SAYINGS AND DOINGS OF THE CHIT-CHAT CLUB.

Evening Star, Issue 3996, 15 December 1875, Page 2 (Supplement)

SAYINGS AND DOINGS OF THE CHIT-CHAT CLUB.

(Continued.) Will's countenance had resumed its calm benevolence when tr. & Chil-Chate met next evening. Old Joe took th« chair gravely, and soon after tho fri,nds were seated * Whnlmg gtey c ] outl rose Kra .! Uitll tf) the ceiling, a ong which i-. rolled in waves. giving occasional glimpses of above, just as nstronomcis tell us they sometimes ■ee the body „f L V.e sun through his shining envelope. Faoh '"hit-Chat was musnig in eilonoeoo tlv- subject <»f th« e/ening. Hen led off The d-.b.ite by nmimling Will he had no, delivered himself on ' Separation." • u iL ' u w '" ( '" nie in course. ToBlght. w# Wftre t, O discuss the- pamphlet. Old Job : That seems alnnst too late, for so Snany deliverances hav« be«n given since it issued that Mr Macandiuw must sev he trill be opposad by th« Tery men who tame to adorn his banqutt. PBN : That does not matter, Mr Clmrrnan. If fifty thousand Bunnys were to turn round a doaen tinea every day, e r as many sir Gcoig Greys come and sof- soap Otn-u'o wMi oue set of pretty phrases, and Auckland with another, It would not alter tlu> tacts stated in 'he pamphlet, hoes not Mr Macandrew tell us that thereverue of < >tago h,»s been wasted t-> thi tune of two millimis or iuoiihv in twentv-five years, for which ir. lias r-ceivednothing? 'Does hs not tell us, t-.n, ihnt. tho i'rnvince his been

depriv. d of the power of carrying on immigration and public works, and that it would have brought in immigrants ft i 15 10s per h«ad instead of L2l 10s as paid by the General Government ? i hose two facts alone show the necessity for separation. NED : I suppose, Ben, you ha\o satisfied y»nrsilf that they are facts. It is very safe to make the first statement, because it cannot be proved. Mr Macandivw might have gone very much further, for in eightc-ji years the revenue received in (Hugo was 1.4,027.010, of which only L1.697,3.M has been returned directly. But what does that prove? It only ehows that Provincialism lias not j reVented expendit.uie. Tho very fact that it has been powerless to do so. is an argument against, it. Then as to immigration, I think his Hou'T has drawn largely on his imagination and oruittad si per contra from his meui'.ry. When I saw the sum 1,21 10s stated. I looked up a Parliamentary return on the Bubject, and find that the cost of passage of 517 adult immigrants introduced by the General Government, averaged Lls 8s 4d per and 1,017.'; were breught out at Ll4 19.s 3.i.i. Xo doubt Mr Macan«rew in h>i estimate ii.cluded the cost of ft: ents, b.-Mraeks, a-.d departmental expenses neciissary to successful inimieration by the General Gove nment, and fo.got. all such tnflin;: additions in th<« case of the Province. He seems to have forgotten, tor-, that the disiracefully inhuman manner in which Provincial munu rauts were treated • n arrival fo-med subj«>ct for condemnation by the Evening Star of the day before the General Government undertook the task. They were put ashore like sacks of potatoes, without any further care, and had to shift for themselves, or w»re sheltered in a miserable shed, and herded together like *o many grunters ; while the quarantine buildings were ab.-olutely disgraceful to the authorities that sanctioned their construction. Mr Mac.ndrew forgets that he gave frequent instructions for their repair, whieh were defiantly disregarded by the Secretary for Public Works of the day. He forgets that he was thwarteel in hi desire to introduce population by his Executive, that immigration had almosV, ceased, while wagea were low and meetings of the unemployed were frequent, and their discontent dangerous. Will : He has forgotten, too, that neither he

nor any one else can estimate the actual cost of immigration to ami by a I'rovince. Although you m .y draw a lino on a m.ip and say, " or, this side is Canterbury ,md on thatUtago," you cannot say to the man l*uded in Duredin, "You ■hall remain on this the line." He maybe here to-day and in Nelson or W" e llin,ton tomorrow, and you mn.t add the cost of him who skoedaddlea to that of those who *tay. To anyone who thinks without bias or the matter it is plain that immigration should be a Colonial and not a Provincial matter. Tho Provincial system wan partial and unfair. It drew distinctions that have hern pro luetive of much discontent, a. din s-.me cast s distress. li. introduced s une immigrant* free, while others ■wore charged witti their parages. Tt taxed the man with a small capital, and paid a pnmium on poverty. The General Government's plan of free immigration is fairer to all. It neglects the accident of a man having a f ew pounds in his pocket, aud bids for good flo»h and blood, bono and mu-cle. It thus give-s to small capitalists a fair chance, and does not reduce thrin to a dead level with those who ©wn noching but the clothes in which they BUnd. It in a good thing to have labor, but if with it capital comet too, all the better—the Colony is so much the richer. Harkt : That's all ve y fine in theory, but Is it not true that the Immigration Agents at Home haTesooured all th« poor houses and penitentiaries in tho United Kingdom to till the immigrant ships ; and have they not exported measles and scarlet fever, and all mun- ?•* ? f "fty diseases? Talk about imraigra*l* U in j P -o * l * at Home seem to think anyt % In the ana P e of men - women, and shoddy-mad* o'uothes for the Colonies. The rrovmcial Government never did anything of the sort.

. /v £D • * not defend mismanagement-,, although I think too much is said about that lh'rfe are waif* and strays among immigrant, Rn d in too many instances there ■as b«e>i caiele»sDess —culpable carelessness. That; wou i,i nave very „ 00 d grounds for changing the Home Agent, and perhaps the Government have shown themselves bad disciplinarians in not doing so. If ?fk nght man is not fouud in the »S ht P lacc > ewh er the man or the place must be changed, »nf i the work and the man made to fit. It is, j>' -werer, remaikable that notwithstanding the lf jtid condemnation of many of the immigrants 67 the people and the Press, the air of the Colonies seoms to sweeten both their morals and their persons, for crime does not increase proportionately with population, and the diseases with which we are plague', seem to be indigenous and tracea ,le to our own civic and domestic habits rather than being the produce of Imported seed. It Must not be forgotten that while the Province cannot boast of having introduced above 1,000 or 1,500 in any one year, although it was ou« of the obligations undertaken as a condition of the possesion of the l^ n^« evelllie ' tbo Colon Y nas introduced about •1,009 in four years. Excepting Canterbury no other Province has been in a position to expend money on immigration. If, therefore, the Colony had not undertaken what some Provinces could not and others would not do, New Zealand would have been at this time struggling with po erty through want of means to develop its resources. Bun : What is to become of these ponr fellows whnn the hours are expanded ? Where will they find work? When all the railways arc made, ami the public works at end, we shall see what this fine schfine will bring us to. Will : When those things happen, this generation and a few moro will have passed away. Can any w.\n in his sensns believe that a country capable of supporting; thirty millions of people more easily tlnm Great Britain supports its present papulation, can be at the end of its resources wh<n tiiere are only abnut 340 000 in it ? Development of a nation is a much better established theory than Darwin's development of species, and as New Z aland starts on its career from the point iduady attained in ait and t-cenuo in the parent country, the conditions of su-ecas ami the mode of th«ir application arc known. The real dange •is a sudden cessation < i imrnigi*ti'.>ii. Ekn : How do you make that out ? WILL : Very easily to my own satisfaction—perhaps not to yours. JNew Zealand ha; not only railways to make, but towns to build. Kailways are of no use without people to t avel on them and goods to transport. When people oome to this country they want houses and f.od and other necessaries. Houses ;n<- not built without hands, and labor is required to bivak up the soil and raise c: hi am! othur m.-cessaries. if we stop inimigratioii, i ; ; will veiy soon be found 'hat ah many house? are built as are ■■.■ •..rl,-, 1 , ■-■:■ r>'.-:.! v ''iC- <i;'"d ;;>( v-ii' ■vc f:;f

:■. oi .■ lii.-;, :ii.-.i u-: h.m.p. : ■\id.~ :,-j:i.;:;l-. i.-■>!,,.. •.ji..iij:n-)ir and railreuds, as arc necessary for our trade. Mady men now actively at work in constructive

trades will want employment and because they do toot earn high wages they will not be able to employ others. Wngea in all trader will then fall, nh.d trade will stagnate. There will be meetings of unemployed and all aorta of foolish nostrums prescribed by men who may be wellintentioned but who Teally are utterly ignorant of the first principles of social science. Very likely some such folly as " protec ion " will be carried, under the idea of keepingrall our good things to ourselves, fo.gntfulthat they are only good when used -not when shut up -and that that they have the best chance of paying when the market'for <hem is the widest. Victoria has gone through it all, and cannot yet see her way out" of the mesh in which ignorance and selfishness Lave enveloped her. The work ins: men There insisted on immigration being

stopped, and although they have sufft-reel ever since their eye l are not opened. It. i-s to be hoped tho woiking men of New Zedandwil! have the good sense not to cut their own thrown. Old Joe : Gentlemen, we hav- had enough of i>o,itics for one nLdit. I propose Mr Mac andrew's good health Will : I will chink it gladly, Mr Chairman, for he is a jolly good fellow but you will allow me to add to it, " And may everything that now renders hj s sight dim be removed from his < yes '' Old Joii: All right, gentlemen. Mr Mic ai.drew's good health, and the afor^aid. Health drunk with acclamation, and small talk the iKst, nf th-' even'ng.