The Standard AND PEOPLE'S ADVOCATE. (PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY AND SATURDAY.) SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 1876.

Poverty Bay Standard, Volume III, Issue 406, 2 September 1876, Page 2

The Standard AND PEOPLE'S ADVOCATE. (PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY AND SATURDAY.)

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 1876.

“ We shall sell to ho man justice or right We shall deny to no man justice or right: We shall defer to no man justice or right.”

The General Reports of Immigration Officers in the colony, presented to both Houses of the General Assembly, contain some most interesting items of information to the public, and we propose to collect such portions therefrom as are likely to be of service to our readers. The returns are all inclusive of transactions for the year ending 30th June last. From Auckland we learn that 2546 souls have been added to the population, including 179 nominations, employment for whom was readily found. The demand for labor has been brisk, and the rate of wages fully maintained; these are — Bakers, butchers, and brewers, 7s 6d to 8s 6<l per day ; blacksmiths, 8s to 9s ; bricklayers, 8s 6d to 10s; carpenters and coachbuilders, 8s 6d to 10s 6d; coopers, working engineers, stonemasons, millers and millwrights, 8s to 9s ; plumbers and painters, 7s to 7s 6d ; pasterers, 9« to 10s 6d ; ropemakers, 6s to 7s ; saddlers, shoemakers, and tailors, 8s to 9s; ploughmen, gardeners, and general farm laborers, 12s 6d to 22s 6d per week, with house accommodation and partial supplies; ordinary laborers, 6s to Bs, there is a tendency to a decline in wages generally. Female servants’ wages may be quoted at from 6s to 12s per week ; cooks, housekeepers, and laundresses, at 8s to 12s per week.

The prospects of the labor market are encouraging, but employers complain of much difficulty in obtaining efficient hands at reasonable rates. There are 155 applications for land registered under the “Immigrants Land Act,” representing claims amounting to £4990, only four of which have taken up their land, the majority wisely preferring to obtain employment and thus gain colonial experience before beginning on their own account. Taranaki reports 1790 new arrivals, most of whom have given satisfaction to their employers, “ thus proving ■‘.that the vile insinuations cast on “ the single women, by J. G. 8. Grant, “ and others, are without the slightest foundation.” Nominations are at a discount at Taranaki, chiefly owing to the difficulty of immigrants obtaining land there. The supply of labor is in excess of the demand, and laborers in the vicinity of the town find a difficulty in getting employment. Wages are not quoted, but the report states that they have a downward tendency. The papier report is exceedingly meagre, the immigration officer having previously reported in detail. The Nomination system does not appear to work well, “ a very small propor- “ tion of nominated people accepting “ the proposal of their friends’ recom- “ mendation to immigrate to this “ colony.” Attached to this report is the following memorandum from Mr Ormond, the Superintendent:—

In forwarding the report of the Immigration Officer, I would represent the great ■carcity of labor in Hawke’s Bay, wages being higher than for years. The number of immigrants ordered for Hawke’s Bay, will not, I am sure, anything like meet the requirements for the coming year. I wish much that four ships, each to bring 200 immigrants, could be sanctioned. * ' J. D. Ormond. This, certainly, is a bold demand, and one which has met with expressions of disapproval, principally by the class most likely to be effected by the introduction of the many hundreds asked for, but, we doubt not, that the Superintendent knows what he is about. A correspondent in the Daily Telegraph says “ The working “ men are asking one another what “ there will be for them to do four or “ five months hence, when shearing is “ finished, and the railway opened to “ Takapau.” L ellington has imported 3326 souls, 1047 having been transhipped to other provinces. 615 nominations have been made, 211 of which have been exercised. 37 Prussians await deportation to the Jackson’s Bay settlement, and the report “ strongly urges that “ no more Italians should be intr.o- -“ duced; they have shown not the “ slightest disposition to work, and “ seem to think it is the duty of the “ Government to provide for them for “ the rest of their lives.” Wages are not quoted, but they “ are no lower “than they were last year,” with a steady, demand for labor generally. 500 female servants are wanted at from 8s to 20s per week and found. From Wanganui the report is also favorable. been absorbed.

Single men and women are in demand with fair (unquoted) rates, and it is considered that from 500 to 600 tradesmen, and domestic servants could be provided for “ comfortably.” Wairarapa districts have provided for 397 ; while there is plenty of room for “a considerable number of good ,“ farm servants, whose expectations “ are not two much exalted.” Pick and shovel men are not in request, through the completion of rail way .and other contracts. As in Taranaki, the immigrants want a more .liberal System of obtaining land on deferred payments, the consequence is that there' are but few nominations for assisted passages. The Scandanavian settlements, lying between Napier and Wellington, are progressing favorably The settlers nave “ more than fulfilled the condi- “ tions imposed on them. Each one “ has a comfortable cottage ; they “ grow sufficient crops for their own “consumption, besides cattle, sheep, “ and horses,’’ and the reporting officer naively observes “ with extraneous “ assistance, they can sustain them- “ selves, in a favorable comparison “with any settlers in the country, and “ provide themselves against , anv “ possible exigencies that may arise. 5 ’ No very difficult job either. We think we could perform the same feat ourselves, provided we were subsidised with a little “ extraneous assist- “ ance.” Blenheim has introduced about 200, who have found ready employment; more are in demand, mechanics, 10s to 12s a day, laborers, town, 8s; country 20s to 25s and found. To Hokitika, 338 souls have found their way, three fifths of whom were foreigners, who, ultimately found shelter in the Jackson’s Bay settlement The demand for labor is on the increase, wages ranging as follow :— Carpenters, 12s to 14s per day ; blacksmiths, and bricklayers, Ils to 13s per day ; tailors, 10s to 12s per day ; laborers, 10s per day; compositors, £3 10s to £4loe per week; agricultural laborers, 20s to2ss per week, and found ; domestic aervante for hotels, 255, 30s, and 35s per weak ; do., in private families, 15e te 20s per week; barmaids, 25s to 35s per week ; machinists and dressmakers, 20s to 30s per week. In Christchurch 3669 souls have arrived, as against 7298 in the previous twelve months. There is still a good demand for labor, commanding the following wages : — Married couples for farms and stations, £6O to £7O per annum ; married men with families, 5s to 6s per day, with cottage found ; married men for bush work, 6s to 7s per day grooms and coachmen, £4O to £5O; shep-, herds, £5O to £6O and found; gardeners, £5O to £55 ; single men, for farms and stations, £4O to £55 ; masons, b.ricklayews, carpenters, and plasterers, 10s to 12s per day ; blacksmiths, wheelwrights, coopers, coachmakers, and plumbers, 9s to 10s per day ; shoemakers and tailors, £2 10s to £3 per week, (piecework) ; general laborers, 6s to 8s per day. Single women — domestic servants — cooks, £3O to £4O per annum and found ; general aervante, £2O to £3O per annum and found.

There were 748 nominations during the year; and 53 applications under the Immigrants Land Act, representing £2380 worth of land. Timaru reports favorably on the readiness with which 1085 immigrants found employment, and a limited number more would not fare badly. The report gives no quotations. The Dunedin report is imperfect; the number of arrivals is not given ; neither are wages quoted; but it is satisfactory notwithstanding. “ Engi- “ neers and fitters, boiler makers, “ blacksmiths, iron moulders, tin- “ smiths, painters, and bakers,” are not wanted, as the numbers already there are “ quite sufficient for, at “ least, a few years to come.” There is a good demand for labor, which is likely to continue. Invercargill rejoices in the future.. 1273 new bloods have arrived, who “ have shown a marked improvement “ in physique, and moral culture,” and, consequently have met with ready employment. The district will further “ absorb, without inconve- “ nience, at fair prices, from 800 to “ 900 able bodied immigrants—really “ trained to agricultural and domestic “ service—yearly, for the next three “ years.” Riverton wants a steady supply of female servants at high wages, (rates not quoted) with the prospect of them sharing the fate of their predecessors, namely, to “ get married immediately on arrival.” The nomination system is preferred to free immigration. “ Blacksmiths, stone- “ masons, wheelwrights and carpen- “ ters, will be welcome in Riverton “ for years to come” ; but it will be “ a cruelty” to introduce those who are of no trade, and have not thorough physical capabilities for labor.