EMIGRATION TO NEW ZEALAND.

Waikato Times, Volume VII, Issue 374, 6 October 1874, Page 2

EMIGRATION TO NEW ZEALAND.

Wi: (Post) have been favored with the following extract from a letter wntien by iv gentleman at home, who ha 3 taken a w arm intoi cat m promoting emigrntioH to this colony : — London, 2(ith July, 1874.— About 22,000 emigrants have been already sent out (or arranged to sail) under free passages. I have sent a few papers by Singapore routo for your perusal, respecting emigration meetings in connection with New Zealand which may interest you. When the AgentCipncral commenced free passages, a shipping agent and broker applied for an agency for lour counties, intending to work the district by sub-agenK T told him they would not send him half-a-dozen applicants a month, that he bad better go into the matter ns a business, and rouse up his district himself — hold meetings, and have lectures, and dissolving views, und flood the towns and villages with printed letters from emigrants, and other readable New Zealand matter. I promised to render what aid I could, and to attend his meetings on Saturday evenings and two or three others a weok if I could reach the towns after office hours and get back to London in time next morning. My son arranged at once for fifty meetings, and afterwards for another fifty, but before all the latter were held his agency was closed, /.e, on 30th June hist ; the Agent -General not requiring any extra aid, having completed his number for Otago and Canterbury. My son is a capital sketcher, and prepared in water colours a set of racy and amusing sheets on double elephant drawing. One was an agricultural laborer at home in England, with his smock frock and heavy boots (10 or 12lbs weight) ; another was navvies in > T ew Zealand nt work in a cutting — thoso were the fellows we wanted, and what we wanted them to work at ; another was I h« pay table and the big piles of money ready for the men ; another was a fellow "pocketing" his £8 11s (see report of meeting in newspapers), with bis face beaming with' delight ; auothcr was the smoking meal of joints of mutton waiting for tho New Zealand workman, enough to make him dance afierahard day's work ; another shewed his progress as a small sub-contractor, giving directions to his gang of men ; onother his new home, built after 10 years of steady industry and perseverance — a nice comfortable looking farmstead ; and another shows him riding on a handsome steed to the ETouso as an M H.E. or M.L.C. There are a few others which I forget at the moment But jou cannot conceive the electrical effect produced by the unrolling of these linnienpo sheets to an audience of 1400 or 1600, and fometmica 2000 people', in a county town, Corn Exchange, or Town Hall, no pevious intimation having been given of such illustrations. I could go again to any of these towns and draw all the inhabitants to an emigration meeting to see these sketches. We always had very large meetings, and frequently the streets were full, as many outside as inside, simply because the metings were well worked up by posteis, hand bills, "sandwich men," newspaper achertifcuments, town criers, and a New Zealand banner outside the place of meeting for a few days before. The applicants were not, howctcr, entered immediately after the meetings. Thoy had to apph, after any excitement, had cooled dorm, necessitating other usits to tho towns, and after they had been selected and examined, were finally approved by Mr Carter. Of course my son only secured these resulting immediately from his meetings — the first fruits merely — those who took more time to think the matter over and delayed their decision were picked up by tho Natioral Agricultural Laborer^' Union, or applied direct to the Agent-General, who must have received hundreds and hundreds of applicants as the result of our efforts. We know it was so— indeed I ha\e been told at the Agent-G.>ncral's office that they could always tell where we had been holding meetings from the number I of letters they received requesting forms. Ilone^er, as my son was satisfied with what he secured, the Government were quite welcome to tho "afterflow," which is still rolling on and will do -oto the end of the chapter. The object of any of his meetings might have dcen defeated by a drunken rabble, paid and organised by the Farmers' Opposition. We have had also to contend with newspaper correspondence. It was not to be expected that we could descend on a district nnd make every one " New Zealand mad " (give them " New Zealand on t ho brain " we called it), wit bout being denounced and anathematised, and finding Now Zealand held up as the land of cannibals, earthquakes, murders, poverty, wretchedness, ilis-iHVetion, &c. When I contrast what my son has done with his agency for the benefit of the Government with what the other agents (say fi\e-si\tln of them) have done, 1 can ccc plainly that it would pay Government to engage enterprise nnd dn«h in preference to tho slow-going lot who Mt on their hhop stools waiting till applicants call to ask if they can " emigrate out," who merely put a bill outside their shop, i»sue a form when asked for one, receive their capitation foe from tho Agent-General, but never spend a penny of it back again m any way.