THE Grey Riber Argus. PUBLISHED DAILY. TUESDAY, JUNE 18, 1672.

Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1220, 18 June 1872, Page 2

THE Grey Riber Argus. PUBLISHED DAILY. TUESDAY, JUNE 18, 1672.

Whilst endorsing to the fullest extent the general colonisation policy of the existing Government as contained in and provided by the Immigration and Public Works Act of last session, we cannot help protesting in the most emphatic manner as to the manner in which that policy is being carried out. ,It may be well to provide for superannuated politicians, and if the Assembly had chosen to award a pension to Dr Featherston, or if his peculiar Province, Wellington, had thought fit to do the same, no one would have grumbled, though some might have wondered. At the same time, it is clear that his appointment as Agent-General for New Zoaland in England has been a grave mistake, and that he is particularly unfitted for the task he has undertaken. In the first place, his years prevent him from fulfilling the active, duties that he has to discharge, and as far as we can at present see, the immigrants that will be selected by him at the Colony's expense will be foreigners gathered from every corner of the earth. There are unfortunately too many of our own race in England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales downtrodden and miserable, who would only gladly venture their fortunes in another land were the opportunity afforded them. Instead of seeking these, Dr Featherston has chosen to scour the highways and byewayß of Europe in all other countries but our own, and the Colony will be deluged with French, Germans, Scandinavians and Italians, whilst our own people are patiently starving. This was not the intention of the' Assembly when the loan was contracted, and the Immigration Act passed. As a British Colony, any funds for bettering the condition of immigrants should be applied to British people, under which category we include the four nations, known as a whole as Great Britain and Ireland. It was never intended that we should relieve European pauperism, and we do hope, if members have a spark of nationality left, on the Assembly meeting, that this practice will be put a stop to, or that supplies willbe refused. However good a politician Dr Fertherston may be, he is in the highest degree an exceedingly indifferent Immigration Agent, and is apparently as lazily inclined as a Mayfair individual would have been. Instead of searching out places in the United Kingdom where his offers would have been gladly accepted, he has preferred Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Germany, from which to gather the elements of the new Great Britain. If the members of the House of Representatives allow this policy to continue, they certainly deserve all that contumely for neglect of their duties can cast on them. It was only the other day that a petition was presented by the Highlanders of Otago to the Provincial Council of that Province which contains so much good sense that we reprint it as follows : — •' To the Honorable Mr Beeves, Minister of Immigration and Pnblic Works The petition of the undersigned humbly showeth — That your petitioners, settlors in Otago, from the Highlands and Islands of Scotland, would beg respectively to bring before you the great desirability of including emigration from tho Highlands and Islands in the general scheme, and on a. similar footing as that from Scandinavia. To enable it to be carried out successfully, it would be necessary to appoint agents, conversant with the Gaelic language, and who have been resident in the Colony for some time, in order to set forth the advantages New Zealand offers to emigrants. While there is no doubt many would emigrate at their own expense, if the advantages which the Colony offers were properly represented, it is certain thousands of suitable emigrants would avail themselves of 'assisted passages. The Highlanders are well known to bo good laborer? and farm servants • the Islanders excel as fishermen, sailors, and crofters. \ our petitioners would beg to bring before your Honor the anxiety which exists among Highland proprietors to have the people removed off the land?, and there is reason to believe that if the General Government would call attention to the matter the Highland proprietors would not only co-operate with the agents appointed, but would also materially assist intending immigrants. That it is now well known our coasts abounds with endless variety, of edible fishes, and therefore the Islanders would find lucrative employment at their old calling, and thus materially help to develope a grand Colonial industry, and thereby not only enrich the Colony, but also, enable it to export largely that necessary article of food to foreign markets. Your petitioners therefore humbly suggest that > your Honor take the matter into consideration for the introduction of this most desirable class of immigrants, and your petitioners, as in duty bound, will ever pray," &c. At another time we will argue the question out ; at the present time, there can bo no doubt as to the equity and the justice contained in the prayer of the memorialists. ,