OTAGO. [From the Otago News, May 18th.]

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume VI, Issue 510, 22 June 1850, Page 3

OTAGO. [From the Otago News, May 18 th.]

What is the Labourer to do ? — Whilst the servants of the New Zealand Company here remain in a state of indecision as to the ultimate movements of that Company and the Government, any expenses they may incur will probably be at their own risk, and we are therefare not surprised that what we predicted la^t week has in part come to pass, and the handful of labourers employed in works connected with the New Zealand Company have either received notice to quit or left entirely. The question at the head of this article has not, however, so much need of an answer on this account, as the reader might at first sight surmise. The agreement between the Government and the New Zealand Company was so well understood, that it would have created no surprise had every officer of that Company been discharged and dropped at once into his proper sphere : but , this non-employment of labour, so general throughout the Company's settlements, has hurried on the question of ' what is the labourer to do Vto a quicker issue. Not that the number employed by them in the settlement would have been sufficient in itself to cause this inquiry, but, combined with the scarcity of capital, and the surplus of labour in the market, like the one drop in a full bucket of water, it has caused the overflow, and added strength to the anxious cry of the laborer. Before we answer this question, we might say what we consider they ought not to do. Rent no town sections from the Company or Church Trustees, or any one else, unless you have permanent employment in or near the town. Firstly, because the Government (if it should fall into their hands) may not feel inclined to lengthen your leases, give you compensation, or reserve so many sections for Church or other purposes. Secondly, because land equally as good, and better for your purposes, if you have only occasional employment, may be had in larger quantities, and with purchasing clauses, at a short distance from the U wn, which will not only remunerate your labour better, but the sooner add to your independence. If your means will not allow you to make this arrangement, there is a wide and uncultivated town belt waiting for your possession. Follow the example of the labourers of Nelson, — 300 of whom were discharged in one day, — squat on the waste and unoccupied lands and reserves around you, and let the labour of your hands provide you with support till you are in a position to purchase land of your own, or obtain constant employment. - It is to your exertions in the next two or three years we must look for a supply of those necessaries which will help to

• Not having Greek types we have been obliged to adopt the palseographic method in printing our correspondent's quotation, by employing, namely, the characters of one language to express those of another. We subjoin a translation lest it should prove "all Greek" to many of our readers. Ed. — " Certainly it was a wise man who laid down the maxim that you ought to hear both sides of the question, before you come to any conclusion."

render as a self-supporting colony, and reduce our imports simply to what may be called necessaries foreign to our actual wants. The capitalist will at all times find it more to his advantage to purchase stock, and the competition will thus be left almost entirely with yourselves. To those labourers at present working for hire, we say, join the Dunedin Property Investment Company, and become your own landlords ; to each and all we add, practise temperance, keep up your courage, and steadily persevere ; — rthe end is ever before you; — by so doing you will realise, in time, the truth of what has often been so justly and boastingly said- of our beautiful country, that it is-^the^oor man's home.' An accident of a melancholy nature occurred at Otago on Thursday, the 23rd ultimo, to a young man named George Washington, an American, whilst steering a boat towards the rocks forming the landing place at the native reserve. The steer oar, having no proper fastening, kicked against Washington, and the force of the blow knocked him over, into deep water. He was not seen to rise afterwards, and the body was not found until next day. This is the second accident of the same serious nature which has happened in oht harbour during the last fortnight ; a seaman belonging to the Lady Clarke having fallen overboard when weighing anchor, and th<* tide, which was running very strong at the time, soon carried him beyond the reach of human assistance. — Ibid, June 1. Weather Journal for May, 1850. — ! Thermometer, highest at 2 p.m., 72°; lowest at 9 a.m., 32° ; mean average, 49<>. Weather, fine, 25 days ; showery, 6 ; wet, 0. Remarks. — The expectations of those settlers who experienced the inclemency of May, 1849, have been agreeably disappointed in the one just passed. Indeed, we very much question if the ' merry month of May,' so often alluded to by the poets of our ' am countrie,' has ever better deserved its character than the sunny May of our new country. Towards the latter part of the month the evenings and mornings were cold and the nights frosty, with bright and moderately warm days ; the thermometer ranging at noon betwixt 44° and 52°, presenting a marked contrast to the previous May, when the mean average was 44° and the highest 52°. Some of the high hills in the neighbourhood have put on their winter covering, and we have had a slight admixture of snow with a few pelting showers. The old colonists, however, cheer us with the intelligence that this is a real New Zealand winter — the one last year was an exception to the general rule. We hope it will prove so. — Ibid. H. M. S. Acheron, Captain Stokes, arrived from the southward on Tuesday last, having been absent about eleven weeks. The principal part of this time was passed at New River, where exploring parties were sent to Jacob's River, the Bluff, and towards the source of the New River. Mr. Hamilton and Mr. Spencer left the Acheron and proceeded overland to the Molineux, which they reached on the 6th da>. The country through which they passed is described as one extremoly favourable to pastoral pursuits, but rather scarce of timber. After a stay of a few days in the Molineux district, finding the Acheron did not make her appearance, they started for Dunedin, and arrived here a few days ago ; thus accomplishing a journey of nearly 200 miles, the greater part through a country seldom if ever traversed by Europeans. We believe the JJcheron did not make any lengthened stay at the Molineux, but will possibly return there again in the spring for the purpose of taking an accurate survey of the bay and the bar at the entrance of the river. — Ibid. June 8.