THE UNEMPLOYED LABOURERS AT WELLINGTON, AND THE NEW ZEALAND COMPANY.

New Zealander, Volume 3, Issue 157, 1 December 1847, Page 2

THE UNEMPLOYED LABOURERS AT WELLINGTON, AND THE NEW ZEALAND COMPANY.

There is no fact in political economy more clearly established than this : — that wherever a state of society exists in which productiv labour can no longer obtain the means of subsistence, in one word, wherever there exists an excess of that labour beyond what the means of the country can profitably employ ; —where a state of things exists in which the poor are continually becoming poorer ; that in such a state of society something must be radically wrong, and that under these circumstances, a diminution of the numbers of the labouring class, either by employment in , new branches of industry, or by removal to new markets for labour, confers an immediate benefit upon the whole community, by producing an equilibrium, or at all events, an approach to it, between the demand for labour and the supply. These remarks have been elicited in consequence of the singular Petition from the Labourers at Wellington to the LieutenantGovernor of the Province, published in the New Zcalander of the 17th November. It appears from the contents of that petition, that the labourers in that settlement are unable to obtain any employment, that they are able and willing to work, but that none are found able or willing to employ them ;—; — that there is no farming work to be had • that the shipping in the harbour employs but few hands, and that those few hands are only i engaged in consequence of others leaving to be placed in the same circumstances as the petitioners. It is certainly a singular spectacle, to see a new colony with surplus labour ; but such has been the inevitable consequence of the policy of the New Zealand Company, in laying down as their ruling axiom that the only way to cqlonize successfully, is to render land dear and labour plentiful, and acting upon this principle, has shipped off cargo after cargo of labourers to a new settlement, where there existed little or no demand for their labour, for the simple reason that there was little or no capital to employ them. Such then is the result of the grand experiment in colonization, which has been termed one of the greatest " discoveries " of modern times. One of the writers on behalf of the new system of colonizing, adopted by the Company, has the following passage :— " We utterly repudiate the old fashion ot colonizing, according to which a small and feeble society was content for several generations to adopt the primitive mode of life, and to pursue a rude husbandry, which produced only food for their own subsistence. By the system of colonization which the New Zealand Company has adopted, land is made comparative*!* dear, and labour plentiful ; &c., &c." These are certainly novel principles to act upon in the colonization of a new country, and the neglect of attending in the first instance, to the cultivation of the soil has been attended with its natural consequences in every colony or settlement in which this neglect has taken place. The settlers have been impoverished, and their means have been expended in the purchase of the necessaries of life obtained from other neighbouring colonies at a high rate ; and the labourers are themselves without employment, and almost without bread. But say the modern colonizing philosophers: —we " repudiate " all such " old fashioned " ideas, as the encouragement of the cultivation of the soil ; we do not encourage a'• rude husbandry," which produces only food for the subsistence of our colonists : such " old fashioned" notions are unworthy of our countenance. No ! we establish towns and villages in the first instance, without giving the least thought as to the means by which the population of such towns and villages is to be supported ;— we build towns, mansions and hotels in the desert, we make land dear, by way of encouragement to our settlers, and we make labour plentiful, in order that those labourers whom we have induced to emigrate to our settlements, may not find a superabundance of employment. . The new system of colonizing has been compared to the system introduced into England some few years ago, for the removal of full grown trees, with all their branches and j roots, and this simile is.no doubt an appro* priate and correct one, for it is now well known, that for one tree that has succeeded and taken root on the principle of removal, at least fifty have perished, and it is believed that s this new system of removing full grown trees, which at the time was also called a grand u discovery," is now exploded. It ib high time that the principles of the new school of colonizing should be thoroughly understood, and its fanciful theories, and crude notions enquired into, and if it is found that in every instance in which these principles

have been applied in any colony, they have been exemplified by their total failure, it is surely high time that they should be consigned to that oblivion, from which they should never have been withdrawn. The importance of an uniform and well regulated system of colonization, applicable to all the colonial possessions of Great Britain, is becoming daily a iubject of increasing interest to all classes of the community ; j the more especially, as it may be asserted as !an undoubted fact, that it has only been owing to the total want of system pursued, or should there have been any to the total inefficiency of such system, both in the first planting, and in the subsequent management of our English colonies, that has rendered all of them at first, and still keeps most of them, expensive burthens on the mother country. But although a sound and wholesome system of colonization, as a means of alleviating the pressure of an overabundant supply of labour at home, as well as of increasing the prosperity of our manufactures and commerce, by the creation of new markets dependent upon the mother country, is A subject which must, sooner or later, be forced upon the consideration of the home government, it by no means follows that every species of colonization effects these objects, and more particularly that species of colonization, or rather of trrnsportation t which consists in shipping off living cargoes of pauper emigrants o colonies where no adequate demand exists for tluir labour, and wheie.es at Wellington, these unfortunate individuals find themselves in imminent danger of starvation, from the distant prospect of which, in the mother country, they have probably fled ! Such things have happened in this colony, and it is to be feared will happen again, so long as the distresses of | a suffering population are allowed to be turned to a profitable account by a set of private and avaricious speculators, who feed and fatten on that suffering and misery which they would hypocritically pretend to alleviate by their ] schemes of plunder and rapacious gain, and such things are equally disgraceful to the individuals concerned in this traffic, and to the government which permits it.

The '* Deborah." — The packet schooner Deborah is again advertised for Sydney, and we understand will sail positively on Tuesday next, the 7th instant* Programme of the performance of the band of the 58th Regiment, for Thursday, 2ndj Dec, at 4 o'clock, p. m., on the space o ground in front of the Council Chamber. Overture, Opera " Stradelli " ...... .......Flotovr. Waltz, •« The Garland" Keonig. Cborus and Finale, Opera " La Sonnambula " Bellini. l Cavatina, Opera "Roberto Devereux" Donizetti. Quadrille, " Semiramide" Jullien. 1 Galop, "Prince Albert's" Labitzky.' War Office — August 6th. — 4th Dragoon, Guards, Surgeon Chilley Pine, from the 58th, foot, to he Surgeon, vice William Gardiner, who retires upon half-pay. 58th Regt. — Assistant Surgeon Arthur Saunders Thomson, M.D., from the 14th Light Dragoons, to be Surgeon, vice Pine.

By the arrival of the Deborah on yesterday from Sydney, we have received our usual colonial files to the 17th November. The Deborah has brought the July English mail, but our direct intelligence from home, by the transport ships, is of a much later date. H. M. Steamer Inflexible arrived at Sydney on Sunday the 14th ult., after a fine run of seven days. She was expected to sail in a few days after the Deborah, The Rosetta Joseph, Capt. Patrick, had cleared out for Auckland, with a full cargo, and the following passengers :— Mr. J. Lind (Barrack Master) and four children, Mr. and Miss Hunter, Mr. Alexander Campbell, Mr. J. Campbell, Mr. H, Joseph, Mr. and Mrs. Sibley and child, Mr. and Mrs. Graham, son and two daughters, Mr. and Mrs. Miller, Master Codlio, Mr. Robinson, Mr. and Mrs. Rawson, Miss M. A. Rawson, Mrs. Baker and daughter, and R. Howie. The Daniel Watson, was advertised to follow the Rosetta Joseph, for this port. Mr. Barrack-mastir Lttnd— Mr. Lynd, who bat been for to many years resident in this colony and Van Diemen V Land as barrack-raastsr, proceeds to New Zealand by the 'Rosetta Joseph/ to fill the same office at Auckland. The cause of science ia this colony loies a warm friend in this gentleman. Naturally of a retiring disposition, Mr. Lynd has not often come before the public, but bis researches in Natural .History have been neither few nor unimportant. As a member of the Museum and Botanical Garden Committee, he has been most active, and it is to be regretted that be will not be herb when the new Museum is completed, to assist in the classification and arrangement of the numerous specimens of Natural History which the colony positisei, and which have long been almost useless from the want of a place in which they could be properly arranged and exhibited . Mr. Lynd's departute will be a loss to this colony, but it will be a gain to New Zealand, where there is so wide a field for the labours of the enthusiastic naturalist.— He aid. , How to Corklnflobnz a without the Doctor, — In adults, an emetic is an almost certain cure — for this purpose, take, in a little cold water, from 2 /<? 3 grains nt Em* tic Tartar Recording to the constitution, 'then drink plentifully of warm water until it operate*; afterwards alittle salts •ccas'ionally. For children u u 'in a tumbler or phial, a tingle grain of Emetic Tartar With a gill and a-half of cold water— keep slirred or shaken, and give a tea spoonful of the mixture occa-

sionally, whsn the throat is oppressed with phlegm and the cough troublesome ; thii will cause expectoration without acting as an emetic ; three or four grain* of rhubarom&j & l*o be given every second day. Use no animal food, no spices, no wine or spirits, and no cold drinks — warm tea ii the best and cheapest for ths poor*, avoid cold air, and wrap up moderately to u to restore the perspiration — above all, avoid, bleeding. This was the invariable practice for many yean of an eminent mtdical man with whom we were intimately acquainted in another part of the colony. The raedt* cines and the ingredients can be obtained at any of the country stores.— /&. - - Ths Influenza..— We are torry to report that thii disorder ii now more prevalent than' ever in Martland and the neighbourhood, and that the proportion of dangerous and serious cases is increased. Several pcrsous have been attacked a second time, after having apparently recovered, and 1 too much care can' hardly be observed by every one who' wishes to avoid an attack or a second visit.— S. Chronicle.