New Zealand Times. THURSDAY, AUGUST 13, 1874.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 4180, 13 August 1874, Page 2

New Zealand Times. THURSDAY, AUGUST 13, 1874.

The authoritative stateroom made by the Premier on Tuesday evening respecting the manner in which the Immigration policy of the Colony has been conducted at Homo, will be received with satisfaction for a variety of reasons. The hon. gentlemen said, accurately enough, that it was not necessary for him to make a minute explanation of all the circumstances connected with the case, as the correspondence that had been produced was unusually ample. Notwithstanding this, hon. members were anxious to hear what were the Premier’s opinions of the stage at which the management of affairs had arrived, because all the correspondence had taken place through him, and would necessarily have left a stronger and more definite impression upon his mind than upon that of any other person. He, no doubt, knows better than anyone in the Colony, what has been done, what ought not to have been done, and what has been left undone that ought to have been done. And if his opinion was necessarily interesting to hon. members, who have had access to the documents to which ho referred, and whoso duty it was to have studied them, much more must it be so to the outside world that has not the opportunity, the time, or tho inclination, to read parliamentary blue books. But tho public, it will bo readily understood, does

hear disquieting rumors, and reads sensational stories of drunken and immoral immigrants, who have been permitted to come to the Colony under the system of very free selection to which some of the agents of Dr. Featherston have resorted, and alarm has been the natural consequence. This will be very much quieted by the t judicious and well-considered speech made by Mr. Vogel. It will be accepted outside Parliament on trust, and inside, hon. members know that his facts and conclusions can be substantiated out of the documents he has placed before the House. If, however, hon. members choose to express an opinion upon the shortcomings and malfeasances of Dr. Featherston, they will have an opportunity of doing so, as was suggested by the Pz-emier. That the Government has disapproved of a portion of his conduct is well known. The case of the Agent-General is peculiarly one which it is desirable to view as a whole, and not to pass an opinion upon a solitary feature of it. No doubt some of tlie emigrants sent out have not been the creme de la creme of the laboring population of England. The complaint has been but too well founded, particularly in respect to those who have arrived in the South, that too many of them have been of shady character and uncertain morals. But it was, as Mr. Vogel said, hardly possible to bring out such a large number of immigrants without there being some black sheep amongst them. His conclusion is a just one, that on the whole the Colony had been fortunate in the class of emigrants forwarded. This we argue from the experience in Wellington during the past few months. Public opinion was nearly unanimous in condemning the emigrants who arrived in the Woodlark, and public opinion was, as it very often is, mistaken. Notwithstanding the unfavorable time at which they arrived—when field operations were naturally contracted—they were quietly and quickly absorbed in the population, and they have since been tax-paying producers, earning their livelihood in as respectable a manner as older colonists. If they could be mustered now, we will guarantee that during the few months they have passed in the Colony they have undergone such a change that their critics would not recognise them. Notwithstanding these and other facts of a like nature that_ might be adduced, there has been occasion for the caution the Government has thought proper to adopt. The plan recommended by Mr. Vogel is, that the Provinces should send agents Home who should select and inspect the emigrants who come out. In this he was fortified by the opinion of the Superintendent of Otago, who had informed him that the Provincial Executive had had under consideration a proposition to diminish the stream of emigration, by reverting partially to the practice of assisted instead of free passages. Mr. Macandrew said “We are loth to advise any course that might diminish the stream of emigrants into this Province, with which wo find no fault as to quantity, provided it were of a better quality, and came at the proper season of the year. We can scarcely get too many people of the quality selected by our own agents.” The Superintendent of Wellington wrote that his Executive, after giving special consideration to the matter, wefe “unanimously of opinion that no change is desirable, as far as this Province is concerned, as the immigrants that have arrived here, both as to quality and quantity, have been on the whole satisfactory, and have been absorbed as quickly as could be expected.” Mr. Vogel’s remarks as to the future of immigration, and the capacity of the Colony, both in the r past and in time to come, of absorbing emigrants, are worthy of close study. There is no doubt that the capacity for absorption that has been manifested is very remaz’kable. As ship after ship arrived, full of emigrants, the question commonly asked was, what would become of them 1 Before two or three days would be over, much to the surprise of those who did not take the trouble to investigate causes and look beneath the surface, they disappeared from the streets. The correspondence published, and the, remarks of Mr. Vogel, show that steps were being taken to bi’ing this about. The Premier was in correspondence with all the Superintendents respecting the desirability of building cottages and depots for them in country districts. With some he was arranging for special settlements, and with others for the employment of new comers on public works. The Superintendent of Canterbury interested himself particularly in the matter, renting cottages where he could, building others where he could not, and making arrangements both for their accommodation and employment. The Superintendent of Wellington also saw the necessity there was for action of this kind, and on June 2 ho wrote to the Premier to “ strongly urge the necessity there was for the establishment of depots in the country districts,” on account of “ the large number oi immigrants now on their way to the Province.” The fact is significant that no Superintendent, on being communicated with on the subject, thought that immigration was being carried out on too extensive a scale,-excepting Mr. Curtis, of Nelson. Such testimony must be considered most satisfactory, as it is at once a pledge in respect to that which has been done in the past, and a belief in the future prosperity of the Colony, and its capacity to absorb population.