The Nelson Evening Mail. THURSDAY, APRIL 1, 1875.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume X, Issue 78, 1 April 1875, Page 2

The Nelson Evening Mail. THURSDAY, APRIL 1, 1875.

The recent accounts from thoKaramea have been of the most favorable character. Houses, or at all events temporary abodes, have been erected, to which, while the bread-winner of the family is at work on the roads or in clearing his land, the wife has given a homely appearance, and, where once all was wild, uncultivated, and desolate, a village that at present may be regarded as thriving is springing up. Now all this is very hopeful and promising, but how loug is it going to last ? The immigrants who went down upon certain stated conditions are at present in the receipt of three days' wages per week, nnd this, in a country where there are no temptations to indulge in luxuries and no facilities for extravagance in any shape whatever, is, or Bhould be, quite sufficient to keep a married couple and a small family supplied with all the necessaries of life, while in the meantime tho head of the family has the satisfaction of knowing that he is, during the other half of his time, gradually clearing and improving the properly that is eventually to become his own provided that he adhere to the terms of his agreement. If a settlement cannot flourish under bucli favorable conditions, it must, indeed, be a poor place, and the scheme upon .which it is established ill-managed to a degree, bo that it would he premature

I to asßerfc4thßf; heeaiiseiij; hl|' no^^|| ; proved^ apfailurei the Kjaratfrea expers|- ' men^;tnay'|be prqnoun|ed js|complet|j : success. JiißutJt Ms a •qjielticlirUhat wmj have to be con&idered^Wd:: : one 'wj]wi s which we fully expect that the Provincial Council will be invited to deal at it's next session, what is to be done with the exotics who have taken root in ' pur West;- Gjoastf wilds when •;, the,/ Government 'watering-pot ceases tor perform its functions, and they are left to their own devices to forage for sustenance. How are the families who are now located in the new settlement to feed and clothe themselves when the Government wage ceases ? Surely, no one of any colonial experience can suppose thnt, after the six months have elapsed during which these new settlers are to receive so much a week, they will be in a position to keep themselves in a district where there are no employers' 1 of labor, but all alike are dependent upon their bone and muscle for their daily bread. The fact cannot aud must not be ignored that if the Karamea special settlement is to prove not merely a six months' but a permanent success", Government employ will have to be afforded to the settlers for a much longer period than was at first contemplated. Most nssuredly they have not the strength to run alone yet, and, until thoy have, they must continue to be spoon-fed. Work will have to be provided for them, and it behoves the Government to see that that work is such as shall be productive of beneQcial results to the province, their duty being not only to pay a number of men a pound or so a week but to see that for the money laid out the provincial estate receives an equivalent. The Westport Times of a recent date contained an article on the Jackßon's Bay (Westland) and the Karamea special settlements, of which the following is the concluding paragraph : — " Of the Karamea settlement, in this province, little or nothing is just now rr-ported. It is known that the men arc given full employment by the Provincial Government, that they get unlimited credit, at the store, and that the day or reckoning troubles them not. Meanwhile, if the actual work of settlement does not progress at rapid pace, the f eltlers are c'en content, for they are now in the land of liberty where duns prevail not, and wh re there is no present need for caßh. The real test ot the sett ement in either cisc will come when each government, having f ul/illed the pronvses made the settlers at first start, find it time to leave them to their own devices, , andlothes'rengthof their own muscles for obtaining the wherewithal of fool ami clothing. This;'; was the crucial test st Martin's Bay sonic few years since, and Bince the withdrawal of Government aid the settlement there has all but languished. Jackson's Bay and the Karamea may prove the bright examples, showing ih.it special settlements may be made successes, but the shadow of donbi prevails."