'Urban Degeneration and Rural Revitalisation': The South Australian Government's Youth Migration Scheme, 1913-14

Abstract

This article examines the social context and motivations behind the establishment of the South Australian Government's youth migration scheme of 1913-14. It investigates to what extent the concept of 'urban degeneration and rural revitalisation', as defined by Keith Williams, influenced the British and Australian proponents of the scheme. While the British proponents were clearly stimulated by anxiety about the degrading effects of poverty and the urban environment, it is argued that the South Australian sponsors of the scheme were driven by a complementary, but noticeably different, motivation. South Australian proponents feared that the ever-increasing migration of people from the State's rural districts to the capital city was jeopardising South Australia's otherwise 'unstoppable' agricultural expansion. These two beliefs were largely harmonious but ultimately diverged with regard to applicants from reformatory schools.