A REPLY.

Evening Star, Issue 3519, 3 June 1874, Page 3

A REPLY.

To the Editor. Sib,—Hnder the heading "Pity a poor Immigrant," appears a letter in your issue of this evening, signed "An Aspirant." He; enumerates the difficulties which he had to contend against here in obtaining a dwelling, the high rent demanded, and the difficulties he met with in trying to find out where to purchase land. From the accpunt which he gives us of the land sales one would be naturally led to the conclusion that he is ai very " green hand" indeed. If your correspondent when he was leaving Home thought he was coming to a country where be could get high wages without working, or get a comfortable dwelling-house without paying for it, he was very much mistaken. If house rents are high, what is it that makes them, so? The high rates of wages, of course. " Aspirant " may possess industry andcarefulness, but he lacks two important recom mendatiotia in a new country, viz. .energy and contentment. What would " Aspirant" have said had he come here twenty-four or twenty-five years ago, and could not haye obtained the shelter even of a roof under which to lay his head ? la the early diys of the Province the immigrants when land, d ha,d invariably to live in tents or tarpaulins for several weeks until they could havo houses or tents of their own constructed. It is not known that these early settlers ever complained of this, for they, as a rule, set to with a will and constructed houses of their own. As for wages, it was almost an impossibility to get work at that time, or if work was obtained the wages were about 3s per day. How small that is contrasted with the wages which are received now-a-days ! But singular to say, the majonty of those early settlers who slept under tarpaulins and tents, upon beds composed of ferns or grass, now stand high among the ranis of the monied men of this Province. They were content with their lot and satisfied with small beginnings, and now they are reaping their well-earned reward. Newcomers may envy them, but what will this avail? Che only course open is, to start and follow their example. This reminds me that only the other day I came across one of those earl y settlers who, with his family, had to sleep under a tarpaulin for many a day afier he landed on theße shores; and what do you think he told me I Why he had just been purchasing one of the finest freehold estates i» ™ country, consisting of upwards of 17,000 acres, and the price he was paying wa ß between L 50.000 and L 60,000. This is only one instance of the remarkable success of those who constituted the pioneers of this settlement. Many others might be mentioned, but it would take up too innch space to do so. ' Your correspondent bad therefore better resign himself to the fate which awaits all those who immigrate to new countries • and please himself with the idea that if houses are high here, wages are higher still.—l am, _ ~ C. JR. Chapman. Dunedin, June 1. '