The Evening Star. MONDAY, AUGUST 15, 1870.

Evening Star, Volume VIII, Issue 2269, 15 August 1870, Page 2

The Evening Star. MONDAY, AUGUST 15, 1870.

Immigration again ! somebody will perhaps sly on reading the Star tonight. Yes —immigration again. It is one of the mast important subjects to ■which public attention can be .directed. Moreover, it, is imperatively the duty of the Press to urge upon the Provincial Executive the responsibility that rests upon them, to perfect a system that, shall be for the benefit of i those who come, equally with those *«who are : here. At the last session of the Provincial Council, a petition, signed by many “ laborers, mechanics, “ and operatives,” was referred to a Select Committee. The people of Pun-

edin will f° v gotten t ie are most anxious to most reasonable i may.be enabled to support themselves and their families during the ensuing winter. . . . That they have, , after much anxious solici-., ; tation, and after considerable personal sacrifices, failed to obtain any sort of labor, even ■ at the lowest figure, in the present depressed state of the Province. That your petitioners are no enemies to a healthful stream of immigration to Otago,

but they humbly and respectfully submit their necessitous case to the wise consideration of your Honorable House, and sincerely trust that some means may he devised 1 whereby the unemployed already located in Otago shall find a fair-day's wages for a fair day s work, with as little delay as possible. The Committee met, took evidence, drew lip a report, and in it recommended the organisation of a labor agency, and that the -Government should “ offer such ' work upon the “ roads, or otherwise, as. may be in , “ their power, in small contracts, at “ rates calculated to yield s's. per day.”

And this was the measure of thenideas ! The evidence varied. The general outcry was that wages were too high ; but beyond theoreticid opinions that, if lower, employment wodd readily be obtained, and new industries entered upon, nothing more practical than the agency registration was suggested. Now what avc have written during the past Aveek is intended to sheAV -that in justice to all those avlio aie here, to those Avho are coming—to those Avho live by trade, and to those Ayho lfve by labor—a system ought to be adopted that will .realise the prayer of the petition, that ‘‘means may be “ devised whereby the unemployed ” may have... employment given -them. We are no believers in loav Avages. So long as men, give good value for their money, we believe that all classes are the better off Avhere : good Avages are obtained, and avc had rather see the world’s price rise to our standard than that standard fall to the Avorld s rate. At Home and everyAvhere else, “ low “ wages ” is nearly an exchangeable to nil ° for little Avork and general distress. Dr. Hearn says : The greater the quantity of enjoyable objects any man. possesses, the greater will be his power of exchanging. Whether he be regarded as a vendor or as a purchaser, his poAver of sale and purchasing are alike limited by the extent of his possessions. The wealthier ,a man is,, the better .consumer he .can, he.. Whatever tends to increase wealth lends proportionately to increase the power of exchanging. Whatever tends to diminish that wealth, tends in the same degree to diminish that poAver.

We do not suppose that all will agree in these opinions. There are many who have their pel schemes for extending employment, and are prepared to advocate competitive manufacturing industries with nations where the cost of labor is abotit half what it is here. But we will present one consideration to them which ought to determine our course: of action. The Province is hot only not ripe for their schemes, but they will require length of time and individual. enterprise for their realisation. and what we want is prompt and efficient ■,action. The past week , has brought an accession to our numbers, and raox-e immigrants are coming. What are we to do with them. , John Hill Burton says Wherever emigrants, sent forth at the public expense, may prudently and prolit- ' ably be placed, there. muni be name produce 'rat media fcJ v, or with little toll , obtainable, from the, i/roinid, or those who have begun : to inhabit the waste must urgently desire ! assistance to enable them to take advantage i of the resources of the country. ! The Provincial Government has adopted during the past year a very disastrous : course. By refusing to bring the Hundreds Regulation Bill into operation, they are not prepared to sell land, even ■if' any of the newcOixxers are prepared to buy. Through not selling land, i they have not money to prosecute pub- : lie works, and in cpnsecpience, through I not: being able to give the customary amount of employment, they have aggravated the stagnation produced by external causes over which they, had no control. : And now to add, to the temporary difficulty, for ' it is hnt temporary, a numbelv pf immigrants are arriving who must be fed, and who had a right to expect work. But no plan beyond “road contracts” has been laid out for giving them employment, arid these cannot be carried out for want of means. It matters not what motive induced them to come hither, they have come to better themselves ; and with every advantage to them and to ourselves, we might have pointed out the way and prepared them work. An able writer says ~ The disadvantages of emigration, however, where there is no plan, no controlling or directing power, are obvious. Emigrants often go to a new country without any definite or clear notion of what they are going to. Dissatisfied or unhappy at Home, imagination pictures to them a remote and unknown country as an asylum from all the evils of life; or if they have any distinct idea of the new kind of existence which they are going to adopt, they often underrate the difficulties of the undertaking, or for m & false estimate of their own capabilities to meet them. As this is undeniably true, what steps have been taken to form a plan 1 The

Government has only half dotJ&K its work—it has provided means for wringing ploying fields in eve{p dpUtioif and capable of in wen Ith for fcy It Ms displayed' most and mo.it inexcusable kdssez fair'e. We warn them t&it this’, binhbti T* e tolerated. , Were there no' remedy we should not have blamed thein.