THE 6000 EMIGRANTS.

Kumara Times, Issue 967, 5 November 1879, Page 3

THE 6000 EMIGRANTS.

* — The following are the remarks made in the House by Mr Sedclon, as reported in Hansard, relative to the tele- ** gram forwarded to the Home Government by rilr George Grey recpiesting that 6000 emigrants, should be forwarded to this colony : A When this matter was talked about rTtu the lobbies, a great deal of capital was made out of it, and it was said that it was going to be proved to the House and the country that Sir George m Grey was not the friend of the work-ing-man. I know that when honorable gentlemen on this side of the House hrst heard of it thev thought there was something in it. Hut the explanation was a very fair one. When .. that telegram was sent Home in February last, there was a great dearth of labor in the colony. In Canterbury,

whore I was at that time, fanners were crying out for labor, and they were paying 15s or 16s per day for harvesters. The very class of people of whom the present Government are the leaders were crying out for labor ; and, seeing that that was the case in February, March, April, and May, the Premier was perfectly right in telegraphing Home for six thousand ablebodied men. Now, the reasons for this are manifold. In the first place, when the late Premier telegraphed to the Secretary of State for those able bodied men, he did not send for paupers—or “ powpers,” as one honorable gentleman called them. He simply sent for six thousand able-bodied men, and in doing so acted the part of a truly liberal Minister. The Secretary of State insulted this country by sending that despatch to the guardians of the poor. We find that in the Old Country distress was then prevalent. Two or three wars were raging; there were several meetings of trade unions j and there was a great deal of surplus labor in the Old Country. Those men were able and willing to work. They wished to come to some more favored land. And when the Premier sent that telegram he tried to get that class of men. I say that in this colony we have a feeling of sympathy for those suffering people in the Home-country, and, if those six thousand men were sent out here, there is not a man in New Zealand who would not welcome them, even if they caused us a little temporary hardships, or perhaps some increased taxation. Then, again, we find that the gentlemen who are now on the Government benches first commenced bringing out immigrants who cost £2O to £25 each to the colony. In the late Premier’s telegram, the Home Government were asked to send out these man free of charge; so that we should have saved at least £2O per head on six thousand immigrants, or iu all £120,000. I say that was a masterpiece of finance on the part of the late Premier. Furthermore, we were asking for a loan in July last. The Loan Bill would be sent Home, and at the time the money - was raised these six thousand men would arrive in the colony—because,,of course, they would not all be sent out at once. Now, when this loan was raised, and the men came out here, seeing that we had a Liberal Government in power which had decided to throw open the land to the people of the colony, they would find employment on the public works, and be afterwards settled upon the public lands ; so that there would be no loss at all to the colony, Taking these things into consideration, there is every reason to believe that sending that telegram Horae in February last by the Premier was a wise act. There has been a financial crisis since then ; consequently we have now an overplus of labor. That has no doubt been brought about solely by the financial crisis. We should not, as members of this House, allow such an accusation to be made without refuting it; and I think the refutation I have given is the true one.”