AN "ARAB" COLONY.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1753, 30 January 1888, Page 2

AN "ARAB" COLONY.

("Wellington Press") A novel and Interesting experiment In colonisation ia being made m Dr Barnardo'a "settlement colony " of Vlotorla Reglna m Manitoba, Dc Barnsrdo ia a good man who has devoted a long life and extraordinary energy and ability to rescuing, suocouriug, and pr.vidlng.ibr the destitute children uf London. He haa established hora j s m various parts of England, whore 2000 of these poor little mortals are constantly maintained m oomfort and decenoy, with a bright future before them if they only ohooae to babave themselves, aa they almost all do,' tha aole aourca of funds boing voluntary offerings oollected m one wa> or another by the doctor himself. Of late, however he has found the diffioalty of setting the youngsters up m life at Home growing greater In proportion to his success In oaptnr> 1 >ii t em and for cix years p»Bt h> haa Byste* m* 1 al y despatched thoae who were fit for ojlonial iifu to Oanid*, obtaining altuationt for them there, and continuing hia ! watchful care over them by correspondence and through friends m the Dominion. The large number of 2683 boys and girls have already emigrated ia this manner, an 1 of these only 19 havj come to grief or failed to earn their own living. Dr Barnardo, rrho haa reoaatiy paid a visit to Canada to look atter his bantlings was greatly gratified with the results oi his system. He sayi the demand for honest lads and girls m the rural districts ia euormoua. The laleit development of his scheme h lha establishment of hia own infant-colony. The Maaitobin Governmoat have granted 4700 acres of first-olass l&od for the purpose, and thia area is to be worked entirely by waifs and strays from London who have piased through Dr Bernardo's homed. A large build- ; ing called a labor-house has been erect ei on the land, aa the nucleus of the settlement, and there the first baton of oaloniata of Victoria Regina are to be domiciled ready t:> commence operations on the 1 breaking op of winter. Dr Barnardo 1 oontemplates each an extension of this plan that eventually, as he pats it, every destitute lad m London will be able to escape from that condition if he chooses, It ia not expected, of course, that all the boya and girls who go to Viotorla Reglna will remain there all their life. On the contrary, the settlement ooloDy Is to be regarded m a great measure as a .raining aohuol and distributing centre for young O'lonists. It will be seen that upon Dr Bernardo's method, he will be able very shortly to supply 2COO of these annually from the hornet m England, and he thiubß t' at befcre very long that number will be doubled. In 20 years, therefore, 100,000 people will have been added to the population of Canada through this ohannel, all born Londoners, all edupated, all carefu ly triiood to industry, all chosen • for their qualifications for making good citizens for the Dominion. But long before 20 years are ova-, the earlier swarms of thete cockney colonists will bave lived off and become the parents oi a multitude of born Canadians of pure English blood, — none the worse blood for having been thinned m the preceding generation by London gin and gutter fare and the tainted atmosphere of slums and rookeries Viewed m this light, Dr Barnardo's emigration scheme loouii into very considerable importance as a singularly homogeneous and effective effort of oolon'gitlon, £t signifies nothing less than transplanting to a more fertile edlj and freer air, a vigorous offahoot of the strong, capable and trusty nation of Loudoh, which could never have been other than a stunted' eyesore ia its old surroundings, T ' "