The Press. SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 1864. AUCKLAND IMMIGRATION.

Press, Volume V, Issue 582, 10 September 1864, Page 2

The Press. SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 1864. AUCKLAND IMMIGRATION.

" Cbedat Jud.£t:s !" Wβ have before us Mr Reader Wood's proposals for the militarj eettlemen of the Provinces of the Northern Island. To providi for the tranquilization and future defence of thosi provinces, Auckland in particular, the General As eemblj sanctioned a loan of three millions of money exhausting the resources, and imperilling the progres of the whole colony. We in Canterbury arc on tin point of submitting to the suspension of publi ■works, and the stoppage of immigration, for the saki of rendering chivalrous assistance to our northeri fellow settlers in their supposed extremity. Tbi plan proposed was, after the war was ended, to plan along the frontiers of the disturbed districts a series o military outposts, to be defended by a class of semi military settlers. The idea was borrowed, no doubt partly from the old scheme of pensioner settlements and partly from Sir George Gtey's experiences at th Cape. To work it out with my chance of succes required singular skill in planning the settlements, am singular care and discrimination in the selection c the proposed immigrants. It was necessary to fim men fulfilling the conditions of good settlers : respect able men, able and willing to earn their livelihood b; the spade and the plough, but also able, in case c need, to handle the sword and the rifle. The coramoi immigrant —suopman or farm laborer, would be, as i general rale, unsuited for this special sort of service We confess we never believed in the scheme. W thought it from the beginning a sham As Mi Card well the other day told Sir George Grey, ther is scarcely an instance on record of the success of thi sort of hybrid immigration. The pensioner clas afforded perhaps the best materials with which t attempt it, for these men were habituated to militar discipline, and could in time of war be turned into serviceable corps. Not that our experience iv Ne\ Zealand afiords much encouragement to v to repeat the experiment. That, howevei ia nothing to our present purpose. Th General Assembly sanctioned the idea. In tha exuberance of confidence with which it overflowec towards the present Ministers last session, it placei at their command, say two millions of money (reckon ing one million for the suppression of the war) fo the specific purpose of introducing this semi-militar; class of settler. One obvious notion was that we migh thereby provide ourselves with armed defenders, ii case of need, upon the withdrawal of the Imperia troops. But the Assembly imposed no conditions It hud down no rules. Blindly, and with inexpli cable carelessness, trusting to the good faith an< discretion of Ministers, it placed this huge sum a their absolute disposal. We have now before us (*» extenso) the Minieteria scheme for applying it. Here is Mr. Reader Wood' letter to Mr. Archibald Chirk of Glasgow, dated 2m June, 1864, addressed to him as an agent for th selection of immigrants. We pray our readers t< peruse it carefully, attentively, and keeping in viev the special objects of the three million loan. On would have supposed that such a letter would havi commenced by pointing out the disturbed state o the Northern Provinces, the threatening aspect o certain Native tribes, the steps which had been taker to clear the country adjacent to the European settle ments of these dangerous neighbours, and to sweej it clean as it were for the introduction of Europeai settlers. Then it would have explained die schemi of the General Assembly for providing hereafter fo the defence of these districts. It would have pointe< out that the intended immigrants would be placed h advanced positions, on a frontier lino, with the ex press view and object of forming a defensive barrie against the possible incursions of barbarous tribe whom we have made desperate by expulsion fron their lands. It would have plainly, and in unmistak able terms informed them that in case of attack b; the Natives they would have to rely on them selves and themselves alone; that the Imperial troop were on the point of being withdrawn, and that the; (the immigrants) were meant in fact to supply th< place of the removed soldiers. After this fair warn ing as to the nature of the service required, i would have instructed the Agent to be careful, h making his selection, to ascertain the willingness anc ability of applicants to perform it. Old soldiers o good character would naturally be preferred. Ph; si cal strength would be an important condition. Somi training and experience in the use of arms would b< a desirable if not an essential qualification. To marriec men with families the peculiar circumstances of the pro posed new settlement would be explained. Good faitl towards them demanded this. We do not say tha such men should have been absolutely discouraged On the contrary, in any scheme of colonisation, it i necessary, as far as possible, to provide the due pro portion of the sexes. But looking to the special anc peculiar character of these proposed military settle ments, on the frontiers of the disturbed Native dis tricts, we confess we have always considered thi; question of how to provide for a female population and to preserve the proportion of the sexes, as one o the great difficulties. Now we ask our readers to peruse Mr. Wood's in strnctions to his Immigration Agent; we confess our •elres to be astounded, petrified, by the cool audacity with which he is about to spend the money voted bj the Assembly for the military defence of the Northeri Provinces in the introduction of immigrants as t< whom there is not one single condition attached, no* one single provision made that 'hey shall satisfy tin intended requirements. The whole letter betray: such a total absence of perception of the real mine

and intention of the Assembly that we have no hesitation in saying that immediate stepi ought to be j taken to prevent, if possible, any action upon ii ; j J and Mr. Wood ought instantly to be recalled—if Ihe is not already on his way to the Colony. He begins by a platitude which contains, however, by the suppressio vert, a large amount of untruth — telling Mr. Clark that "it is believed that a large and judiciously selected addition to the present population, located in particular districts, will afford the best means of securing the peace of tho Colony and the welfare of all classes of its inhabitants." We solemnly protest against any such version of the mind and intention of the Legislature. What the Legislature meant was to plant semi-military settlements on the frontier line of the Native districts, with the view of overawing the Natives and protecting the interior settlers. Any other application of the money voted will be a gross abuse of the confidence of the Legislature. But Mr. Wood—pursuing his idea as an Auckland man, merely desirous of pouring in a crowd of immigrants to reckon into the census, and if possible to bolster up the tottering fortunes and decaying political ascendancy of hie own Province—goes on to indicate in detail the kind of settlers who are wanted. Slurring over all the unattractive features of the scheme, he adopts the usual claptrap formulas addressed to the emigrating classes. There arc, he says, three classes of persons required :— 1. Mechanics, laborers, &c.; 2. Small fanners; 3. Capitalists. Capitalists !! ! Of course he does not mean that Mr. Clark is to select the capitalists, but they are one of the classes required for this scheme of military settlements. Think of the immigrant capitalist planting himself on the confines of the Ngatimaniapoto country, and there entrenching himself in some border castle • against the inroads of his savage neighbors—Bailie Nicol Jarvie buckling on his broadsword in the Highlands. Then Mr. Wood goes on with the usual twad--1 die about respectability of character, and so , forth, and then he indicates the classes from whom the selection should be principally made—they are to r consist"principally of bricklayers, carpenters, masons, I miners, wheelwrights, blacksmiths ; in fact, mechanicand artisans of all kinds, together with the best class ,of agricultural and railway laborers." Persons acp customed to sedentary occupations are to be disl couraged, though not in all cases. Then, as to the «ize of families, he recommends that there should not be more than two children under 10 years of age ; and , then pointing out the fact that the proportion of the sexes of the Colony has been from the first unequal, , and that that inequality has been rendered greater " by the introduction of 5000 settlers from Australia, , the majority of whom are unmarried, he considers , it advisable that the agent should endeavor so to , select that the present inequality should not be increased." A fair proportion of females are to be im- , ported to take a part in the defence of our Northern , Provinces; a corps of amazons, to be officered by some modern Penthesilea or Boadicea. \ Then, after a few trifling remarks about the shipboard accommodation for the new settlers, follows an instru?tion as to the expectations of employment to [ be held out to them ; and this is perhaps the most important part of the affair, for undoubtedly this forme a . kind of basis of contract between tho colony and the , immigrants. ; Here it was that they should have been told tho purpose and object with which they were to be [ brought to the Colony, the military Bervice they would be required to perform, the remuneration which the Colony engaged to give them for such service, and all other matters necessary to establish ,i a clear understanding as to the mutual terms of compact. Without such stipulations it is obvious that the principal object of the Assembly in sanctioning the ; loan would be defeated. Merely to pour population into the Province of Auckland, without insuring its , being turned to the desired account, is obviously to , throw our money away. All which Mr. Wood says • on this score is, "that there will be no lack ofenii ployment, as public works (roadmaking especially; i will be undertaken by the Government in districts ■ where the settlers are located." r A pledge of this kind the Colony will probably consider itself bound to fulfill; so that we shall by this operation simply charge ourselves with an additional liability, without a guarantee for a single compensating advantage. There are, it is true, conditions ! of residence attached to the lend which is offered ' them. It would be idle to speculate as to the percentage who will hold to their land upon the terms offered. Three years residence, with one month's leave of absence every year, is the condition for ob- ' taining a Crown grant of their land. Few will accept i the offer; fewer still will remain upon their land ; those who remain are free from all obligations to do military duty. Here then we have the Ministerial echeme for planting the Waikato and other conquered districts with military settlers, the object for which the Middle Island is called on to provide two-thirds of the cost, and for which it is so cruelly straitened. It is clear that the Auckland Ministry mean to pour into their Province, at the cost of the Colony, a body of immigrants selected indiscriminately, who are to be under no personal engagement to perform any special service, or to locate themselves in any particular district, or to abide there for any specified time. Subject to the valueless condition as to the forfeiture of their land for non-residence, they are to be at liberty to go whensoever or wheresoever they like # Of course, the last places to which they will go willingly, or if they go where they will stay, will bo the dangerous districts in immediate proximity to the rebel Natives—the places where alone they are wanted. What will become of them ? Auckland cannot find them employment. There will be a good deal of distress, and loud complaints, and numbers will loaf about the town. The larger proportion will, in all probability, flow southwards to the Middle Island, which will thus to some extent redress the wrong she suffers. But the overflowings of this wasted immi- ■ gration will be a poor compensation for the terrible debt with which we are being loaded—for the suspension of works on which our own progress depends —xor the anxiety and loss which we are even now daily sustaining by reason of our ill requited efforts to help our northern neighbors.