New Zealand Colonist. FRIDAY, OCTOBER 28, 1812.

New Zealand Colonist and Port Nicholson Advertiser, Volume I, Issue 26, 28 October 1842, Page 2

New Zealand Colonist. FRIDAY, OCTOBER 28, 1812.

It appears that the English Government have commenced measures to encourage emigration to New Zealand. These seem to he upon a limited scale, and, as probably the emigrants will he forwarded to the Government settlement, we have no very direct or immediate interest in the affair,. Still, there are considerations, suggested by the subject which possess a very important hearing upon this, and, indeed, upon every new conntry.

So far as can be gathered from the brief notices in the papers, from which our information is derived, it would seem to be the intention of government to provide a free passage, and then to throw the emigrants upon the shores of New Zealand without any provision for their future support. Whether they find employment at adequate rates is altogether a matter of chance. Not merely is the English Government necessarily ignorant of the circumstances of the place to which they will be directed, but to those on the spot it must be a matter of considerable doubt whether, on their arrival, any sufficient employment can be found them. Nor is there any Government fund

'Vi i u which they can be supported, except that which may he produced by the Colony itself. So that, if it should happen, upon the arrival of* these emigrants at Auckland, that there are no

capitalists who can maintain them as labourers, (as they cannot be left to starve) they must be provided for out of the colonial revenue; which wc mainly contribute. In this particular there is a marked superiority in the proceedings of the New Zealand Company. They foresaw that possibly many of the labouring emigrants might not he able to obtain immediate or con-

stant employment; and feeling that it would be unjust, as well as burthensome to the Co-

lony, to throw their support upon tlie settlers, they have authorised their employment at reasonable rales upon public works. They have therefore, in fact, introduced into the Colony capital as well as labour; and it has always been a subject of deep regret to us that they should not have so arranged their operations as to make this expenditure of capital a source of profit. This might easily have been done, to tlie benefit of the Colony as well as of the Company ; but it is not easy to persuade cither individuals or companies to admit that' plans which apparently work well and profitably at their commencement, contain any elements of disorder or loss.

There is also another point connected with this subject which places in a still more forcible point of view the contrast to which wc have adverted. The government, in selecting emigrants, looks chiefly to England. New Zealand with them is necessarily a secondary consideration. Their primary object is the relief of the mother country, not the prosperity and advancement of the Colony. Hence theylmay he expected to select as emigrants those persons whose removal will he most profitable to the parish or neighbourhood —in other words, the poorest, and even possibly the most idle and useless. The labourers thus sent out cannot he expected to contribute in any degree to the capital of the Colony, or to assist in providing means for their own support. Among the labouring emigrants sent out by the Company, on the other hand, ,a considerable number were possessed of funds of various amounts, and they have, consequently, contributed to the general benefit of the settlement by furnishing -capital as well as labour. For those who have no resource but their labour, the government makes no provision ; while the New Zealand Company has provided against even temporary difficulties which might be felt by the superior class whom they have sent out.

But the most noticeable circumstance in the conduct of the Home Government is that, upon persons thus selected, they have thrown the burthen of providing for their own Government, upon a scale fixed, not by themselves, but by the English Colonial Minister. The colony of New Zealand has been founded without any aid from Government. It is true that there has been some made towards the expenses of Government out of the funds of the colony of New South Wales, but this had nothing to do with the foundation of the colony, and was required only under the peculiar circumstances attending the establishment of the scat of Government. Surely, however, it is too much to expect that a new community—exposed as every new community must be to peculiar difficulties living necessarily for some time upon capital, not profits (for though individuals may obtain large profits, these are obtained out of the capital, not out of the produce of the colony) and having to make large outlays in erecting houses and preparing the ground for a crop, should pay the whole expenses of their own Government, and should receive no public assistance of any kind from the mother country. Under the most favourable circumstances, large sums must be expended unpi oductively, and to add to this, the unproductive expenditure of the whole Government establishment, is to throw upon us a burthen altogether disproportioned to our immature and undeveloped resources. It is not as though the mother country derived no advantage from the establishment of colonies. In that case it would be unreasonable to expect from it any assistance in supporting them. In that case, however, we might not unreasonably require that we should be allowed

to govern ourselves. .But it is admitted on all hands, that colonisation is one of the best and most certain remedies for the evils under which the United Kingdom is now suffering. Wc have, consequently, a righi to demand that some aid should he furnished to us in return for the great benefits which wc confer upon the present community.

The subject is too extensive to be pursued further at present, but we shall shortly return to it.

We are informed by a Correspondent that some respectable individuals, principally amateur musicians, have formed themselves into a Band, and meet twice a-wcek for practice. They have already succeeded in obtaining some good instruments, hut are sadly in want of a Trombone. Wc understand that Mr. Lyon has consented to receive subscriptions for the purchase of one, and towards the establishment of a fund to be devoted to the interests of the society.