The Need for It.

Of the three fundamental sources of wealth Australasia possesses the first—land in abundance. But in the other two—capital and labour to develop the resources of the land—she is yet very deficient. There is no one amongst us who will not admit that the progress of Australasia may be measured by the influx of capital and population to her shores. There are few who will question the advantage to be gained by promoting a larger influx of these essential factors of our development.

The mother country is at once that from which it is most desirable that we should receive capital and population, and that from which we have the best opportunities to get them. For generations yet our population must come chiefly from the United Kingdom, and our capital from London.^* And yet the Board of Trade statistics show that during the decade 1870-79, out of every hundred emigrants from Great Britain and Ireland, ninety went to swell the population of the United States, whilst of the 10 per cent, who settled in British territory after leaving the mother country, only four found homes under the Southern Cross. Difference in distance—which means cost of passage—has undoubtedly much to do with the distribution of British emigration, but surely this cause is insufficient to account for so enormous a disproportion! In the distribution of British capital invested abroad it exists equally. Despite repudiation and the continuous failure of bogus companies, British capital pours into America in fertilizing streams, whilst to Australasia it comes in driblets, accompanied occasionally by a very unpleasant intimation that under certain circumstances the supply will be cut off.

Are the natural resources and social condition of the United States so much superior to those of Australasia, as to warrant this preference on the part of our countrymen for a foreign soil, a foreign life, and foreign securities? We who know these colonies well can conscientiously give a negative reply to this question. The reason of the different treatment we receive lies chiefly, as I have already said, page 4 in distance; that we cannot alter. But it also lies very largely in our youth and obscurity. Our resources and our civilization do us little practical service in the way of attracting population and capital, simply because they are unknown to nine-tenths of the British people, and are not properly realized by the majority of the remainder. There can be little doubt that had the advantages which these colonies offer been partially known at home, hundreds of thousands, who turned their steps towards the Great Republic, would have set their faces in this direction, and thousands who are now lamenting the loss of their money there would have invested it here with profit both to themselves and to us.

What is to be done? How is this ignorance, which is so detrimental to our progress, to be removed?

I reply that we must advertise. Australasia is in the position of a tradesman who opens an opposition shop, but finds that, although he can sell as good or even better articles, people continue to patronise the old establishment simply because they know more about it. As far as population and money are concerned, America is the "old establishment," and consequently she secures without effort by far the larger share of public favour. Is it not of the utmost importance to us to break down the existing prejudice, to compel our fellow-countrymen at home to understand that on the whole they will find their interests better served by casting in their lot with us than by establishing themselves in a foreign land?

I readily acknowledge that we have made several fairly successful attempts at advertising. We have been represented at numerous Exhibitions; we have held International Exhibitions ourselves; we have scattered statistics in thousands, and pamphlets only less numerous than the sands upon the sea shore. But what has been done is nothing to that which remains to be accomplished. Statistics, pamphlets, and lectures are admirable in their way, but it is necessary first to engage the attention of those we wish to impress. We have distributed pamphlets, and they have been more or less read—mostly less. But no one who reads our English papers, or talks with any Englishman who is generally considered to be well-informed, will contend that these pamphlets have been understood. Again, the Exhibitions at which we have been represented have been held in countries whence neither population or capital could be expected to come here, and our courts there have been insignificant atoms in the International molecule, passed over unnoticed by many, and, when visited, giving but a very imperfect idea of our resources. The Exhibitions held here certainly produced a great sensation upon those who visited them, but, unfortunately, we could not bring any large number of European visitors out to see them, and the reports in the European press, though useful as far as they went, were meagre. For all this there can be no question but that these Exhibitions proved profitable to the colonies in which they were held. The stimulus given to commerce since 1879 is undeniable. The proof of the pudding is in the eating. More immigration and investment nave unquestionably resulted from these efforts. But it has been no more than a drop in the bucket. The need for population especially was never greater than at the present moment. Our natural resources and our manufacturing industries alike are crying aloud for labour. Our attempts at advertising then have so far been altogether inadequate to our requirements. Is this not because we have begun at the wrong end?

I believe that the comparative inefficiency of the advertising we have hitherto done is due to our having under-estimated the depths of the prevailing indifference to Australasia, to our having over-estimated the capacity of the British public for receiving information about us. The business man advertises down to the level of those he wishes to reach. The pamphlet and the lecture are excellent in their proper time, but first we have to engage the attention of our customers. How can we arrest that attention?