MR SEATON ON EMIGRATION.

Evening Star, Issue 3638, 20 October 1874, Page 2

MR SEATON ON EMIGRATION.

To the Editor. i have , been offce “ requested, and latterly pressed, to give my experience of the way emigration matters are conducted in Britain. When I arrived here it was my intention to have given an account of how I found things, and to have tried to clear away some of the misapprehensions that existed relative to that mission, and what led to its termination; but as the Agent-General had’ not complied with the instruction seat to him regarding the cost of TttiyT'eturn passage-itc., I applied tothe Government to settle my claim previous to taking any steps to inform the public how matters stood.' The Government at once paid part of mf claim, but refused to acknowledge the rest, unless the AgentGeneral certified to its being correct. That J objected to,‘and pointed out my reasons for doing so (which I need not enter upon here, as they will be shewn in the sequel). It was then agreed upon to leave the matter to arbitration. This was forced upon me for the express purpose, I believe, of delay, as they (the Government) were aware that I intended to show the public the way thinee . were managed This todve succeeded, for it 4 was nine months from the time I made my claim till a settlement was effected. That of course, put me ia a false position: the time had gone past, public interest m the matter had died out. I would not have allowed it to lie had not another attempt been made to rob 118I 18 « *“? ? rodit th afc undeniably belongs o Mr Birch and myself. If you recollect, shortly after my departure, articles appeared in your c aily contemporary reflecting in very severe terms upon myself as being unfitted for the work to which I was appointed. I need not notice them further at present, as they will probably crop up again. Now, this I considered unfair at the time, because the work could not be forced. Time was required to act upon men’s minds. Indeed so difficult did it seem to those who had been engaged in the same line for years, that they pronounced the whole scheme impracticable and that it must inevitably fail. P ThefacUs patent that Henderson and 06. had agents throughout the length and breadth of Scotland ’ y ? C0 J uld do “ext to nothing. Mr Aula and Mr Andrew alto haff grave doubts about oar being able to 3 ÜBiasm on tbe'eubjoct y ®ew fc of daf? ? thß Cobnii were eu't of date ; steam and cheap fares to Alnwick ’ T Sldere l- t0 1)0 facies that would « ettl “g *“7 Brest number of im- ‘ migrants, even buppqamg tjjetorms and conditions offered by the'Agent43ejpral hay^

been all that could have been desiml, which ithasnowbeen proven mos icoKclu-ivelytfeoy were not. Now, in the face of ali tin so difficulties, which were but trifling in comparison with wbat we hai to contend with from those who ought to have assisted us, I ask was it just to make tlm accusation I referred to above ? I thi r k not ; yet now, after tho Agent-General's management i» a little better understood—individually, who ought to know better, as s'me of them, at any rate, have been supplied with the correspondence that passed between the Government and the Agent-General— they are doing their utmost to undervalue the services rendered by Mr Birch and myself. As I shall endeavor to show, the greatest difficulties have been overcome. Information h*d been sown bread and wide ; numbers had been induced to come out to all tho Provinces; letters had come back corroborating our statements ; the yeast was be* ginning to ferment; the whole lump, indeed, is still working, as the enclosed letters eut •ut of the ‘ Glasgow Herald ’ will show. Shortly Jafter our return, Mr" James Adam was sent to represent this Province in Britain.' He (Mr Adam) has been allowed ample time to complete his arrangements for carrvinff on the work entrusted to, hi in with.

out having been bespattered with any of that abuse so plentifully heaped upon Mt Birch and myself when placed in circumstances similar to, or 1 should rather say very much more difficult than he has had to contend with. I think Mr Adam has had no more than fair play iu being allowed time to mature his plans; but what Ido com • plain of is the unjust and ungenerous comparisons that are being drawn between the results of his labors and of those who preceded him. It is an old saying, ** That it is bettor to be bora lucky than rich,” and the case in point is an excellent exemplification of the proverb, which 1 shall show in a future letter, if you will be good enough to grant me space for the purpose. I think the enclosed extract will show that the work is progressing in the places where I was located for a short time, as those named are the very localities from which I sent somewhere about fifty families—part to Napier, and the rest to Otago - and Southland—who have all done well, and whose letters, were looked for with the greatest interest by many who would have gone at the time 1 sent the others, but could not comply with the terms then in force. I can testify to the general excellence of the character of the inhabitants of the villages mentioned, for which X may be accused of hastiness by those who do not know whatit is to live a short time in one of those secluded places. Bat I made it my business to inquire into the character of all who made application to me ; and as they were all known to each other, I can rely upon the information thus gained; I must not trespass further upon your apace. Meantime, I am. &e., James Seaton. Dunedin, October 20. B.S. Mr Adam, according to his own published letters, has never visited or been.near those places.