The Patea Mail. Published Wednesdays and saturdays WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 1875.

Patea Mail, Volume I, Issue 89, 16 February 1876, Page 2

The Patea Mail. Published Wednesdays and saturdays WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 1875.

IVhii.st folly admitting that Sir J. Vogel was worthy of a hearty and warm welcome on his return, we cannot help thinking that the reception accorded to him in Wellington, on Friday last, was about as great u piece of sycophantic humbug us ever any public man, in the colonv or out of it, has been subjected to. That he has rendered good service to the colony, and that a great political experiment has been iuauguiated, with, we are happy to say, every chance of success is undoubted, but, at the same time the unqualified success that is anticipated has yet to be achieved, and it is certainly premature to hail the nutlifsr sis nn jxbsoliitc jjolitit;;’.! saviour, before his claim to the title lias been fully established. The address of the working men was one of the most complete pieces of boshy fulsome flattery that could be addressed to a human being on such very small provocation. Sir Julius is capable of receiving adulation to a great degree without being inconvenienced, and no one likes to do the Great Mogul business better than himself, but, at the same time, even he must have thought the thing very considerably overdone, and would have preferred the phrases being remodelled considerably. For instance, the lines “ your policy is a bond which unites us, and the lever which raised us to our proper level in the scale of industrial civilisation,” sounds very well, but can one tell what it means ? The whole address was a tissue of ridiculous praise that the recipient must have felt inwardly uncomfortable at receiving. Of course the newly-created knight replied in parallel terms, and, amid torches, fireworks, and procession, arrived safely at his home —dazed, we should think, with the folly of the Wellingtonians, or else thinking himself about the greatest statesman, as well as the greatest public benefactor that the world ever saw. If this incense of flattery did not completely turn his head, he would be rather disgusted than pleased to find himself made a demigod of in this way; if, on the contrary, he thought such recognition only in proportion to his merits, his self-appreciation must render him capable of believing himself equal to the greatest men that live, or have lived. There is a reverse to the pleasant picture of the Vogellian policy that the working men and citizens drew on the 11th inst., iri their flowery address. By the telegrams received froth Grahamstown it appears that hundreds of men, many of them with families, are now walking about the Thames goldfield, willing to work, but unable to obtain employment. Some temporary Government works have been initiated, but, at the best, this is blit fleeting, and what is nothing more than an out-door system of out-door pauper relief cannot bo maintained. Even .with this it seems that the Provincial Governments of Wellington, Otago,- and Canterbury have been appealed to, and asked if they could employ some hundreds. The answer of all has been in the negative. Can any stronger proof be given that New Zealand has for the present received all the immigrants sh- 1 <•:,r, tear, ul.lvast ar rar :i.;‘ ijagk' un i vgf himiiies

are concerned., Yet, by the Vogcllian policy, the streaui of immigration, though slightly checked, continues, and some thousands annually are still being landed on the shores of New Zealand. Surely the working men of Wellington had little occasion to chant sycophantic pceans, in honor of the present working of the “ policy.” By the term “ miner” it does not follow that the unemployed, recently engaged in connection with the Thames mines, are miners in the true sense ; on the contrary, there are carpenters, smiths, and a host of other trades, in addition to laborers capable of any rough work—indeed, a more desirable class of immigrants could not be sent from the" old country, but the Provincial Executives of the three provinces named cannot find room lor them. How cun they find room then for those on the sea, and those to come out ? In the face of this, Immigration is continued, and is that a policy to be pursued; ami praised withal ? As a natural consequence the unemployed arc .communicating with the Australian colonies with a view to migrating there, and there is every probability that they will be successful in their uegociations. It follows, then, that whilst New Zealand pays some .£l6 or £l7 per head per statute adult to import from the old country, New South Wales, Queensland, and other Australian colonies will pay about £3 per head for their deportation to their respective shores, leaving a clear loss of some £ 13 or £l4 on each statute adult imported by New Zealand, This is one of the phases that Sir Julius’ highly landed policy has reached-, and, occurring contemporaneously with the reception to which we have alluded, cannot but set people thinking whether, as far as active immigration is concerned, it has not for the present fcached its, full limits. In point of fact, New Zealand, at a very heavy loss of borrowed money, is now supplying other colonies with population. A et, notwilhst vnding this, Sir Julius proposes to borrow £4,000,000 more. We think our readers will agree with us in thinking that the reception was overdone.