I am sure that all of us who sit on this side of the House were delighted to be reassured by the right hon. Gentleman, the former Secretary of State for the Colonies, that this question of Imperialism should not be treated as a party question, but that it is the bounden duty of us all, in every party, to try to develop our Empire and its trade. There is no doubt that, as has been pointed out by the hon. Member for North Southwark (Mr. H. Guest), the results of the Empire Settlement Act have been extremely disappointing, and have not come up to the expectations which we had all entertained. I think there is no doubt that, as the Government Report points out, the probable reason is bad trade. The Act was passed in 1922, just at the beginning of the very bad cycle of trade. During the four years for which the Act has been in existence we have had a continued depression in trade, and I think it is an indisputable fact that migration is best in years of good trade, and that there is least migration in years of bad trade. Therefore, I think that the occurrence of this trade depression is the principal reason why the result of the Act has been so disappointing up to the present. From that point of view, the coal stoppage is a calamity, because at the beginning of this year the prospects were certainly better, and we all looked for ward during 1926 to better trade and a considerable increase in migration to the various parts of the Empire. As the result of this long stoppage, there is no doubt that the recovery of trade must be very considerably postponed, and, there fore, I suppose we cannot look for any great increase over the figures of last year.

It is becoming more and more evident as the years go by that we in these islands cannot regard ourselves merely as an isolated unit, but that we have to regard ourselves as part of an enormous Empire, and that the policy of this part of the Empire must be laid down in conjunction with a great Imperial policy which will suit all parts of our Empire. We are extremely lucky, because, although we may not be self-contained in this country—indeed, we are not—yet our Empire is self-contained. Within our Empire we have territories in the temperate zones where we can grow all those crops which require a temperate climate, and we have also large territories in the tropics where we can grow those crops which require a tropical climate. Again, in other parts of the Empire, and in the Mother Country here, we have factories, and mills in which we produce almost every kind of article that is required by mankind. The point is, however, that in no part of the Empire can we grow every crop or make every article that is, required. Therefore, what we have to do is to develop in the different parts of the Empire the crops for which their climate is suitable, and to develop our industries here in order to supply them, thereby doing good to both. This seems a more or less simple proposition, When you have the land and the capital, all that is required is labour.

I have been reading the Fruit Report of the Imperial Economic Committee, which has just been published, and. which is an extraordinarily interesting document. There one finds that we imported—and I think very few people in this country realise it—in the year 1924, £48,000,000 worth of fruit from overseas; but the sad part of it is that, of that £48,000,000, we paid away to the foreigner £38,000,000. The Report goes on to say that the Committee have not the slightest doubt that, after the Empire has been properly developed, we shall be able to get all our fruit requirements, with small exceptions, such as grapes and oranges, from within the Empire. Let me take the example which the Committee give, of what happens in a district called Mildura, in Australia. That is a district which, 13 or 14 years ago, was more or less barren, only a few sheep being grazed there. Its area is about 300,000 acres, and it used to carry a stock of about 2,000 sheep, with only one or two men employed in looking after them. The land was irrigated, and to-day it is employing 14,000 men in producing fruit. If that district had not been properly developed, so that we could get the enormous amount of fruit that we get from Mildura, I suppose we should have got it from America, and what does the American do for us? In the same year, 1924, he only bought 9s. worth of our goods while the Australian bought over £10 worth. It must be evident to everyone that it is to the advantage of Australia to have her land irrigated and developed and her production increased, and to the advantage of this country to do business with people who are such extremely good customers.

The Empire Settlement Act was passed with the express object of trying to increase the trade of the Empire. Some of the reasons for its not having been up to the present so successful as we had all hoped have been met by, for instance, the reduction of the cost of passages. I am sure we are all glad that there has been such an enormous reduction in the cost of passages to Canada, so that now one can go right out to Western Canada for £8 or £9. There has also been a very large reduction in the cost of passages to Australia. While those reductions have been made, and will, we hope, result in a considerable increase in migration, yet there are several recommendations of the Maclean Committee which I hope the Secretary of State will do his best, in conjunction with the Dominion Ministers, when they come to the Imperial Conference, to carry out. I feel that this is such a vital question for the future of this country and the Empire that we ought to do everything possible to oil the springs and make the Act a success. The Maclean Report makes several recommendations. There was one with regard to the standardisation of all the various insurance schemes that we enjoy, not only in this country but in almost every one of our Dominions The Report says: But in these Dominions the period for residence in order to obtain the benefits varies in almost every Dominion, and in every Dominion the applicant for the benefit has had to reside in that particular Dominion for a. certain number of years. The Maclean Committee recommended that the period of residence necessary to qualify under non-contributory schemes of old age pensions should be uniform throughout the Empire, and that, for the purpose of calculating the qualifying period, residence in any part of the Empire, where a corresponding scheme is in existence should be taken into account. I think that that is an extremely important factor, and I hope the Secretary of State will do his best to try and get that suggestion adopted.

The Committee have also made other suggestions, one of which is that the medical fee charged to an applicant who wishes to obtain an assisted passage to one, of our Dominions—it is not a very large sum, I think 10s. 6d.—should be paid for him: and I hope the Secretary of State will consider that suggestion also. But what I feel to be by far the most important factor is the question of publicity. I do not think we can do too much, and it would be hard to spend too much money, in advertising the Empire and doing all we can to bring home to people in this country the advantages of trading with our Empire. There is not the slightest doubt that Wembley had an enormous effect, and that large masses of the population who went to Wembley realised for the first time what the Empire can do and what it is capable of producing. As is stated in the summary of conclusions in the Fruit Report of the Imperial Economic Committee, what we want to do is to mobilise the consumer in this country, and bring home to him the enormous advantages of doing business with the Empire, as compared with doing business with a foreign country. I do not think we can bring home too much the enormous advantages of trading with Australia or Canada, and the enormous purchases that these men when they go out there will make front us. That will help the trade of this country, and thereby do good both to our Dominions and to our own Mother Country here at home.