The Southland Times. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 13, 1867.

Southland Times, Issue 864, 13 December 1867, Page 2

The Southland Times. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 13, 1867.

Too much importance cannot be given to the question of -resuming immigration. Southland wants people. Although advancing steadily the progress is sluggish from the want of labor. In almost every district this is inconveniently felt. There is plenty of work but few available hands to do it. The agriculturist desirous of extending the bounds of his cultivation is constrained to compress the sphere of his operations owing to the high rate of wages demanded and the difficulty in obtaining labor. Hence farming is to a certain extent circumscribed. Not that the settler haa a want of faith in the fertility of the country, but that the advantages offered to the laborer to become a landowner are so great that there is a continuous change in the station of the ■worker, and unless a steady stream of recruits can be secured it will soon be seen that we h&ve reached the position of a province with many employers and few employes. This opinion will be confirmed by all who know the natural features of the country and its varied capabilities. Southland, though small, is a compact and fruitful province, with a liberal land law. Its climate is genial, its lands rich, and are capable of being placed under crop at a very small cost — land that for the most part requires no grubbing, and but inexpensive drainage. With such advantages it is not surprising that year by year the thri 'y laborer haa risen from the ranks of th^ employed : to that of the .employer. A good steady farm hand can in two or three years fa,ye sufficient to enable him to obtain his

own homestead, and thus virgin soil is continually being broken up andfresh labor required. Last harvest the crops I in almost every district in the province were heavy to an extent. seldom equalled, but owing to the high rate of wages and the price obtained for the produce it % cannot be considered to have been satisfactory. The paucity of labor ia equally conspicuous as regards female servants. They are almost unattainable. This is no matter for wonder. There exists here that great disproportion between the sexes that is a marked feature in all the offshoots of the mother country. The industrious and well conducted dairymaid of one year invariably becomes the prosperous farmer's wife of the next. It is satisfactory to learn that the Provincial Government is not blind to the importance of again putting into operation the assisted immigration machinery. The financial complications which necessitated the suspension of immigration are gradually fading, and the • published notification of the intention of the Government to endeavor to promote immigration will, we believe, meet with the approbation of the entire community. From what we can learn, it is not intended to appropriate funds that may be required for the purpose of important works, but to take advantage of ofiers made by home capitalists to aid Southland in the importation of available labor. We understand a gentleman interested in the progress of the Province, is prepared to send out immigrants, carefully selected, at a given sum per head, to the extent of about £10,000, taking land in payment. The Government by accepting this offer will be in a position to revive the scheme of assisted immigration, on the principle of deferred payments— *the passage money to be refunded at a future time. By this means settlers will be able to bring out their friends and relatives upon terms that there are but few who cannot compass; while £10,000 will be advanced by home capitalists, that will I ultimately be paid into the provincial treasury. Southland can offer favorable inducements to the industrious immigrants to make it the land of their adoption. Those who desire agricultural occupation can find it here, and the skilled mechanics who are prepared to adapt their talents to bush work need never fear of \ obtaining remunerative employment. This Province is mainly agricultural and pastoral, and offers a field to the enterprising of great value. There cannot be a question as to the desirability of increasing our population, and that at present cannot be done to any extent except by the adoption of a well devised scheme of immigration. It therefore is to be hoped that the Provincial Council will frankly endorse the views of the Government on this question. We know that a large majority of the newly settled hard-working farmers would gladly bring out relatives and friends who would assist them in turning the desert waste into a fertile field that cannot take the entire responsibility of so doing. It is a question of importance as to the class of immigrants that should be invited to our shores. We want men and women that are in earnest — men and women who are prepared to work in order to attain a position of lasting independency. The curse of the colonies has been the deluge of never-do-well tradesmen, and romance reading, dreamy needlewomen. It matters not what the occupation to which the immigrant may have been educated if he or she is prepared to work when work of any kind is offered. The assisted immigration scheme has been the means of helping many who took advantage of the aid it offered to reach a position of comparative independence, and has dotted the Province with healthy and expanding cultivation. It is the most economical, if not the most efficient system that can be adopted. It gives a guarantee that the immigrants imported will not be other than those who have friends ; who know their worth, and are prepared to aid them. The proposal of the Government to revive the system should receive universal support. The very life of the Province depends upon an increase of population. Southland, in addition to its agricultural capabilities, has within its bounds a large extent of auriferous land and other industries waiting to be developed. It is therefore to be hoped that one of the first 'acts of the Provincial Council will be to give the question of immigration its .serious consideration, and thatit may result in the adoption of the only scheme that can at present ba suggested. The revival of assisted immigration may by some be deemed premature. It may be argued that many mechanics ia Invercargill have not sufficient work to keep them constantly employed. The answer is, that population will increase business ; and; that the greater number that can be settled on the lands, the more numerous .will be the opportunities for the display

of individual enterprise. New villages will spring up, the half-employed will get constanVwork, with the chance of starting business in a thriving district, and the mercantile classes reap a corresponding benefit. Southland wants population, and it must be a matter for congratulation that- there is a probability of its being obtained.