THE SHILLING EMIGRANT

Ashburton Guardian, Volume V, Issue 1402, 9 November 1886, Page 3

THE SHILLING EMIGRANT

The London correspondent of an exchange writes that a sod- ty is being formed in London, of which the Luke of Manchester is patron, and Meters Fieshfield, the solicitors to the Bank of England, are the legal advisers, entitled the Emigrants’ Self-supporting Emigration Society, Limited. The obj cts of f.hia society, which is to ba es sb’iabed upon strict y commercial principles, ate declared to' ba to L-ciliate emigration amongst the industrial c’assee, to secure them practically a free pas age to the colonies no< n prescribed conditions by their own independent eff its without the aid of charity ; alto to acquire, cu'tivate, and deal in land, colonise tt.e same, ere t« townships and settlements, net as farmers, agriculturists dealers in agrcnltnral pro. duce. cattle breeders, general merchants. manu c actarerß and traders ; and lastly, to apprentice, ecuc-te, arrd instruct in any calling boys or g rls for thß_ purpose of emigration or otherwise. Tbisisatole'ablv ambitious piogramme, and probably it wM be sufficient if I confine myself to an exp'anation of hew it s proposed to work the first part thereof. The company will Start with a capital of one m-Ilion ft-r----llng, of which one half w )1 be called up at tirtt. This £500.000 will be raised bribe issue of 25 0 0 preferred shares of £lO each, and of 5 000 0; 0 share certfka es of 1* each with emigrants coupons attached These shilling share certificates are intended to be taken up by the working classes and tl ose from whose emigrants are chit fly drawn. To each shilling share certificate will be attached an emigrant’s priority coupon, and there will be periodical ballots amongst the holders of these coupons. Those who are successful in these ballets will te conveyed to the colonies free of expense, and on arriving at the colony will be placed upon a plot of land and provided with agricultural Implements and food sufficient for a certain number of days. Before starting (or the colonies each emigrant will be required to enter into a written contract engaging himself to the society and agree log to repay to the same the cost of h « passage, and also a certain annual rent for hia holding- The contract will have to be re-signed when he arrives in the colony. The operations of the company will be at first confined to New Zealand and Australia, though other colonies will be dealt withal '-i spL.r of the society’s enterprise widens. They will acquire blocks of land, which will ba divided into plots of 20 acres each. TTpon one of those plots the newly-arrived emigrant will i e placed, and be provided with tools and provisions lor half-a-year. Taking the value of produce at the prices quoted in the New Zealand Herald of March 29, 1886, the company estimate that the yearly yield of 20 acres of land would be £123 4s 2d. Out cf this the emigrant would have to repay to the company £3B 16a 2d, which is the cost of hia passage outwards, food, oth r expenses and interest on the same, together with £5 for the rent of his holding. These two sums deducted from £123 4s 2d will leave him with £79 81 for subsistence and further operations The capitalised value ot each of these 20 acre plots is si t down at £2OO, and by paying a yeatly rental of £5 for eight years the tenant will become the proprietor of hrs holding. Theccmpany estimate that IC.OOO emigrants nra? be equip; ed, shipped, catered for, and fairly started and supplied with seeds, implements, machinery, temporary dwellings, rations, Ac., and well established in New Zealand, Australia, or elsewhere wittiin three yea's, and that the shareholders would receive 6 per cent, upon their capital for that period The scheme as sketched out by the company certainly looks very feasible. The emigrants priority conp< ns are presumably intended merely to give an air and novelty to the plan. What the company in effect proposes to do Is to transplant emigrants to the colonies, keep them until they can snpport themselves, and then obtain repa • ment of the money expended upon them, and allow them to purchase their holdings by easy payments In other words, it is an undertaking something like the oid New Zealand Company. As far as can at present be seen the company, h»e a fair chance of success Applications for shares are said to be coming in freely, and the names t.f the provisional board of directors are such as to Inspire c< nfidence. These gentlemen are Sir Aitwell King Lake, Bart, Mr Bobert J. Banning, Mr John Btnnett. (formerly of Goulbonrn and Gippsland, Victor!*), Bear-admiral Brocket, Mr D. B£a, and Mr Charles J. Nastryitb. It is to be presumed that the promoters of the Company have in a general way satisfied themselves as to the countenance of the colonial governments being given to their scheme ; otherwise, of course, it cannot be expected to work well. It is stated that a fine block of land has been offered them-ln New Zealand to pommenca operations upon,