3 APRIL 1936, Page 2

Colonies and Emigration There is no surer sign of economic

recovery in the Dominions than their willingness to accept immigrants from this country. They have not merely relaxed their opposition to emigration but shown a positive desire for its renewal. Both Mr. Lyons, the Prime Minister of Australia, and Mr. Savage, Prime Minister of New Zealand, have in recent speeches expressed their desire for new emigration schemes : in this country, we have already shown the same desire by the appointment of the Overseas Settlement Board, and last week Mr. Malcolm MacDonald and Mr. Douglas Hacking emphasised the Government's in- tention to make good use of the new opportunities for emi- gration which have arisen with this change of attitude and economic recovery in the Dominions, and with the increase in Imperial trade. But it is not only economic recovery which has changed the attitude of the Dominions. They are aware that, in this latest stage of world politics, it is not safe, and not justifiable, to remain sparsely populated oases in an overcrowded world, and that it may be better to allow immigrants of their own race than be invaded by other races anxious for expansion. Their desire for immigration coincides with an anxious interest in problems of defence and world politics.