THE REV T. SPUGEON ON NEW ZEALAND.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 6, Issue 1848, 25 November 1884, Page 2

THE REV T. SPUGEON ON NEW ZEALAND.

The Rev Thomas Spurgeon lecturing on New Zealand at the Baptist Church, Greenwich, gave some highly amusing thoughts and reminiscnses on life in this colony. Mr Spurgeon described some:'of the. scenery in..New ;Zealand, including--the hot lake, district—"the wonderland of New.Zealand." The coasts of both islands' had .yielded large quantities .of gold.' Between, 14,00.0..and • 15,000 rainera were employed,; and: of the gold produced in,'.the; twelvemonth ended March' amounted to ,£994,000, The gold fever had passed awav.to re-appear spasmodically, Honfflkil. futlaborers and artisans would always be/in demand -and since 7s and 9s per day were the usual. wageitftfiey would find that, although mos||ings were dearer than at.Home, yet they would have no difficulty inmakiug both ends meet. Should the strongest ties in the old land be severed or constant loss appear inevitable, or :the prospect for the. boys and girls-discouraging, funds were.still-available to make a fresh start, on ever so small a scale, in the new land, provided, of course, \ God's guidance was secured, no better ' plan could be.adopted, than emigration, and no better. country than New Zealand. (Applauso).- Those who come must .be. prepared to wait for success, to: knuckle down to the first employment.that offered',fand to remain unfropred and un3ung'';'uirtil work and "iy^ft| : ';were recognized,s; 's'ur?to:be. Hedid'riojfsay, "Come,to New Zealand" lest- his .Greenwich friends should say thatjh'euyas a thief anda robber, but to quote %e Jubilee Singers",' He might say, "Oh iwithers and sisters, don't stay away," (Laughter). A return of the number" of carriages solemnised in, 1882; showed that one husband had not reach'e'd his 18th birthday ; 17 were between;lß and 19, and five men upwards 6(70 entered the marriage state.—(Laughter.) " O, stay away."—(Laughter.) Two girls under 15 were married; eight between the ages of .12 and 16, and 1540 between the ages of 21 and 25, whilst two old ladies between 65 and ,70 ; sought connubial blmj(Laughter.j. "O, brothers, don't 1% away."~-(Laughter.),. The inhabitants now numbered. considerably over 500,000 and.immigration adds thouevery year. The principal towns «ontained, with their suburbs,-some 20,000/30,000, or 40,000 soils, and the excess of births oyer deaths in 1882 was; more, than: 10,000. '.There was room for thousands more, he. belkved. with good prospeotß. Here vvas London, with 4^oo,ooo'of souls, "cribbed, cabined, and confined" in the narrow limits of a few miles, while in that great country there werelonly 4.75 persons to the square mile. Those with no particular trade or- avocation, Jacks of all trades, had better go to some other place—Jericho, 'for ins'tan£L —(laughter)—and as ■to clerks"' an? bookkeepers, there were enough of them already. Nearly all the industries are carried ou in New Zealand. Among the principal were bootniaking,' boat and ship, building, iron-founding, growing wheat for the mill, and live stock for the London market, making soap, twisting twine, and the many branches of labor, connected with wool and wood. There was immense. variety;of beautiful and serviceable wood,,and the majority of the houses were of that material. The Maoris, though less numerous, were infinitely superier to their savage ancestors.