FARMERS AND FARMING. No. VI.

Waikato Times, Volume XXVI, Issue 2107, 9 January 1886, Page 2 (Supplement)

FARMERS AND FARMING. No. VI.

It is a sad commentary upon my provioulettcr to nee in the daily paper" an account of a meeting of the uuemployod, and for the recent arrivals irom Entflund to be told thai they only come out hero *o Like the bread out of tho mouths of those already established in tho country. Soft dews and precious showers In every zone still weep, The sunbeam writelh on the earth, " H<>-iven wills that food be cheap." Tho gifts dispensed around us Are neither small nor few, And yot I starve in plenty's midst, Having no work to do. And yet, in spite of this state of affairs, almost every ship, and certainly every steamer continues to pour into this* oonntry carcro upon cargo of human beings. In the cau-e of humanity cannot anything be done ; will not some hi^h minded, honestly patriotic colonial write to the Home papers— not to condemn the country— for as a country, viewing it from Nature's stand point, it in richly endowed, and for itu size' stands second to none on tho carth — but to warn those who aro looking out for a country wherein they imigine their lot will be happier and more prosperous than the one left behind. It is within the power of nil Home people to got at a fairly true kuowledgo of the state of any co'intry, either by getting papers regularly sent to them from any couutry which they may fancy, or by some means corresponding with people in thi.s or auy other country, or if there is no other way it ought to be considered as a sacred duty by all those who hare arrived in this country within the last five years to ivrite Home and give a true account of matters as they really exist, and to ask their friends to get them published in the home papers. Anything is better than trusting to the vast mass of literatute that is written in the interests of land and shipping oompanics connected with this colony, for it is only like trusting Satan himself. For of late yearn the system of Governmentinthiscountryeanbeoompared to nothing cUe than the establishment of a h u ire pauper colony, which in upheld under the refined term of " interests upon loans," instead of under tho old country name of " Poor Rates," and our pre-ent " enlightened" charlatan of a Colonial Treasurer would still further try to inrolve this country in the same system which he inaugurated some fourteen yearn since. by further loans and under that thriving a/stera of protection. I am travelling outside of my subject. It is an infiuitely surprising matter that the farmers of this country never hold a meeting of their unemployed. Contemplate men in this land of Goshen working to no purpose, so far as they themselves or their children aro concerned. Ti* timo a meeting was called to consider the position. The favoured by " R<>bbery," the favoured by " Birth." Who stole, or inherit the wealth they have got, Enjoy all the good Heaven pours upon earth, And have flatterers that call them the gods they are not. But the poor man whose toil has produced all this wealth Whose sinews have shrunk, and whose eyes have grown dim. What heart thinks of him, in his sickness or health 1 I hardly dare to analyse the composition of a meeting of unemployed farmers. First, we must take tho position of an English farmer, who h is been induced to come out to this couutry to try his luck, Before very long he will involuntarily suy to himself, "Luck ia a fool " and confo-s that "Pluok mu-st bo the hero." For pluck it must be — for without doubt it is not common s*m«e— that makes a man ■ Btiok to an untenable position until the end comes. Not an end orowned with well deserved victory as a fitting reward for his courage and perseverance, but total and ignominious defeat. How warily must he proceed, he little imagines —especially if be has money, much or little — how soon the wolves are upon his track. It is soon known amongst a certain fraternity that he is in quest of land, that fraternity which ii computed as comprising half the population of Auckland, the "land agents." He must beware of the subtle influence of these wily angels. 'Tis best to keep away from them as far as tha E s^t is from the West Though too often farmers and would-be farmers get into their clutches, and pr - bably the fir-^t "fact" they will learn is that the said agent h isn't a bad farm on bis hands, and th«n, amidst hia superabundance of chatter, he will generally find out your monetary position — if ho has not previously discovered it through other channeln--and obtain an accurate knowledge of yaur wants, then carefully calculate his chanced and prospects For, remember, theae land age«.ts are also usually money-lenders, either direct or indirect— usually the latter — and in dealing with a client he has two purposes to accomplish; to sell land as tar aa,he possibly ean — thit is within safe limits— beyond his client's means, and then advise him to borrow money to complete the purclnse and carry on the place. With man's natural desire te possess as much land as he possibly can, all his own, or supposed to be, it is not a difficult matter as a rule, to overcome a man's scruples as to how lie is to succeed under the circumstances. These ends gnined, land purchased under a mortgage deed, the farmer, the proud and happy owner of acres, is fully and completely equipped for hia launch upon his "sea of troubles." He is, to start with, embarked upon that unseaworthy ship "usury," which— with the unsavoury cargo he is hereafter " compelled "to take on boar.l, and the rockß against which he is fotced to run— will be the means of his complete wreck, not so much as a plan!; being saved. The end may be, in fact usually is, a good way off. In the meantime the ship ia tossed to and fro in the midst of troubles, anxieties and toil, often to be brought to the verge of a complete wreck, but not yet ; to be wrecked now would be to ha\ c a few spars saved, and that is uot to the purpose of those who track you to your ruin, as a bloodhound tracks his victim to the death. And then, but too late, you fully comprehend the sublime system of "lambing-down "' carried on, on the most approved principles of art. Ut Pro&im.