IMMIGRATION. No. II.

Southland Times, Issue 962, 3 June 1868, Page 5

IMMIGRATION. No. 11.

(to the editoe of the sottthlaitd times). Sib — In my last I propounded a scheme by which a steady and uninterrupted, instead of j spasmodic and fluctuating tide of immigration could be secured for this province, irrespective of any change in the form of Government, which may be germinating in the womb of time. The next question in connection with the subject is, do we want immigrants? Such a query may well seem superfluous in a new country in the nineteenth century, nor would I dream of putting it were it not that human nature is of so complex a character, so governed by its passions, prejudices, self-interest, that dissenters may be found to any principle, which political I economy and practical experience has proved unmistakably sound. For a colony to remain stationary, means physical, intellectual and moral decadence Ancient history proves this proposition, that of the United States of America the converse of it. When a country has an ample supply of labor to satisfy its pastoral, agricultural and manufacturing requirements, when elbowroom becomss scarce, then and not till then can it afiord to cease introducing fresh thews and sinews. It lias been argued that because there is not sufficient employment to day at from 8s to 9s per diem for the laborers presently in the province, therefore it would be madness to introduce more. It was only the other day that the farmers were complaining that they could not get hands, even at 10s a day to garner their produce, owing to the absorption of our limited labor market by the vigorous execution of public works, the contractors having to pay for labor from ten to twelve shillings per day. But this does not strike at the root of the question, which resolves itself into this, does the present price of labor bear a fair and legitimate proportion to the value of what it produces ? If it does not, to continue producing simply means bankruptcy. The only way therefore to remedy the evil is by introducing a larger quantity of labor, and thereby reduce its price to a compass which will enable its employer to live, and develop the resources of the country. Ia this a fair and legitimate thing to do ? Is it just to the class to seek to reduce its emoluments? The answer is perfectly simple. If *he cost of production is greater than the price realised, the farmer must give up farming. If it is generally acknowledged that such is the case, no one will buy land. If no land is sold, the Government cannot employ labor for public works ; and, " last stage of all," the laborer will find he has ' cleverly contrived to cut his own throat ; that by desiring to satisfy his thirst for gain, he has precluded himself from obtaining any- at all. Nor can he remedy the mistake by seeking fresh fields, for probably in no part of the world are wages so high in proportion to the cost of living. The necessaries of life here are about the same price they are in the home country, while the cost of labor is ten times greater. This is an unnatural state of things. There are certain immutable laws which must in the long run determine the

moot question as to the difference m estimation o. the value of labor between the employer an. employed. One of the ablest writers oj political economy condenses the principle " When the price of any commodity is neither more nor less than what is sufficient to pay th* rent of the land, the wages of the laborer, and the profits of the stock employed in raising, preparing, and bringing it to market, according to their natural rates, the commodity is then sold for what may be called its natural price. The commodity is' then Bold precisely for what it is worth, or for what it really costs the p:r3on who brings it to market ; for though in common language, what is called the prime cost of any commodity, does not comprehend the profit of the person who is to sell it again, yet, if he sells it at a price which does not allow him the ordinary rate of profit in his neighborhood, he is evidently a loser by the trade ; since by employing his stock some oth«r way, he might have made that profit. His profit, besides, is his revenue, the proper fund of his subsistence. * * * * Labor measures the value not only of that part of price which resolves itself into labor, but of that which resolves itself into rent, and of that which resolves itself into profit." In other words, when the price of labor as with us, is so high that the " natuial price " i.e., the rent (or interest of the money invested in the purchase) of the land, wages and profits of stock, cannot be obtained, it ceases to be a remunerative speculation, and consequently labor cannot be employed. To again quote the same writer, " The money price of labor is necessarily regulated by two circumstances ; the demand for labor, and the price of the necessaries and conveniences of life." If then, as is the case in this province, while the latter is as reasonable aa in Great Britain, the ormer is so ex'iorlt int that the cost of production exceeds the market value of produce, it follows that production must cease, and where is the laborer to find a better market ? Not in New Zealand, for in no part of it can he obtain equal wages ; certainly not in Australia, where it is at least three shillings a day less. In some parts, Queensland and South Australia, lower still. Even in America, where the price of it is considered so high, that it has stimulated the activity of invention to produce labor saving machines of all sorts, it is not half what it is here. Why should the price of labor be so high ? In 1773, in the. State of New York, the wages of common laborers was two shilling a day ; ship carpenters, six and six-pence, house carpenters and bricklayers, four and sixpence, journeymen tailors, two and ten-pence sterling. Yet that State wa3 older then than we are, commanded a more certain and better market for its produce than we can. No wonder that America has progressed and prospered to a degree marvellous in the history of nations. Could we absorb a large amount of labor at a reasonable and reproductive rate ? lam inclined to think we could. There has been sold in the Hundreds 326,703 odd acres ; about one-third of this was sold prior to the separation of the province, in 1861 ; by far the greaier part of the remaining two-thirds between that time and 1864. Of thi3 large quantity of land escheated from the Crown presumedly for agricultural settlement, being that which is nearest to the sea-board, there is according to the last census returns only 31,034 acres under cultivation. The first piece of land bought in the province was in the early part of 1856. It has taken upwards of ten years to accomplish this cultivation, a large portion of which may be placed to the credit of the Company located in the Oteramika, Mataura, and Roslyn districts ; and yet with all the advantages of its expenditure the assistance it gave for three yeara to the settlors in its vicinity by the purchase of their produce, &c, the results, so far as the reclamation of the wilderness, the development of the agricultural resources of the province, have been trifling in comparison to the strides made in other localities which have not enjoyed similar advantages. The United States of America, in 1850, produced 100,485,944 bushels of wheat; in 1860, 173,104,924; of Indian corn, in 1850, 592,071,10% bushels ; in 1860, this had increased to 838,792,740 bushels. Here is evidence of progress in only two items of national industry : proKre»3~uilKler"uo trb y — conijranica — ciupli/ji iu^—ArroigTicapital, but, as a rule, by farmers with small holdings. So long as the price of labor continues 30 high as with us, so certainly shall we be unable to show a similar progress. At the present rate of wages no one will employ labor if he cr i possibly avoid it. If, then, the working men tacitly combine to keep up its price, preferring to work three days a-week at a high rate — spending the balance lounging about the streets — to steady employment for the whole six at a price which would enable the employer to obtain a legitimate profit, he must make up his mind to obtain no employment whatever in a short time. The authority I have already quoted, Dr Adam Smith, very tersely explains the position in tie following sentence : — " The demand for those who live by wages, therefore, necessarily increases with the increase of the revenue and stock of every country, and cannot possibly increase without it. The increase of revenue and stock is the increase of national wealth. The demand for those who live by wages, therefore, naturally increases with the increase of national wealth, and cannot possibly increase without it. It is not the .actual greatness of national wealth, but its continual increase, which occasions a rise in the wages of labor." If then the price of labor is so high as to preclude the advantageous investme t of capital, as it is at present with us, so far from there being an increase " of national wealth," there must be a decrease, and the laboring man must prepare himself for the pleasant contingency of not obtaining any employment at all. — Yours, &c, WAI.TEB H. PEAESON. Invercargill, 28th May, 1868