The Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR O'CLOCK P.M. Resurrexi. FRIDAY, JULY 17, 1874.

Thames Star, Volume IIII, Issue 1728, 17 July 1874, Page 2

The Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR O'CLOCK P.M. Resurrexi. FRIDAY, JULY 17, 1874.

The New Zealand Handbook appears to " • have' found its way into the editorial sanctum of The New Zealand Times, „ published at Wellington, by which s paper it has been favorably reviewed as' a highly creditable production. The Post, also, it ,would seem, has obtained proof sheets, 'or some other means of .access to the contents cf the book designed to assist the cause of immigration, while the rest of the Colonial preis is left in the dark as to the book and its contents, no copies having been kept. This ! is unfortunate for the. book and for the press-;• for the former because any inaccuracies which it may be supposed to contain will remain unchallenged feri a - length of time, and as regards the press, by the course which has been adopted by ■' the Government the information' which the book is supposed to contain of a character interesting locally as well as abroad ' is locked .up until the English edition arrives. A chapter by Mr. Woodward on the newspaper press of the colony states that "there are seventy-'

seven newspapers published.in this colony. Their distribution is as follows :—Otago, 19 ;. Canterbury, 8; Marlborough, 3;, Nelson, 10; Westland, 8; Wellington, 10 ; Hawke's Bay, 5 ; Taranaki, 2;' and Auckland, 11. At Christchurch and Dunedin an illustrated paper is published monthly; a* Maori 'paper is issued fortnightly ; there are 27 weeklies, 9 triweeklies 11 biweeklies, and 28 dailies." Herein lies a suggestion which might be acted upon with advantage. To encourage immigration the Government have incurred a large expenditure in the preparation of the Handbook. ' With the greatest care exercised in its compilation and revision, many mistakes will necessarily occur—some grave.; others trifling. ThenC again) j thei infprriiaj;ion given in the book, truthful enough at the time it was obtained, may be calculated to convey erroneous impressions, owing to the altered circumstances of the colony since the contents of the Handbook were; compiled. The' newspaper liteiature of the colony, then, as represented by the seventy-seven newspapers referred to, is the medium ;w;hich should be epcpuraged'toT disseminate' news regarding the resources of the colony and the advantages offered to immigrants. The fact that all shades of politics. are represented in the public prints would not detract from the reliability of the information published jjy newspapers. Intending immigirahts'would; not care a straw for the political opinions of newspapers, but the rate of wages, the price of land, the price of provisions and clothing — even the advertisements —. would give immigrants an idea of the colony's attractions as a good field for settlement.'! The Government, therefore, would be 1 doing the 5 country good 'serviceand forwarding the immigration scheme by abolishing the ppstage on newspapers.. By doing this they would open fthe way for thousands' to send papers to their friends, and thus encourage that description of emigration most calculated to secure permanent prosperity to the colony, namely, inducing persons to come out who have already friends in the country. The , question of revenue can scarcely be entertained, as the newspaper postage cancannot bring in a very large sum; besides, if the colony^ could afford "to extend thepri-; lege tenor twelve years'ago —as it did —surely the trifling sum would not be missed now. We commend the suggestion to the Government and to honorable members. If only for a year the experiment is worth a trial, and we have' no doubt the results would be eminently favorable to immigration of. a class most desirable.