674 THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN. April 5, 1917. Central Emigration Authority under the control of Government is necessary. Further, in order to effect proper correlation between this body and the activi- ties of the Dominions in connection with migration, a Consultative Board to the Central Emigration Authority should be established, on which representa- tives of the Oversea Governments and others should sit. Certain conclusions are put forward on the ques- tion of land settlement for ex-soldiers and their families after the war. In particular, attention is called to the need for the provision of adequate capital, training, and assistance for the intending soldier settler. The causes wmch have led to the existence of a surplus of women in the United Kingdom, and a corresponding deficiency in the Dominions, are analysed in some detail. Some leading phases of the problems which arise from the existence of such surplus and deficiency are indicated. It is urged that, in future, as a matter of Imperial policy, far greater attention should be devoted to the emigration of women from the United Kingdom, and various prac- tical suggestions for increasing such emigration are made. So far as the Dominions are concerned, the fact is emphasised that one of their main problems lies in finding means to secure proper distribution of women throughout the country districts, and in preventing their concentration in the larger towns and cities. Much advantage is to be derived from the emigra- tion of children now under the care of the State in the United Kingdom; Oggestions are made for increas- ing and improving the methods of such emigration. Steps should be taken to secure— (a) Uniform regulations for the admission of migrants from the United Kingdom into the British Dominions ; and (b) That intending migrants should be able to satisfy themselves before leaving the Mother Country that they will be allowed to enter the Dominion of their choice. The Commission does not advocate any more formal co-operation at present between the Employment Exchanges in the United Kingdom and the Dominion Governments. A scheme is outlined for the interchange of school teachers between the United Kingdom and the Dominions, in order to secure for the rising genera- tion in all the self-governing parts of the Empire fuller acquaintance with conditions overseas and in the United Kingdom than that which now exists. 3. Imperial Communications : Harbours. ■— Cheap, speedy, and efficient transport between all parts of the Empire is a vital necessity for the scientific development of Imperial trade. Transport of this nature cannot be obtained except by the use of vessels of great length and draught. Such vessels cannot be employed unless there exist harbours of a size, and particularly of a depth, adequate to receive them. The development of the harbours and their approaches on the great trade routes of the Empire on an adequate and co-ordinated scale is therefore essential and urgent. Detailed suggestions are put forward for securing uniform depth on the chief ports of the various routes, with a view to securing accommodation for vessels of the following draughts : — (a) 33 ft. on the route from the United Kingdom vid the Suez Canal to the East and Australia; ' (b) 34 ft. on the route from Western Canada to New Zealand and Australia; (c) 38 ft. on the routes from the United Kingdom : (1) to Eastern Canada; (2) to Australia and New Zealand via the Union of South Africa; (3) to New Zealand and Australia vid Halifax, Jamaica, and the Panama Canal. The expenditure required to carry out these improve- ments would not exceed that .of building a few hundred miles of railway, whilst the benefit to the Empire would be incommensurably greater. In order to secure uniform progress in the future, it is recommended : — (a) That all schemes of improvement for certain scheduled ports and dry docks on the great trade routes of the Empire should be submitted to the proposed new Imperial Development Board, so that, whilst not inter- fering in any way with details of construction, etc., it may advise on these schemes from the standpoint of Imperial requirements. (b) That where enlargement of any scheduled port or dry dock, which is not in Government ownership, involves expenditure in excess of that which local requirements would demand, the Government concerned should assist in providing the necessary additional capital and interest charges. (c) That an Imperial representative or representatives should be added to the governing bodies of those ports in the United Kingdom which are scheduled in accord- ance with the scheme outlined above. Shipping Communications.—Hitherto the important mail contracts of the Empire have never been arranged in such a way as to render possible periodical review of the policy of the Empire as a whole in regard to its sea communications. Further, the principle that speedy transport at an economical cost can only be obtained by the employment of vessels of great length and draught has never been sufficiently recognised throughout the Empire. Opportunity should arise shortly to remedy both of these .defects. First, it is possible so to arrange matters that new Imperial services can be initiated in 1922, when the latest of the existing mail contracts expires. Secondly, in the interval, the Imperial and Dominion Governments could arrange in concert to deepen selected ports on the great Imperial trade routes to accommodate vessels of the length and draught required to secure high speed at reasonable cost. The way will then be clear for the development of new mail services of high speed by other routes than that now utilised, for conveyance of the mails from the United Kingdom to Australia and New Zealand, and for improving also the communications between the Mother Country and other parts of the self- governing Dominions, and between the Dominions themselves. Detailed tables of distances and times for the proposed new services to Australia and New Zealand are given. The first is vid Canada and the Pacific, the second vid the Union of South Africa. The Commission is also in favour of development of the route from the United Kingdom to New Zealand and Australia vid Halifax, Bermuda, Jamaica, the Panama Canal, and Tahiti. It is desirable that Australia, New Zealand, and the Union of South Africa should enjoy the special postal rates for periodicals and magazines, etc., sent from the United Kingdom, which are now enjoyed by Canada and Newfoundland. Freight Bates.—In the pre-war period Australia, New Zealand, and the Union of South Africa pro- badly paid at least as much for ocean freights as in Customs duties. If the return freight charges to the United Kingdom are added, the total charges for sea transport of merchandise to and from these parts of the Empire were a far heavier charge on commerce than were Customs duties. Since the war ocean freight rates have increased to a far larger extent than have tariffs, and the prevailing view is that freight rates will not return to the pre-war level for a long time to come. There is, therefore, ground for thinking that improvement in the cost of sea trans- port is amongst the most important problems confront- ing the statesmen of the Empire. The Commission is satisfied that the operations of the steamship companies should not remain longer without some measure of Government control. This view is based on two grounds : — (a) That in normal times the combination of ship owners is strong enough to limit the freedom of shippers, whose varied' and detached interests make it difficult for them to combine in any effective opposition. (b) That in some cases ship owners have used this power to grant more favourable freight rates on foreign than on British goods. The recommendations for securing control are as follow : — (a) That contractors for the new mail services recom- mended above and all other subsidised services should be required to submit for approval to the Governments concerned a schedule of freight rates on the . chief articles of import and export, supervision of which is important in the national interest. (b) That boards should be set up by the Imperial and Dominion Governments for the purpose of making- enquiry in cases where a primd facie case is established that the interests of shippers are being adversely affected by the action of steamship owners or steamship conferences. (c) That the functions of these boards should be in the main ‘ directed to investigation and conciliation, but that they should be empowered, at their discretion, to order abolition of differential freight rates found to be inimical to Imperial trade. Bills of Lading. — The Commission is strongly of opinion that legislation on the lines of the Harter Act of the United States (which imposes liability on the ship owner for the negligence of his servants in the stowage, delivery, etc., of merchandise) should be passed in the United Kingdom, the Union of South Africa, and Newfoundland. Handling and Distribution of Dominion Produce.— The arrangements for the transport of produce from the Dominions by road between the docks and the central markets in London are unsatisfactory. Early attention should be devoted to improvements of the existing system by the Port of London and other authorities. The system already adopted by some of the Dominion Governments of appointing inspectors to supervise the unloading and selling of their pro- duce in London and other large ports should be extended. There should be a uniform standard in the United Kingdom for the inspection of meat. Telegraphic Communications. — Further action towards the reduction of cable rates between the United Kingdom and the self-governing Dominions is an urgent necessity, both for the encouragement of trade development and for the promotion of social intercourse. The present control over the private cable companies exercised by H.M. ‘ Postmaster- General and other authorities is not effective for this purpose. Public opinion in all the Dominions is in favour of a policy which will secure State control of telegraph communication between the United Kingdom and Australia and New Zealand through Canada. Such control is essential if adequate reduction of rates is to be secured. The Commission therefore recommends the State acquisition as soon as possible (either by lease or other- wise) of a cable across the Atlantic, with the necessary land line connection between Nova Scotia and Mon- treal, there to connect with the existing services administered by the Pacific Cable Board. As soon as through communication has been obtained, action should be taken with a view to securing: — (a) Cheapening of the full rate between the United Kingdom and Australia and New Zealand to 2s. per word, with corresponding reductions for non-urgent (i.e., deferred and week-end) traffic. These reductions are regarded as the minimum required. (b) Lower rates for telegraphic business between Canada, Newfoundland, and the United Kingdom than those now existing. (c) Considerable reduction in Press rates. The rates to and from the Union of South Africa should be correspondingly reduced. Throughout the revision of rates proposed above, the Commission had constantly in view the desira.blity of enabling plain language messages to be sent to and from the most distant parts of the Empire at a charge not exceeding 6d. per word. Special stress is laid on the necessity for the lowest possible Press rates, in view of the vital importance of the dissemination of Imperial news as fully, widely, and cheaply as possible. 4. Improvement in Commercial Practice.—Sugges- tions are made for the improvement of the commercial intelligence system in various parts of the Empire, particularly in the United Kingdom and Canada. Some of these suggestions are of general application; others are on points where, in the Commission’s judg- ment, one part of the Empire could profit by the exist- ing practice of another part. The institution of a Trade Commissioner service has proved of much benefit in promoting inter-imperial trade. A considerable extension of this service is desirable both for the United Kingdom and the Dominions. For reasons set out, the Commission is unable to recommend the creation of a single inter-imperial trade intelligence system, but the fullest possible co-operation between the Trade Commissioners of the Mother Country and those of the self-governing Dominions is advocated. Comments are made on the work of the Consular service in relation to trade, with particular reference to the recent arrangements under which the services of British Consuls in foreign countries are utilised by the Dominion Governments. Suggestions are made for enhancing the value of these services. Statistics.—A quinquennial census of the population of the Empire on a limited scale is desirable, in addi- tion to the present decennial census. A special census should be taken as soon as possible after the conclu- sion of the war. It is urgent that steps should be taken to improve statistical methods and compilations now existing in the yarious parts of the Empire, par- ticularly as regards movement of population, imports and exports, prices, wages and cost of living, and movement of capital. The best method of bringing about such improvement is to call a conference of the statisticians of the Empire. Agenda are suggested for such a conference, and the necessary preliminary work is outlined. In future the collection, collation, and publication of Imperial statistics should be entrusted to a central statistical office, working under the new Imperial Development Board recommended below. The holding of periodic inter-imperial exhibitions is of value in the promotion of Imperial trade. Con- siderable importance is also attached to exhibitions, open to manufacturers and merchants only, of foreign goods competing with British goods in the various markets of the world. Unification of Legislation. — At present there are wide divergences between the legislation of the United Kingdom and the self-governing Dominions on : (u) Patents, (b) trade marks, (c) companies. Experience indicates that discussion of such sub- jects at Imperial Conferences is not likely to be pro- ductive of results, unless agreement is first reached by the expert advisers of the various Governments in conference or otherwise, and the results submitted for ratification. The main divergences in existing legislation in these three cases are set out, and the nature of the action required to secure greater approximation to unifor- mity on various important points of difference. In connection with the complaints made on the sub- ject of double income tax, attention is called to the concessions given as the result of legislation passed in consequence of the pressure of war taxation. This legislation will form a valuable precedent in the future. The Commission recommends co-operation between the Imperial and the Oversea Dominions Governments with a view to the establishment throughout the Empire of uniform coinage based on the decimal system, and of uniform weights and measures based on the metric system. 5. Creation of an Imperial Development Board.— Existing organisations are inadequate to deal with the scientific development of the resources of the Empire, with the deepening of its harbours on a co-ordinated plan, with the improvement of its mail and cable ser- vices, the preparation and publication of its statistics, and other matters of joint interest to the Empire as a whole. To remedy these deficiencies, the establish- ment is recommended of an Imperial Development Board. This Board, for really effective work, must represent not only the United Kingdom and the self- governing Dominions, but also India, the Crown Colonies, and the Protectorates; in other words, it must be concerned with the interests of the whole Empire. Detailed suggestions are made for the con- stitution and work of such a Board. In its initial stage it should be advisory. It is the hope and belief of the Commission that these conclusions and recommendations will not be found to conflict with the systems to be evolved by the Allied nations after the war. Deptford Borough Council, in expressing sympathy with a proposal by the Coal Controller to encourage the con- sumption in London of coke, with a view to economising transport, think it desirable that a maximum price should be fixed. A new branch of the Ministry of Munitions has been established, under Sir Lionel Phillips as Controller, to deal with the examination and development of such mineral properties (other than coal or iron ore) in the United Kingdom as are considered likely to be of special value for the purposes of the war.