The Lyttelton Times.

Lyttelton Times, Volume VII, Issue 484, 24 June 1857, Page 6

The Lyttelton Times.

Wednesday, June 24. It is difficult far any one, except a few of the members of the Provincial Council, to refer with.common patience to the immigration resolutions passed on the 13th instant. They certainly do their authors very little credit. Honorable members are ready' enough to display their patriotism and their loquacity when forms of government are the subject of debate. ;;But when practical tangible work comes before them, they are too apt either to hurry over the consideration of it or to refuse to entertain it altogether. There is .another propensity to which many of them appear to be unfortunately addicted, that of officious interference in what does not concern them ; to make up, we presume" for negligence in their proper duties. The present Council has done much for which the ' province owes its thanks ; but in the next we hope to see a more practical and businesslike element introduced. On the vote of £20,000 being passed for immigration, those members who could not see the advantages of a more rapid increase of population—those in fact who advocated what we may call a " creeping" policy on the subject, the "Tilly Slowboys" of legislation,—-tried to cut down the vote to half the amount. At that time, however, the Council had the sense to see that in pro! portion to the vote for public works, and considering the state of the labour market, £20,000 would be little enough for the pur., pose. Have hon. members ever considered what £20,000 would do ? After deducting expenses of office and travelling, we could not reckon upon the arrival of more than "' five ships with two hundred immigrants each, by means of such an expenditure, in the first year. Will any practical man tell us that this would be too large an increase of our population ? It seems strange to be obliged to insist upon the fact that, in a new country especially, population is wealth. We cannot look upon vague talk of " inundations of paupers, &c, &c." as anything but mere " twaddle" under our present circumstances. Fancy a population of 5000 or 6000 souls, inhabiting a province with millions of acres of productive land, and yet dreading to spend the sum of £20,000 in one year, for fear of swamping the country with immigrants! This reminds us of the sailor, who, on presenting a cheque for £20 at the Bank of England, considerately said that, if it would inconvenience the establishment to give him all the money at once, he would be satisfied with . half of it down. The Provincial Council

and Joe Miller's sailor have much the same idea of the enormous results consequent upon their wealth. It was generally supposed that, now that we were in a position to spend a sum worth spending upon Im» migration, we should have some chance of advancing. Never was labour more wanted ; almost all those who came out as labourers themselves three years ago would be now employers of labour, if it could be got at with tolerable facility. We conceived that it was on the strength of this vote thatfthe Council agreed to such large Public Works. But we were mistaken. It appears that there were members of the Council who had determined all along virtually to shelve the vote for Immigration. All of a sudden, and after it had been generally understood that an increased salary was to be offered to the present Superintendent, in order to induce him to undertake the office of Emigration Agent in England—an increased salary which could only be justified by the general desire to obtain the services of an able agent to carry out an enlarged scheme of immigration—a series of resolutions are passed by the Council limiting and tying up the means at his disposal in such a manner as to make the sending home an agent at all an extravagant waste of public money. The first resolution proposes, by a sidewind, to get rid of the vote of £20,000 for immigration. The manner in which this is done is worthy of remark. The present Council, on the eve of dissolution, pretends to fix the amount to be spent on immigration for the next three years. By what right do^they determine ihisj1 We scarcely think that the next Council will be satisfied by the arrangement. It is almost incredible that the amount named for the next three years decreases year by year, till in the third-year it amounts only to £4000 ! We sincerely hope that by the end of two years we shall be able to vote more than £20,000 for immigration in the ensuing year. The Coupcil certainly have done their best to prevent our beinjj able to afford it, for they have cramped the province in the only means of developing its resources. After passing this wise resolution the Council proceed to details which have been heretofore left to the Executive, and which the Executive have settled to the satisfaction of the province. In thus interfering we should have understood their object if a carefully digested system had been drawn up and psssed, although we should not have approved of the course adopted. But, as the resolutions stand, they appear only ridiculous. A few points of detail would appear to have been taken at random from the rules now in force, and incorporated into the resolutions ; for example, the second resolutions is to the effect that the sexes should be equalized as far as possible, and that married couples with families should be preferred. The third resolution provides that assisted passages should not be granted to persons above sixty.* years of age. The rules under which the Executive Government have successfully carried on immigration up to the present time provide that persons over fifty years of age should not receive assisted passages. If the Council are so doubtful of the discretion of those whom they sanction as the Executive Officers of Government, why do they not pass a resolution to the effect that the agent shall not be permitted to recruit from fever hospitals and lunatic asylums ? It would be quite right to-restrain the agert from such a use of his power. The fourth resolution is to the effect that astisted passages should be granted only to natives of Great Britain and Ireland. We agree with the Council that the immigration should he chiefly drawn from Great Britain and Ireland. But the positive restriction here laid down is a gross injustice to a portion of our

population. A large number of Germans, for instance, have come out here, and have proved most valuable colonists. They have paid their share of the taxes; why then should they be debarred from getting their friends out on the came terms as their neighbours. We are inclined to attribute this resolution more to the careless^ reckless manner in -which the whole subject is entered upon, than to any wish to do a wrong to any portion of the community. The fifth and sixth resolutions belong to the meddlesome but harmless class. If the system heretofore adopted by the Executive -was distasteful to the Council or the province, it would have been their duty to examine them and to object. But this was too much trouble. It was easier to usurp Executive functions----TW-seveiuu resolution provides for the termination of arrangements in case of the discovery of precious metals in the neighbouring provinces ! This resolution is the climax of the whole scheme; in it we admire the caution and prudence of our venerable legislators, and their faith in the resources of the province. So, whenitispresumedtheprovince islikely to be suffering from the effects of a temporary drain in the population, when our crops would be likely to become valuable if we had labour to reap them ; at that moment it is considered desirable to provide for stopping the importation of labourers. The best means of providing against dearth is to stop the importation of supplies ! This is indeed a novel and a notable policy. When those who have money enough to go are likely to leave us, then we are likely less to want the aid of those who land with hands to labour but without the means for travelling ! When it is desirable to provide a means of stopping immigration, why send home another agent at increased salary, as the next resolutions propose ? We should have conceived in our ignorance that the discovery of precious metals in neighbouring provinces should be a reason for increasing our immigration, and not shutting up house altogether to look on while our neighbours get rich. But then we have confidence in the resources of this province, and we believe that the richer neighbouring provinces become, the more will our wealth increase. All we want is labour. All English Colonies are devoting their whole energies to this subject, the subject of the utmost vitality .to all young colonies. What can we think of the policy of the men who have passed our immigration resolutions ?

We understand that his Honor has determined not to accept the office which has been offered to him. In such refusal we think he is perfectly right. A series of resolutions, commencing with limitation of funds and ending with uncertainty even in the spending of a very limited amount, is not likely to induce a man who has the welfare of the province at heart to undertake an expensive office. Meanwhile, what are we to do ? Are our broad lands still to remain uncultivated ? Are we still to remain shut up in our own self-conceit and to leave population and prosperity to flow onty into neighbouring provinces, which have more energy although smaller resources ? We hope that the question will be renewed in the Council, and that members will be brought by a division to a definite vote upon the subject of immigration.