THE "SWAGGER" AND THE "TRAMP."

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume II, Issue 94, 2 December 1870, Page 3

THE "SWAGGER" AND THE "TRAMP."

Dansey's Pass, or the <" Insolvent Court," as it is sometimes called, from the fact of its being made use of by absconding debtors from the city of Naseby, is also much used by pedestrians carrying their household goods on their backs. These gentry, who are commonly known as swaggers or tramps, deserve a few words en passant, as they are typical of several classes of out* democratic Colonial society. Taken as a whole, they of course represent but one class, viz., tramps ; but let the mass be sifted, and the corn separated from the chaff, and what.a picture presents itself to the view. The class tramp has representatives from every grade in society—from the younger son of the noble earl to the poorhouse orphan with a London education. Their habits are, of course, various, but they are all alike in one respect: their funds are always low. The question which has sometimes occurred to me, as to what this homogeneous mass are walking round the country for ? and what they expect to do ? is not very easy of solution. My thoughts wander to an oldish man, with whom 1 was conversing the other day. His hair was grizzled, his figure stout and bloated, his eyes had thatunmistake ible fishy look which tells of shanty whiskey and the well doctored rum of the up-country hotels tSe tout ensemble was, in fact, seedy. This man's object in walking about was no doubt to obtain some few days' employment' about a wayside public. Wages would be no great object, if spirits were easily to be obtained. That man's history was written in his face. A jury will probably some day return a verdict of " died by the visitation," etc., etc.; but I passed my verdict upon him as he shouldered his swag— BZJP.

The new chum on the tramp is a study. If he has not been long,on the road, and has a few shillings left in his pocket, Us is decidedly amusing. He has the swagger of a highwayman, swears like a trooper, and is full of amusing anecdote. But should you run foul of this- same gentleman in a month's time, and he should have found nothing to do, the alteration is indeed striking. Downright; abject misery is painted on his face. He has lost hope. He has travelled until his boots are worn off his feet and could get nothing to do, however willing to work. If you ask him when he came out, he w.ill tell you that he arrived in " that last emigrant ship" from Scotland, and that he was given to understand that work was to be had without asking. The emigration officer never told him that he might have to travel foot-sore and hungry over many a hundred miles before he obtained the munificent sum of fifteen shillings a-week on some station; nor did he tell him that cockatoos only require men for two or three months in the year. Farm, servants were wanted in New Zealand. What a farce! This picture is a sad one, but not at all overdrawn. Hundreds of fine young men are induced to leave a happy home in the Old Country by mendacious statements of the prosperity of the Colonies, and when they arrive here they find that work is not to be obtained in the regular way, but must be tramped after. My remarks do not, of course, apply to ; female emigrants, although their lot is in many respects far worse. To return to my tramps. There is the digger tramp. This class of swagger is about the best stamp of the lot. He can generally turn his hand to anything. If all else fails, he can settle down on some quiet diggings and get a spell for a few months until shearing and harvesting come round again. Yet this man's mode of living cannot be called a pleasant one. His life is a constant campaign. Taking, then, one of the best class of tramps as a sample, what prospects has he when he takes the road ? W hat labor and what wages can he expect to get ? Where does he apply ? In answer to the first query, he has the country before hiin, and will take anything that turns up, from building a stone house to digging a ! drain. The two last questions I will answer jointly. The first place he will make for will be the station where he expects to spend the night. What can he do on a station? Anything. He

can fence, water-holes- -or races; can do bush carpentering work, build dams, sheep washes, etc.; can harvest, and, in fact, do anything that is required. In answer to the amount. of wages that he may expect with, the, above qualifications, I may f.tate that on the Maniototo Plains ptrhfcps'fialf-a-dozen men might flui omplo/iiriit j.t----155.-a-week'alW shearing. * T;us «;o!:i. prises a tract of country about : r v square miles in extent. In order *h it I may not be taxed with over-st:u;;iv my I may mention new "chums have lately been brought"up to work on the stations at £>4*i) per annum, and also that men have been employed at 15s. per week ju3t before shearing, uuder these circumstances I think I can take this-, as the average rate of wages which wijU ,be current after shearing. The oil hands on the station are receiving from £6O to £65 per annum.

Is it not, then, a bright prospect for the poor swagger who has travelled the island foot-sore and hungry, to look forward to a few weeks"work at 15s. per week as the - recompense for his Bohemian mode of life. And is it not satisfactory for the poor hungry wretch, when he lights his pipe by the roadside, to know that he is contributing his mite towards immigration. Kyeburn Diggings, Nov. 30, 1870.