The Dunstan Times. FRIDAY, MARCH 4, 1870.

Dunstan Times, Issue 411, 4 March 1870, Page 2

The Dunstan Times.

FRIDAY, MARCH 4, 1870.

Beneath the Rule of Men entirely just the pen is mightier than theswonD

Thk subject of immigration mnst'very soon engage all clashes f of society, nothing is more plainly apparent, than that a large increase'of the laboring population is necessary for the progress of the .-Province. At no period of our history has there’jieen experienced such a demand for labor, and so much difficulty in supplying it. The suffered severely, and in many localities removed from the principal highways of traffic,"great jossjhas;bcen experienced from the lack of hands to secure the harvest. We’are not advocates for immigration with the view of cheapening labor, fojs—we believe that when' the toil of the laborer is properly remunerated, and employment plentiful,’That, the Province is most prosperous. Wc have however long passed 'thisj happy period, and tilings are almost at a stand still for want of willing hands to work, in f ict wc may bo said to have reached the millenium'and everybody is in business for himself, for our army of workers musters more officers than privates This appears to be the case im the ’early 7 history of all new countries, the tide of prosperity sets in so strong, that all who are able and willing to toil, and who can take care of their earnings soon place themselves in the position of employers. This of course is highly commendable, and it is the attainment of one of the chief objects of the immigrant, hut unless tlie void left by the withdrawal of so much labor from the ordinary sourcai of employment can be filled up by new arrivals, those who start for themselves and cause the vacancy must speedily find that they have not made a change for the better. It is impossible that we can be all masters the spirit of the ago is opposed to a division of labor, in the prosecution of small industries it is not only inexpedient and wasteful, but it enhances the prices of articles so produced, and strangers are enabled to undersell us at our very doors. With so much land available for occupation, and so many facilities for occupying it, a supply of laboi is indispensible, and it must be procured in some shape or another, or those who have acquired the means to start for themselves will choose other fields tor the exercise of their energies and expenditure of their capital. There is no doubt but that emmigration begets emmigration, the mosperity of one branch of emmigrants is an inducement to others, but unfortunately our race is not so numerous that the wants of all the colonies could he simultaneously supplied, and as it is undesirable to wait until population increases, we must look to foreign nations to supply the '{leficieney. The Germans have, without doubt, proved" thv ihost useful class of emmigrants ever introduced

into tlio Australian Colonies, ‘and it is a very great pity that so few of them are settled in New Zealand. It is true that as a rule they rather choose to work on their own ground than labor for others, but when not in a position to do so, they accepteinployment readily and make very useful servants, and where once our Teutonic brethren establish themselves, Mheir numbers are quickly added to by importations from the Fatherland. Under existing circumstances our onlj resources appears to be the Chinese, and to these queer-eyed yellow-skinned strangers we must look to supply our labor market. As gold miners they have proved themselves invaluable ; by their patient industry they have added largely to the escort returns. Their labor Fas been available to European miners at reasonable rates, and much ground has, in consequence, been worked that otherwise must have remained idle. Now that wo are about to construct railways, and enter largely into the business of flaxgrowing, an addition to our Mongolian population is indispensable, European labor will be quite unequal to the task, whatever prejudices we may have against the Chinese they must give way to expediency. The exarnp e of the gigantic railway which traverses the American Continent, from the Atlantic to the Pacifiic affords unmistakable evidence of the value of Chinese labor, without it, that vast work could not have been constructed, it has also tended very materially to make the State of California what it is, and its value ’is becoming to be so fully understood by employers in the Southern States of America, that agents are already in China engaged in procuring labor ■to till their half desert cane and cotton fields. Chinese labor is the only source from which we are likely to be able to supply our immediate wants, and the sooner we overcome our prejudices, and avail ourselves large'y of it, the sooner shall we be making that progress which as a newly settled country we ought to make.