UNKNOWN.

Waikato Times, Volume III, Issue 121, 13 February 1873, Page 2

UNKNOWN.

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY l;), 187 J.

CoNSIDr.UAUi.L discontent naturally prevails in consequence of tl-o \ery small number of immigrants alloteW, to this province. Nearly every farmer in answer to a suggestion to grow this or that crop, replies "It is impossible, labour is too deur, and independent of being 1 dear, is exceedingly scarce. >f On reference to the instructions furnished the Agent-General by Mr Gi&borue, it will be seen that 800 adults was the number fixed upon as capable of absorption by this province during the- year 1872. Wellington had allotted to. it 1,000, Hawkes Buy UOO, Canterbury 2,250, and Otago 3,250. At the first glance it appears singular that Auckland, with itj Jarge area of country, should have had such a comparatively small number estimated as" necessarily supply its i cquirements. It must be remembered, however, that the General Government wrote to the (Superintendent of each province, asking to be informed as to the number of immigrants his division of the colony could advantageously absorb. The Government took action- in accordance with the opinions thus procured, aud as fay as practicable, the numbers suggested have been introduced. In order that our readers may have an oppoi tuuity of judg-ing-of the cause of the neglect; this province is experiencing, wo will inform them that about the time tlte letter vra3 received by Mr Gillies, an agitation of voluniaiilij unemployed was being carried on in Auckland ; he was being constantly waited upon by men asking work. He appears not to have been capable of estimating at their proper value the statements of these men. Had he been as well-informed as he should have been of tho circumstances of the settlers in the country districts, he would have known that the statement was false, that work was not to be procured ; he would have been aware that those who were clamouring for work had not attempted to find any beyond the outskirts of tbe city. He should have known that they weie only partially recovered from a severe attack of the gold fever, and that the dregs of the disease were still in their system, rooting them like a charm to the- head-quartei's of the gold mania. He might have sent these men into the country distiicts, if ho could have got them to sta.'t, he would then have speedily discovered that he had formed on a false basis hi"s opinio»of the requirements of the province We believe that it is an indisputable fact that the apparent neglect of this province by the General Government, as regards immigration, is entirely owing to our Superintendent not having taken the trouble to ascertain the wants of the people over whom he reigns The Government naturally presumed that he undei stood his own 'business, aud acted upon his suggestions ; we are therefore without the labour of which we are so much in>needHaving saddled the right horse with the responsibility, we have gob something to say on the class of immigrants that are being introduced, and the means that should bo used to remedy the evil. The proportion of agricultnr.il labourers is small, and it is these and these only that are any use in tbe Waikato. It appears not to be yet sufficiently understood that the pa} rnent of J£4 in this colony ensures a passage to any person nominated. Now, there are few people who -have not got some friend iv the county from which they emigrated to whom they could' apply for the name of a 'respectable man willing to come out. It must be remembered that t lie (agricultural labourer is not the mO3t intelligent of his race ; he is seldom able to read, and when he can,- the life he lea Is has generally so blunted kis understanding 1 that he comprehends only imperfectly the plainest language. The pamphlets and lectures, therefore, of paid agents are nearly useless to make him understand the advantages he would derive by emigrating to this colony, or the steps necessary to effect his object if he had -made up his mind to do so. An intelligent neighbour could do more with him iv this respect than all the agents in the world : ignorant people are always suspicious, and unwilling to believe anything told them by strangers. If ever}' settler who employs labour would send for one immigrant' tlie market would became speedily supplied with the class of men required. Four pounds is not a large amount to advance, and, in the event of the person nominated nct> coming out, the money is returned. We cannot believe that thei& would be the slightest difficulty in inducing thousands of labourers to emigrate if proper means were adbpted. As a sample of the life led in the old country by the men we want, we quote the following from a letter that 1 appeared in the Times of November 18, from an East oussex Incumbent :< — If the following balance sheet will help one half of the world to know in liny degree how some of the other half U\e, it» detaih ma\ possibly be as- worthy the space which they will occupy as the balance sheet of some huge bankruptcy which you occasionally publish. My informant is the •wife of a labourer in my parish. She is a permanent invalid, unable to earn a penny in any way, but a thoroughly deter manager. "Wore it not ior bor illness the two itonis of weekly chanty would", of course, haveno plneo on the list. The details theni«plve* have been more than once challenged by parish officers and others, and ha\e always been passed as scrdpuloUsly correct. There were, when I got the information,, sis children, the eldest aged Mr. Their united earnings for thejear amounted to 2/. 15s. Income per wcefc — Husband's day wages, 13s tid ; wife allowed by a friend, Is; pariah allowance of Hour, 2s: total, 1 6s 6d. Outgoings per week. — Rent, 2s ; 7 gallons of Hour, 7s : 21b of Dutch cheese, Is 3d ; lib butter, Is 4d ; ilb of soap, 2d'- ( soda and blue, Id) salt and pepper, id; 1 ilb of candles, 10id ; 2ox of tea, 4d ; 21b of sugar, 7d ; schooling, 7d ; cotton, mustard, &c, 3d ; milk. 3Jd : washing, Is: mangling, Id: total, 13s IOJd. Extra earnings per annum. -"-IloppicVing (daughter), 11,. acorns picked up, 13« ; hop tying, 1/. ; lire days' harvest, o\erand above day wages, 1/. ss. ; hop drying, over and abovo day wnges, '31. 65. ; mow ing, over und above day wnges, 21. ; profit on two pigs, 1/.— Total, 101. Us. Add weekly income, 421. 18s.— Grand total. 53/. 4a. Extra outgoings per annum — Benefit club, 1?.; daughter's Benefit club, 4s. 4d ; daughter's boot i, 125. ; husband's boots, 125. ; fife children's boots,- \\. 10s : faggots, 11 ; extra food for husband in hop- drying, ICH; husband's clothes, 11. ; tools, 7s. — 81. -la, ; add weekly outgoings, 41/. l>». Gel — totnl, 4JV. ?b Wd— and thero is a- balance of 3/. ' 11s Od prr niiinnn for co"l* itvl ui^it aud for clolluiig for ' the wifo and childmi, t .^ ■■'■•■ >*» • •■ -i: fl i^T<n

The margin for wot dujs imd drink for the labourer himself 13 not large. The above is truly a picture of a- life of utter misery aud semi-starvation ; a man moving hi a similar sphere in this colony thinks that lie is very badly treated when ho receives £1 per week and b >ai d Mid lodging I—the1 — the board consisting of at least tnree meals of meat daily. There is almost equal room for reduction at this cud of.tho world. as there is for increase at the other, as it is impossible that tin 3 colony can become rich and prosperous till labour is procurable at a very much lower rate than above. Immigration on an extensive scale is the only means of bringing nbout this desirable end; if every settler will act on the suggestion wo have thrown out, labour and capital will soou be on equal terms.

A fire broke out on Tuc-kUj morning in Hobson street by which a loss of 0001. was bustamed. It had its origin in a portion of a building adjoining some stable-, almost at the i car of the Governor Browne Hotel, which was occupied by a man named Thompson, his wife 1 and family. He was iwoke at about four o'clock by- a: norse as of timber burning, .md found the room filled" with smoke. Thompson had barely I nuc to remove his family and save a few effects before it oec une one mass of flames. Fortunately four hordes were -„ned that were in the stable. The fire is supposed to be the act of an incendiary. To the provident forethought of Messrs Dunmngham and King is to bo attributed m a great measure bVic arrest of the fire. These g«ntleinen -have been in the habit of keeping some fifty buckets constantly filled with watcr^ to meet similar emergencies, which .wevo at once made use of to check tho flame*. Tho property was insured In tho Victoria Oflico for 600/. The immigrant ship Warwick arrived in Auckland harbor on Monday. She brings IGS passengers. The proportion of married and single is: Single women, 51 ; bingl* men 22 ; married couples, 99. The ship was reported clean, and the immigrants t\ ere to laud the following day. A capitalfield for employment is afforded at the present time in this district, and we hope to see a few find their way amongst us. Two- pairs of grouse- have been imported safel) per ship Warwick out of eleven birds shipped in London. Messrs Archard and Brown are tlio.-succcasfur tenderers for the erection of telegraph poles between Drury and the Manuk.au. Work has already been commenced. The Thames Advertiser says :— " It is a remarkable fact that the Auckland newspapers, six or seven years ago, contained more aboutcounecting the Waikuto with tho Thames Valley than they do at the present time. Both the Herald and the Crots then frequently referred to the Thames as the natural outlet of the Waikato country, and as a pi nee having great ad\ ant ages of situation. Mr Creighton especially was frequent and earnest in pointing Out the advantages of the fine river, gmng such easy communication with the best part Of the interior. The Herald several times expounded- i. means by. which tho Piako could bo made one of the great hi"hww>s of the island. During one of the sessions of the Provincial Council, Mn Creighton got a motion passed, affirming the desirability of having the interior opened up by means of communication with the valley of the Thames, and wo think it was m moving that motion that ho said that a great mistake had been mide in not fixing the site of the capital of New Zealand at the Thames. Indeed, the Firth of the. Thames was recommended for the site of tha colony by the shrewd and observant Captain Cook, for even with only an outline of the sland before -him, he saw tho advantages which a firth penetrating the main .part of the island, and nvto which' navigable rivers cntemV ofiered for all purpose of cornmere^. ********* We venture to say that if, seven years ago, ten ir.#n who knew tho North Island well had been asked what was the most obvious' route of communication with- the interior, aud the one which would.'hr all probability, be -opened up first, nine of them would have roplied, the valley of the Thames. And how come* it now, when our. statesmen have been pulling themselves- about routes of- communication to open up, this one should never have been thought of, when there are now advantages which wore never imagined when it was so popular c Htrw comes it thafc our Minister for Publio Works is taken quite by surprise at fche request, says that it is not in tho '"great scheme." and that it would be only " a feeder " to a 'trunk line to New Plymouth or Wellington? The reason why we have been forgatten at Wellington, and left out of the great scheme is simply because- that scheme is not founded upon tho wants and necessities of the country , so for at least as the North Island is concerned, bxM upon the trickery of politicians. The question is not, where railways can most adrantagcoiwly be mvle, bxifc ho\r votes can most advantageously bo bought. We have been sold cheap —dirt cheap. As to> the former enthusiasm of the Auckland peoploi where has it gone to now ? If our own representative was vfltrthless to plead tho cause of tho Thames, hovt. was it that those gentlemen who, we have no doubt, were amongst those who, seven j ears ago, accorded to the Thames the first place as cinoaiu of conimunioation with the interior, devoted themselves to getting lines made to Xaipava through land tho very sight of which is «uflieient to drive a farmer crazy ? And railways are to bo made from AueUand to Riverhead, over useless land, from Auckland along a narrow isthmus to Mercer, and from Mercer up the Waikato. The truth scorns to be the Auckland people wish no railways to be made in the province if they do not converge upon Auckland city. It was all very well to spcik of the suibabihty of the Thames as a means of communication, with the interior while there was no danger of rivalry to Auckland city, but it is different now. It will be seen by advertisement that the timo for sondihg in tenders for the erection of a telegraph office at Te Awamnutu has been extended to Mbnda\ , the 'Ji-d March. Mr Vogel, Mr Fox, and Mr McLean have received the title of Honorable for life.