1534 IMPERIAL UNITY [PART VIII
which would appropriate 60 per cent. of the natural increase
of the population of the United Kingdom, as compared with
48 per cent. in 1910 and 50 per cent. in 1907. But for the
saving in life represented by a lower death-rate and a much
lower infant mortality, this emigration would be a very
heavy drain on the United Kingdom. The increase of popula-
tion in ten years in Scotland and Ireland was only 210,000,
or less than the total emigration from Great Britain for
one year. With a diminishing birth-rate the United King-
dom could not safely spare more than 300,000 people a year,
and if 80 per cent. of these went to different parts of the
Empire the Conference would probably agree that this was
as much as could reasonably be required. Since 1907 the
work of the Emigration Office had more than doubled, and
every effort was made to keep the machinery up to modern
requirements. Over-organization would probably check
the operations of many of the voluntary non-political and
benevolent associations connected with the work. Informa-
tion was disseminated through 1,000 public libraries and
municipal buildings, in addition to many post offices; 650
Boards of Guardians sent all their emigrated children to the
Dominions, and in twenty-one years, at a cost to the rates
of £109,000, 9,300 poor-law children had been emigrated, and
there was convincing evidence of the high quality of such
children. In five years, at a cost of £127,000, 130 Distress
Committees had sent 16,000 emigrants to different parts of
the Empire. Since 1907 army reservists had been allowed
to leave this country and to continue to draw reserve pay,
and since that date 8,000 reservists had availed themselves
of this permission, of whom only 329 were not under the
British flag. Mr. Burns! concluded with the advice to the
Dominions to trust to the Imperial Government in this
matter. She would hold the scales fairly between the
various Dominions, and he was glad on his part to recognize
that during the last two or three years the Dominions had
shown greater generosity in the treatment of emigrants from
the United Kingdom. After this statement there was little
1 Cd. 5745, p. 202.
