Origin of the wealth of the English People—(continued.)

Maori Messenger : Te Karere Maori, Volume 1, Issue 3, 1 February 1849, Page 4

Origin of the wealth of the English People—(continued.)

Now it has been ascertained, that besides the convenience of each man having one pursuit alone, that much more work ran be done by such a system. It would take twice the number of house carpenters to build a chip than of ship carpenters, and when finished, the work would be inferior, and the vessel less durable. It is necessary, also, that a ship-builder should learn his work before he can be trusted with his share ill the construction 1 of a ship, in which one.faulty part might 1 endanger the safety of the whole woik, ; and seven years of learning nt least is required to obtain the necessary knowledge. This being the case, and a/Gupcrior degree of skill being necessary, the i ship builder deserves, und obtains, higher wages than the man who cultivates the ground. ; Now although the ship builder has worked hard for perhaps seven years, i when young', in order to learn that which 1 was requisite about his peculiar work— i a'tliough he be a clever and good workman, and be worth his high rate of wages i —yet he knows nothing at all about the marking of the compass which is to i guide the vessel, nor cou'd lie even i mate the anchor which is to hold her. 1 Each of these works would require him ( to learn during a period of five or six, or more years, and to do little else during that time than attend t > the one wcrk, nor might he, even then, until he became , an old man, find a way to make a more true compass or n stronger anchor than those made before his time. It can easily be understood, that to make a watch, that shall, by merely turning a key for a moment, be tapable of regular and accurate motion for perhaps one day, perhaps seven ; that shall at any time indicate the exact time, by which any two men who have not seen each other for years may arrange the moment of their meeting in a distant place; by which a roanl lying in the interior of the country shall know exactly when the tide begins to flow and when to ebb upon the coast—which shall be almost as regular ns the sun itself. To make this watch, I say, requires a deal of knowledge ofthe subject, and much dexterity at the work, which neither the mail who cultivates the ground, nor they who built ships or make am hors could acquire under ytard of additional learning. Thus it is necessary that ca; h man should acquire one chief trade, which it slion'cl be his object to learn well. He will he able a s<> to learn much connected with the work and occupations of othor men, so that, if he be a cultivator of wheat or potatoes, lie may, sin uld it become r.eccssory, be able to repair his canoe ; but he (h uld have a occupation which is particu'arly his, and in the knowledge of which he should endeavour to excel those about him. Every man, be he in the interior or on the coast, will have found one occupation which lie can more profitably follow than another, and to that occupation he shell d e'evote bin self. If he be in the interior c.fthc country, anl the land be very lortile about his settlement, it is very evident t! at he con grow grain cheaper and onsicr than those who live on the more

hilly and wi'tl lands near the coast, and if flierc he a river down which he can take his produce, lie will soon find that by cultivation, itml the sa'e of the crops at the sua, he will grow rich. The man who lives in the interior may be dexterous in the management of his canoe in the river, but he may not be experienced in the management of a large boat or schooner nt s' a. But the Maori who has lived the whole of his life on the coast, \vi 1 know well how to manage his boat, and mav sail a schooner almost as well as a white man; and so if the cultivator continue to grow grain for sale he will soon understand well his business, and will moat likely suiceed in obtaining large and profitable crops, whi'o those on the shore, who particularly attend to boating and shipping, wiU in time acquire a knowledge of the management of larger vessels, and their sons learn how to buil.l tliem.