ENGLISH LADS FOR NEW ZEALAND.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1034, 25 January 1911, Page 4

ENGLISH LADS FOR NEW ZEALAND.

——: TO ARRIVE TO-DAY. FROM THE TOWN TO THE FARM. To-day. fifty young boys from England trill look for-.the first time upon New Zealand. To them it v.'ill hold all tho possibilities for the future.that it held for the parents and grand-parents of many of its present inhabitants! -when their eyes also strained ■ from decks, of - now out i>f date vessels—so different.; from tho stately Athenic in which tho new arrivals come—to mark tho contour of its shores. For many months in winter-clad England, and during tho voyage out,- they will have heard, of little else and talked of little else than New: Zealand. From .V tho preparations that have been made , for them, they should by heartily wel- ' coined little strangers, and the manner of their coming should, in-the future, be a happy memory. Their departure from London created more-than ordinary interest. "Amidst the hurly. burly of emigrants and sailormen saying good-bye to relatives at Fenchurch' Street Station .on December 9 (save the London "Morning Post"), a * group of. lads was noticeable for the look of'suppressed excitement in their eyes : and the evident efforts that hadbefh made to turn themselves out for a. new 1 life in respectable clothing. These were "Sedgwick's Boys," the first batch of . fifty, picked from the poorer parts of • London and Liverpool, snatched froili - blind-alley occupations; and going to the wider and' freer life of Nenc Zealand farms under Government guarantees and .supervision. If the experiment is satis- >. factory it is believed that there will be a . '. call for at least a' thousand of such vol- ; nnteers from tho overcrowded districts of . England every year. Mr. T. E. Sedgwick,'"of Oriental Street, Poplar, is an enthusiast :ri the emigration of town, lads to the Dominion. This year, at his own expense, he visited New Zealand,, found that there was a great need of.filling.working lads on the dairy farms an<j general farms, and that the best age. at which to send them would bo from sixteen years, as they, would then' be more ■ adaptable 'to the ■ conditions of work in'the Dominion. Mr. ''Sedgwick .enlisted tho sympathies of the Premier of New Zealand and other members of rho Cabinet, who decided to make . the experiment and assist-in the expenses of the first trial party of fifty. Tho emigrants will, on arrival, be apprenticed to farmers in various districts, jjid parental . control having ceased, they enter into the guardianship of the Secretary of Labour. Tho apprenticeship is for twelve months certain,, with wages commencing at ss. a week, rising by quarterly increases of 2s. Gd. But for their pocket-money the whole of. this money will be banked, aud • as it is hoped, that after their apprenticeship they will Tomain and settle down to work for at least five years' it is believed ,:,that the cost of the assisted passages and the grant by the Dominion Government will be entirely repaid hut that .'a balance* will remain in order to settle tho young men on the land for themselves. This co-operation of Government with labour, for the benefit of both, will bo wntched keenly bj" the emigration authorities of Canada and Australia. -Mr. Sedgwick, who-'has been constituted . the honorary' superintendent of the party, made a few interesting comments i'o n representative of- T the ."Morning' Post" as the lads assembled on the platform.' "The .'. twenty-five Londoners," he said,'"are of tho hard-working class, and have been mostly engaged as messengers, street orderlies, shop boys, riverside and factory . . hands.'. < Tho Liverpool contingent • of .. twenty-five has. beefi. selected from the Old Boys' Associations' of'thoir schools,• ■ and have mostly-kept to tEe higher occupations, and have .been more constant-, ly employed." He .was of the opinion . that fellow-scholars who'- had sunk to - lott er occupations, [hough respectable, were loo'sliy to keep up their Old Boys' \ connections, and, therefore, tho lads selected were of the highest type of material ■ for a great imperial experiment, "The barometer of .clothes is a sure criterion," said Mr. Sedgwick.'- ."Almost . all the Liverpudlians have, in addition to . /working clothes, that fetish of the class, -a.'Sunday suit.' ' Generally speaking,, the Londoners had only one suit, and in nearly half the cases I considered that not good enough for New Zealand, and fitted them out. When these London lads have no; change of clothing they often stay indoors on Sunday until it is dark. I found that one lad of : eighteen had : odd boots. But now all their' outfits* includo riding knickers, cotton; and flannel shirts, two suits of- overalls, bootsf vests,, and 'pants, and Sunday and working suits. The ' J jl ' Ter Pudli_ans, I think, are-bettor nouv•lsned, whilo the London lads' are more . alive and inured to hardshiDi The latter • have nothing t/r unlearn, while -as .their . Bisters ■ have taken their places at lower ' wages in tho factories they are more • handy in tho house at such domestic work e.s scrubbing, clearing,up, and cooking. The, Northerners, on. the'other hand, ' know nothing of. farming. But either type can be supplied by the thousand. : Good-bye." . , ■'The fifty youthful emigrants straight- . ehed themselves up as their superintendent addressed them briefiv. If- this . scheme was successful, he' sa'id, it would have a; far 'greater effect unon labour and o. more general one than the General ;. Election now proceeding. The bovs would ■ become • producers instead of consumers; they would make new homes, and each would becomc a'centre of immigration in New Zealand. . ... ~ ~"-\r e, wo downhearted?" he asked, and ■ ■ r ® turne d 1' vigorous "No." . Some -~of the mothers standing near; manv with' babies,m their arms, did-not. resnond at ' so "? e of thani, it may be, came the thought.'that this was their-last . glimpse, of their best sons/ ' Af-er the singing' of the National Anthem the bovs, with a iew hurried farewells, nicked up their kits and scrambled into "the train ™ f C „ h ,7 s to take them to the docks and An to the Royal Mail steamer Atheuic,