demand for settlers. But, as things are, only the discovery of a new and rich goldfield in Australia could make much difference, for the supply of all other minerals is superabundant. It is strange that the Com- mittee should regard large-scale emigration as dis- advantageous to us because the British birth-rate is declining. Should we be really worse off with a population a million or so less than to-day ? * * *
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