“Open Letter to Lord Milner.
“Quincy, Mass., U.S.A.
“Dec. 15th, 1915.
“Lord Milner,—I have read with intense interest the report of your speech appearing in The Times Weekly Edition of Nov. 19th. You mentioned the indifference of the working man to Imperial affairs. I am a working man, and possibly my views on these questions may be of some small interest to you. When I speak of my views I mean that they also are the views of other workers with whom I come in contact. I mix daily with several dozen workers, British born, and I assure you that the opinions here expressed are the opinions of practically all.
“We believe that right now a strong committee should be formed to deal with Imperial reconstruction after the war. This committee should have a well thought out, clearly defined, and decisive policy to put in operation the moment the war ends. We believe that not less than half a million soldiers who have fought in the war should be settled in Canada, Australasia and U.S. Africa, and that an appropriation of not less than one billion[G] pounds sterling should be voted for the purpose. Canada is a land of vast agricultural possibilities and great mineral wealth. A small group of the best agricultural and engineering experts in the Empire should be sent over to make all necessary preparations for the coming of the men. The exact location or locations where they are to settle should be defined, lines of branch railways should be surveyed, sites of model garden cities, cement built, should be located, mining properties surveyed, and the location of factories and workshops should be decided upon. Nothing should be left to chance. The gang ploughs, threshing machines, motor tractors, grain elevators, etc., should be provided and run on the co-operative principle, and the entire properties should belong to the nation. If one-half the energy, foresight, and preparation used in the war were used for the reconstruction, the scheme is an assured success.
“There are great irrigation and artesian possibilities in S. Africa. Preparations should be made now. Incidentally the intensely loyalist stock thus settled would swamp the Hertzog party with their disruptive ideals. In Australia very great possibilities await irrigation. I have only to point out what has been done in arid S. California and Arizona to prove this.
“The British Empire heretofore has been more or less imaginary; there has been nothing tangible about it. Take my own case, for instance. I cite it merely because it illustrates a principle. Seven years ago I was in Scotland and unemployed. There were a great many unemployed at the time. Those who had no means were left to starve. Was anything done for them? Absolutely nothing! All were British, loved Britain, were able and willing to work, yet no organisation was created to utilise their services. Personally I came to the United States. I have done better here than at home; had better pay, shorter hours, better conditions. What is the British Empire to us? Absolutely nothing; a mere sentiment. Yet our feelings are British still, our sympathies are British; but that is not enough. There must be something tangible to go on, something real; sentiment alone is no use. An Englishman here whom I meet daily is a veteran of the S. African war. When that war finished he was not allowed to settle in S. Africa. At home he could not get work. He was driven to want. He had to pawn his medal to live, and finally was assisted to America. He has done well here and has been steadily employed. But he has been embittered, and his sentiment in his own words is: ‘To hell with the British Empire.’ It is an empty phrase to him, without meaning; and I tell you, with all the earnestness of which I am capable, that these things will mean the decline and fall of the Empire if they do not stop. In the United States there are several million British-born who are lost to the Empire for ever. Their sentiments are British, their sympathies are British, but their interests are here, and interest becomes sentiment. And observe that their children born here have sentiment as well as interest for the land of their birth.
“The British Empire is the largest in the world. In natural resources it is the wealthiest. It could support a population of hundreds of millions in a high degree of prosperity. The British are an able and intelligent people. The nation is rich. The problem is to settle the people throughout the Empire and develop its resources under the guidance of experts, according to a well thought out and definite plan. This plan wants to take shape now. If the war were to suddenly end one year hence, and an army of three million men disbanded, we would (and will) be faced by industrial chaos. The problem must be placed in the hands of experts, and be so clearly worked out that when peace is declared the soldiers will be drafted without fuss to the various parts of the Empire, and immediately tackle the problems of city and railway building, agriculture and irrigation, mining and manufacturing. And these properties must be owned by the nation. These measures will create a real Empire in which every citizen will have a tangible interest. Each part will legislate on its own domestic affairs, and the Imperial Parliament, dealing with Imperial affairs and representative of all the Dominions, will be held in London. With such conditions you will find a strong sentiment for Free Trade within the Empire and Protection without, and also a strong desire for that universal military training which will defend what in very truth is one’s own. Start this programme at once, and do it thoroughly, and you can be absolutely certain of a solid and enthusiastic backing.—Believe me, yours sincerely,
“Wm. C. Anderson.”
Under Mr. Anderson’s signature appeared the signatures of forty-nine men, all British subjects once, people of pure race and complete British traditions, now “lost to the Empire.” The letter was endorsed thus:
J. C. Collingwood, late of Glasgow, Scotland;
A. W. Coates, late of York, England;