MESSRS BROGDEN AND THE LABOR DIFFICULTY.

Evening Star, Issue 3080, 2 January 1873, Page 2

MESSRS BROGDEN AND THE LABOR DIFFICULTY.

The following letter from Messrs Brogden’s agent appears in the Southland Times of the 3lst ult, under date 30th December Will you permit us through your columns to call pub ic attention to the manner in which vva have been treated by the people of this district with reference to the immigrants introduced by us for the purpose of constructing the railways. 95 people ex Bebington were lately landed by ns at the BlulF, thoir passageshavingbeen paidbyus, mi pursuance of an agreement whereby 'hey unreservedly bound themselves to allow us to retain one-iifth of their earnings until the whole amount of tin ir passage money should be repaid. Out of them 95 people, one only is now working for us, the remainder having been absorbed -in most cases without our consent--by the employers of labor in this district, none of whom (with one exception) so far as we are aware, have made any provision for securing the repayment of the monies clue to us. Now, though these people were introduced by us as onr servants, to enable us to execute the work which we have contracted to perform, and not to supply the labor market generally, we have no objection to a portion of our men, who may happen to be skilled workmen, and not specially required by us, to engage themselves to other employers, provided that these employers, before engaging them, ask our consent, and give us a satisfactory guarantee to repay us the expenses incurred in bringing them to this country. At Auckland, Wellington, Picton, in fact at every other port of New Zealand where we have introduced workmen, the public have carefully avoided interfering with them without our consent, and in cases where we have consented to allow them to hire themselves to others, the employers have arranged to recoup us for all our outlay on their b half. On mentioning these facts to several citizens of Invercargill, we have been assured that there is an impression abroad that we are not at all anxious to retain the people imported by us, but on the contrary are glad to got rid of them, and that employers here would not engage them without our permission, if they knew that they were bound to work for us, and were in our debt. We cannot understand how the Southland public have come to the conclusion that we are anxious to get rid of men whom we import at so much trouble and expense. The publication of this letter ought, however, to satisfy them that this is a very mistaken idea, and in future, common honesty ought to prevent them from tampering in any way with our people without our express consent. As a further sample of the way iu which we have been treated, we may mention that several of the men landed this morning ex Zaakndia have been already entrged by Invercargill employers without our sanction.