The Daily News SATURDAY, JANUARY 7, 1905. IN QUEST OF FORTUNE.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVII, Issue 7706, 7 January 1905, Page 2

The Daily News SATURDAY, JANUARY 7, 1905. IN QUEST OF FORTUNE.

The arrival in Wellington on Wednesday of the steamer lonic, with nearly five hundred immigrants on board, deserves more than a passing | glance from the colonial onlooker. These people, most of them driven from the Old Land by the industrial distress now pressing s_o J«ift>.'iiy on the nation, will soon, no doubt be absorbed in the different avenues of labour that are open to willing men in this young colony. In some special lines of .work, it may be said, this sudden accession of hands may cause a glut in local labour markets ; but we cannot attach any weight to such an argument, as with such prosperous conditions as are now 'held to prevail in New Zealand there should bo work for all. Present-day labour, conditions, how-

ever, tend to breed contempt among | mechanics (or any employment but their own, and that must be found in the laiige centres.. If they get gut of employment many of them prefer to remain in idleness, waiting, like Micawber, for something to turn up in their own line rather than go, for instance, into the country. In the case of new arrivals in a strange country it is reasonable to antici-

pate they will not ho infected with such indelible predilections. That will which has impelled them to make a journey half-way round the world will not allow them to cavil at a change of occupation, so that the necessaries of life, and haply it may be a few of the pleasures, may be honestly earned. Speaking to a

Now Zealand Times representative), the immigrants had much to say about the gloomy state o£ affairs existing just now the English labour market,; The distress was not confined U* London, but was just as keen in the. provinces, and colonials should not wonder if ships .arriving were crowded with men and women anxious to escape from the pitiful conditions that had arisen—which in some cases .meant "simply i « . starvation." One man who had been previously in New Zealand said he could get nothing to do at Homo at a living wage so he had come back. A good many people, he said, were going to Canada ; but New Zealand was also attracting a lot of attention. Numbers 'of intending settlers prefer New Zealand to Canada—lirst, .because the climate of Canada is too cold, and, second, because people who want to take up land are afraid that if they, seek for it in Canada they will have to go too far inland, away from good roads and railways. The one thing against New Zealand is its distance. Ilow many oi the passengers had taken advantage of the Government scheme of concessions in fares this one did not know ; but if it were batter known there were many who would avail themselves of it« He Suggested, fcowevpr;, that the Condition requiring a maw to be the possessor of £SO before he could gain the concession should be modified. There were many now'in England who would make desirable settlors, but they could not raise more tlutn £2O or £l3O ; they should be encouraged to come. Attention was also drawn to the that while in the Home papers Canada's advantages to intending emigrants were fully advertised, scarcely anything was done to place New Zealand's line opportunities before them. The services rendered by the Agent-Gen-eral in giving information concerning New Zealand to those thinking of settling in tin's country were recognised by one passenger, b,ut a more extended medium for the dissemination of such knowledge was desirable!.,