The New=Zealander.

New Zealander, Volume 5, Issue 391, 12 January 1850, Page 2

The New=Zealander.

Be just and fear not: Let all the ends thou aims't at, be thy Country'i, Thy God's, and Truth's.

such sums as they could by any means spare, to aid in bringing out their friends ; and wrote home to those friends desiring them to hold themselves in readiness to emigrate j but that no step has been taken by the Home Government to fulfil this engagement, we having had our notable, unsolicited, and comparatively valueless importations of Pensioner-immigrants instead of those who were expected. Emigration from Ireland is specially dwelt on in the Report of the Select Committee of Lords on the operation of the Irish Poor Law, of which Lord Monteagle is known to be the chief mover. This document, (which, although not formally presented,) has found its way into print, is based mainly on the evidence taken before the Emigration Committee. The following extract will show the views which it upholds : «' That whatever other'measures may be adopted for the permanent relief 6f the poor of Ireland, the Committee are convinced that the emigration of a part of the superfluous population of certain d,«tricts is an indispensable condition to the future welfare of those districts. With this conviction deeply impressed on their minds, the Committee eameitly recommend that measures should be taken promptly for aiding and promoting the emigration of these classes on iome organized syste m . *• The system of emigration which it is alone desirable to assist and encourage, is one which will, first, benefit the colony ; secondly, benefit Ireland ; and thirdly, will improve the condition of the emigrant himself. " The transfer of our superabundant labourers to colonies would be equally beneficial to all parties ; to the labourers, by diminishing the overwhelming competi* tion under which they now suffer ; to the settler, by affording him the meant of cultivating his land; and both to this country and the colonies, by relieving much of the distress existing in the former, and by adding to productive industry in the latter. If these observations were applicable before the failure of the potato crop, that calamity ha» rendered the necessity of applying this remedy still more unquestionable." The common sense theory maintained in the Report, is, that in a country where there is a surplus population which must be supported by a poor-rate, it would be in every way a better application of the public provision to use it for the promotion of emigration. The principle has been acted upon by some land owners, especially by Lord Palmerston, from •whose property in the County of Sligo an emigration of 2000, or one fourth of the whole population, had already taken place. The cost was about £4 10s. each person, whereas $heir support in the work-house would have amounted to £5 per annum each. A similar experiment had been tried on Sir Robert Gore Booth's estate, and, the Report states, " the same -consequences of an improved social state, a better management of the estate, more comfort of the occupying tenantry, and increased means of paying rates, and increased produce have followed." Though the emigration in these instances was to America, the principle of it might, with no more difficulty than the end would abundantly warrant and repay, be ap - plied to more distant fields of immigration. Indeed, the advantages which would result to all parties from a judiciously administered system, which would at once relieve the superabundance of labour at home, and bring into the colonies the class of labourers which they needy are now admitted on all hands. Acknowledgment of a truth and really efficient application of the knowledge to practice, are however, proverbially distinct ; and the history of Colonial government and management especially abounds with proofs that the performance of a public duty is often far from being the immediate consequence of the demonstration, or even the admission, of its necessity.