The Evening Star. MONDAY, JULY 28, 1873.

Evening Star, Issue 3256, 28 July 1873, Page 2

The Evening Star. MONDAY, JULY 28, 1873.

Two voluminous batches of correspondence on the subject of Immigration have been laid before the General Assembly : one containing “ Memoranda to the Agent-General,” and the other “Letters from the Agent-General.” As the first is comprised in one hundred and eight pages and the second in forty-two, it is plain that since receiving them on Saturday, but little opportunity has been afforded of carefully looking through them. Nor do we know that it is necessary, in order to arrive at the conclusion that the Government are by no means satisfied with the result of Dr Featherston’s agency. We should be surprised if they were. Two years have elapsed since it was established, and even admitting that serious difficulties had to be overcome before a stream of emigration could be directed to New Zealand, the dispatch of six thousand five hundred emigrants in sixteen months does not give promise of the success of the arrangements made. For the first time we have been made fully acquainted with the means employed to obtain emigrants. It appears that Dr Featherston employs 177 local and general agents, and that advertisements are inserted in 151 newspapers, besides special advertisements in 47 of them. This gives an average of about thirtyseven emigrants to each agent, or two and a-quarter a month. Very industrious, indeed, those gentlemen seem to be ! Even this, however, is an overestimate of the result of their labors, for of the number taken credit for 861 were assisted emigrants, and 1,860 sent out by Messrs Brogden ; leaving only 3,202 forwarded by the Agency. But Dr Featherston seems to have a will of his own. He evidently is not content to be a mere agent, receiving instructions from bis employers, and, to the best of his ability, carrying them into effect. He cannot forget the politician, and apparently assumes the right to judge whether the Cabinet is

acting wisely or foolishly in the decisions at which they arrive. We cannot imagine that affairs can long continue as they are. It is evident from the whole correspondence that there is a laxity in the arrangements calculated to prevent the scheme being carried out successfully ; especially as there are other Colonies making every effort to induce emigration. The agents of those Colonies do not appear to be very “ mealy-mouthed” in dealing with New Zealand ; and the New Zealand agents are not slow to magnify Canadian disad vantages. In fact, both sides remind one of the rival tradesmen, one o( whom added to his advertisement: “ N.B. Nothing genuine sold next shop.” Dr Featherston’s sanguine expectations of two years ago are evidently considerably toned down. When Glendower boasted that he could “ call on spirits from the vasty deep,” Hotspur replied—

And so can I, and so can any man; But will they come when you do call them. So with regard to emigration, Dr Featherston says that;— While it is equally easy to give an order for 10,001) emigrants as to give an order for 10,000 tons of railway plant, it is not quite so easy to execute the first as the latter.

The Doctor seems to forget he has 177 agents beside his own staff employed in forwarding emigration.