EMIGRATION.

New Zealand Colonist and Port Nicholson Advertiser, Volume I, Issue 13, 13 September 1842, Page 4

EMIGRATION.

HOUSE OV COMMONS TUESDAY, APRIL 19. Mr. P. M. Stewart wished to put a question to the noble lord the Secretary for the Colonies (Lord Stanley), on a subject of great importance to this country as well as our different colonies—that of emigration. He was intrusted with petitions from many hundreds, he might say thousands of persons, who were unable to obtain employment in this country, and who were extremely anxious to seek employment in our colonies, if they could gain the means of transporting themselves to those colonies. Those persons had heard that the demand for labour in the colonies was very extensive, and that the rate of remuneration was at a tempting height, cornered with that which they had any chance of obtaining at home. He hoped his noble frienc would give explicit answers to two questions which he would propose. He wished to know, first, whether it was true that there was in the colonies a great demand for labour, and that high remunerating wages were given ? and whether there was an intention on the part of the Government to afford any facilities in the means of transport to persons desirous of emigrating from this country to our colonies ?

Lord Stanley said, no one could entertain a higher sense than he did of the importance of the questions which had been proposed by the hon. gentleman ; and he trusted he would obtain the indulgence of the house, if he gave a somewhat detailed reply to those questions. The first enquiry of the hon. gentleman was, whether there now prevailed in our various colonies an extensive demand for a number of emigrants who might obtain high remunerating wages ? Although he (Lord Stanley) was aware that it was a delicate matter for a member of the Government to state his opinion as to the comparative demand for labour which existed at any particular* time in different possessions of the Crown, he thought it was right that no misunderstanding should be allowed to prevail on a subject of such high importance, especially at this season of the year, to a large portion of the labouring population of the country. He would, in replying to the question of the hon. gentleman, leave out of consideration our West India colonies, and confine his remarks to our Australian and North American colonies. For the last few years the rule had been to apply very considerable portions of the sums derived from the sale of land in the colonies to the encouragement of emigration. In some cases these sums were applied under the direction of the Government at home, and in other cases under the direction of the local Governments of the colonies, tickets being issued to shipowners for the conveyance of emigrants, on whose arrival in the colonies a stipulated sum was granted. He had been informed by his noble friend who had preceded him in the Colonial Office (Lord J. Russell), that there were outstanding bounty orders for the conveyance of emigrants to the colony of New South Wales, available for two years from November, 1840, applying to from 40,000 to 50, 000 emigrants, and involving an expense —supposing they were all acted upon—of from 800,000/. to 900,000/. He had felt it his duty to adopt stringent regulations for checking this system. . He had received a communication from the Governor of New South Wales, stating, that in consequence of the great number of emigrants introduced, a heavy amount of debt had been entailed upon the colony, and entreating that steps might be taken to prevent an enormous influx of emigrants, which might be productive of most serious results. During last year the number of emigrants to New South Wales was 22,750. When communications were received from the Governor, 12,760 of those emigrants had arrived in the colony, and 10,000 were on their .passage. This influx of emigrants would involve the colony in a debt to the amount of 111,000/. The Governor stated that, even before the 10,000 emigrants had arrived in the colony, there was a difficulty in obtaining employment. He (Lord Stanley) thought it right to make this statement publicly, that the labouring classes might be aware of the true state of the case; for if capital did not emigrate in proportion to labour, those who sought employment in the colonies might involve themselves in more calamitous distress than that which they suffered here. He believed the state of things to which he had refered as existing in New South Wales was not permanent; it was propably only temporary. It arose from the almost entire cessation of the land sales within a short time back, which had produced embarrassment in the colony; and he believed that emigration to that country might be very efficiently conducted, if its amount was duly regulated. The Governor had stated that he considered that the colony—the population of which was 130,000 —was capable of receiving annually from 8,000 to 10,000 emigrants with great advantage. During last year, however, as he (Lord Stanley) had stated, the number of emigrants into that colony was nearly 23,000, more than double the number which the Governor considered ought to be introduced. He could not, therefore, on the part of the Government —even if they had funds at their disposal, which they had not —recommended the encouragement of extensive emigration on the part of the working classes.

Emigration to Van Dieman’s Land was now conducted to a considerable extent; and during the last year about 1,500 emmigrants had entered that colony. The colony of Western Australia possessed very limited capacity for receiving emmigrants, though he believed it was in a prosperous state. The demand for labour was to the amount of 150 or 200 emigrants; and preparations were already made for sending out that number. He need scarcely say, that South Australia had during the last year been in a very disastrous condition; the land sales kad ceased, and the financial affairs of the colony were in a deplorable state. The population was 13,000 or 15,000; and owing to the abandonment of Government works, and the enormous expenditure which had been indulged for some time and had given a false appearance of prosperity having ceased, 1,200 persons in that colony were actually living as paupers, maintained at the public expense. He could not speak with confidence of the colony of New Zealand. He believed that if a sum of 10,000 or 12,000/. was available for the transport of emigrants, New Zealand offered a better prospect than any of our colonies in that quarter of the globe of affording employment to the labouring classes; but he spoke only of present appearances, and gave no opinion as to its permanent prosperity. He abstained from expressing any opinion as to those settlements in New Zealand which were under the management of the New Zealand Company. He had recently been led to think that a greater number of emigrants had been introduced into some of those settlements than was warranted by the amount of capital employed, and the consequent means of labour afforded. The case of the North American colonies differed entirely from that of those to which he had been alluding. In the North American colonies the Government had not any funds, nor means of raising funds, which could be applied to the purposes of emigration. The proceeds of the land sales were paid over to the local legislators, and it rested with the local legislatures alone to decide whether any portion of those proceeds should be devoted to the purposes of emigration. He believed, that at this time those colonies exhibited a very favourable prospect of affording employment to great numbers of the labouring class of emigrants. The result of experience proved that the least extent of hardship and difficulty was sustained by emigrants who went out to those colonies early in the year, and who had thus an opportunity of obtaining employment during the summer, and of establishing themselves in the colonies. He would recommend emigrants to apply for advice and assistance to the Government emigration agent at the port at which they arrived, for though the agent could not afford them any pecuniary aid, he would be enabled to give them information as to the best means of obtaining employment, and on subjects, which might prove extremely useful, especially as emigrants of the labouring class who arrived late in the summer or autumn, were frequently quite unprepared to encounter the severity of a Canadian winter, and consequently suffered great distress. He thought it right, while alluding to emigration to Canada, to inform his hon. friend (Mr. P. Stewart) that, though the general condition and prospects of the emigrants who went out last year had been favourable, the class which had suffered the greatest hardships and privations was the weavers from Paisley and Glasgow, who were not accustomed to out-door labour. Although such persons were, in the end, likely to be most valuable settlers, they were in the first instance exposed to great hardships. He hoped he had given a full answer to the questions proposed by the hon. gentleman.

Mr. P. Stewart thanked, the noble lord for the information he had afforded the house on the subject of emigration. With respect to the observation of the noble lord in allusion to the weavers of Glasgow and Paisley, he could assure the noble lord that many of those persons were accustomed to out-door employment.

HOUSE OF COMMONS, THURSDAY, APRIL 21ST. Lord Stanley said, he was accidentally absent on the previous night when the order of the day was read for going into committee on this bill, and he should now propose to postpone it until Thursday next, if it could be then brought on. As there could be but one object in passing this bill, he should be personally obliged to any hon. member who might have any objections to it in its present shape to state them to him out of the house, so that all difficulty in the way of its passing might be prevented. Mr. Mangles, seeing the noble lord the Secretary for the Colonies in his place, begged to ask him whether he had used the language attributed to him in the Morning Herald of yesterday ? It was as follows: “With respect to the colony of New Zealand he could not speak with, the same confidence in point of information, because he had not the same means of judging with respect to the demand for labour in that colony; but 10,000, or 12,000 persons had emigrated thither, and as there were some funds still applicable to other purposes in the hands of the Government, New Zealand, of all the Australian colonies, offered for the moment, the most favourable prospects to emigrate. He did not speak of the New

Zealand Company’s settlements, or offer any opinion as to the stability of that colony, for he had reason to believe in this place that the emigration had already overtaken the wants of the colonists, as far as human labour was concerned, for the rate of wages there was low, and many of the unemployed labouring classes were supported by the contributions of private benevolence.”

Lord Stanley had no hesitation in saying, that what had fallen from him had been misund«*stood; the paragraph which had been read by the hon. member, was entirely wrong, and misrepresented what he had said. What he said was, that with respect to New Zealand, he could not speak with the same confidence ; biit that, in the Government settlement of Auckland, there was a considerable demand for labour. He had also stated, that there was still the sum of £IO,OOO in the hands of Government,, applicable to the encouragement of emigration to that colony. With respect to New Zealand, he said the Company were better able to judge of the proportion which capital ought to bear to labour ; but he did say, that he believed that at Port Nicholson, to a certain extent, wages hac fallen, and a number of persons were employed in the public works.

From the Sydney Morning Herald, we copy the following summary, extracted from the Standard , on the subject of the West India Steam Navigation Company. The Herald observes : —“ The nearer the vessel’s destination to the Isthmus of Darien the better, as steam vessels now leave the Gulf of Mexico and the West Indies, for England, twice a month. A conveyance between the Gulf and Lima will be speedily established; and the Pacific Steam Navigation Company’s vessels are constantly running along the coast, and will time their trips, so as to meet the conveyance from the West Indies. From London to Lima only occupies thirty-three days, and from forty to fifty days is the run from Sydney to Lima; letters will, therefore, reach London, on ordinary occasions, in about eighty-five days. The attention of the Postmaster-General having been called to this subject, he intends to make up a London mail by every vessel that leaves the colony for the west coast of South America, so that parties, by sending duplicates via India, and triplicates via South America, may be almost certain of their communications reaching London in eighty or ninety days:—

West India Mail Steam Packets. —The company is established under a royal charter, and as a corporate body. Their capital is £1,500,000, of which 50 per cent, has been paid up to this date. They have fourteen steamers, of about 450 horse power, and 1400 tons burthen each, and one additional, of about 300 horse power, to be employed in temporary service. Besides these, they have three fine sailing schooners, destined to connect the great chain of communication at twq points, where it can be done with equal certainty by these vessels as by steamers. Two of these schooners, and eleven of these steamers, are now at sea, engaged in the mail service, as afterwards more particularly adverted to, and the remaining four are so nearly completed, that they will be ready to take their stations in the service as required. The third schooner is ready for sea at a day’s notice.

The company are to receive, yearly, from the Government, £240,000, in quarterly payments, for performing the mail service, twice every month, between Great Britain and every part of the West Indies, the coast of South America adjacent, Honduras, and the chief parts of the Gulph of Mexico, and from thence, also, twice each month, by Havannah and Nassau, to the Atlantic ports of the United States, and to Halifax, Nova Scotia. The line from England to Barbadoes, is to embrace Corunna, or Ferrol, and Madeira. Besides the great line from Barbadoes to the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico, branch steamers, always coaled, and ready, on arrival of each outward mail from England, proceed from central points, to every port of any consequence, insular or continental, returning to their given points with the return mails, from every place, in time to meet the next outward steamer from England. No more time is requisite, at any point or place, than that which is sufficient to change the mails and passengers from one steamer to another. The great line from the West Indies finally departs from Nassau, by Bermuda and Fayal, to England ; and at Nassau, the great line between the West Indies, the Gulf of Mexico, &c., joins the other, and both work to fit in and correspond with each other. A large and very fine sailing vessel, is appointed to run between Fayal and Madeira, thus connecting the outward and homeward lines at this important point. By this mighty combination, clearly chalked out, and accurately laid down, every port and place of any consequence, insular and continental, from Surinam on the east, to the shores of the Gulf of Mexico on the west, and from the coast of America, extending from the Gulf of Faria to Chagre on the south, to Halifax, Nova Scotia, by the principal Atlantic port in the United States, in the north, will have a regular post communication twice each month, to the most distant parts, and also betwixt each other, forwards and backwards, with, it is calculated, certainty and regularity. The course of post, from London to London again, with every place in the West Indies, from Surinam to Mexico, and the shores of America adjacent, to the West Indies, will be fiftyeight days, with abundance of time at every place, from two and three days to fifteen days, to answer these letters.

The short land distance between Chagre and Panama is easily passed, and thus the line of the company’s steamers communicate with .those belonging to the Pacific Steam Navigation Company, by which means passengers and letters will find themselves in Lima in thirty-three days from London. The voyage from Great Britain to Vera Cruz, by Barbadoes, St. Thomas, Havannah, &c., will be twenty-nine days, and from New Orleans to London about twenty-two days.