THE TRUTH ABOUT "THE EXODUS."

Evening Star, Issue 7505, 25 April 1888, Page 2

THE TRUTH ABOUT "THE EXODUS."

WHO EXAGGERATES ? On April 6 " our own " at Invercargill wired to us in reference to the outward trip of the Wairarapa for Melbourne that 400 persons had left by her, and that in consequence of the crush of passengers 6he had to shut out cargo. We made inquiries in the " proper quarter," and ascertained that no cargo was shut out on that occasion, and that the steamer, on leaving Dunedin, did not carry more than 150 passengers. We then felt constrained to remark that the statements as to the exodus were being exaggerated for obvious purposes, aud we went on to remark: — "We have heard a great deal of late about the numbers of people who arc leaving the colony for Victoria, and from facts that have come to our knowledge a suspicion crosses our mind that interested persons are manipulating the wires and using the newspapers in order to make it appear that our population is fast leaving us." Wc were at once assailed by the Protectionist organs with having been guilty of deliberately falsifying the numbers of passengers who have left here by the various steamers of the Union Company's line, and their leader writers and cor. cspondents, in reiterating this charge, have asserted that it was the rule and not the exception for the outward steamers to carry between 300 and 400 passengers. As to the truth or otherwise of this assertion our readers will be able to judge for themselves after perusing the report of an interview our representative had yesterday with Mr David Mills, the manager of the Union Steam Ship Company. It was, it need hardly be explained, impossible for thiß account to have appeared earlier, because it was imperative that we should have the fullest possible confirmation of our position, and that was not obtainable till the Wairarapa's return yesterday. It is mainly on what she carried on her last trip that this controversy has turned. It should, however, be stated that the Invercargill correspondent who initiated it " backed down very quickly." It transpired that "a passenger who ran up to Invercargill " was his authority for his statement that there were 400 people on board her. That number he admitted to have been incorrect ; but of course it would never do to give hitnßelf away entirely, bo, perforce, he found it necessary to contradict the numbers that we had obtained " from a proper quarter." We must assume that he made some inquiries, since he arrived at " the actual number," which was 283, when the steamer arrived alongside the Bluff wharf—-" a number increased to about 300 by those who joined the vessel at the Bluff." Our assertion that no cargo was shut out by the Wairarapa on that trip in order to provide additional berthage remains unchallenged. The Invercargill man, admittedly misinformed by his "man in the street," ttuck out for 283, and that number is almost as wide of the mark as the other, for it is an indisputable fact that the Wairarapa on this trip carried equal to 192 adults—of whom thirtysix men travelled in the saloon and seventyfive men in the steerage. A considerable amount of ingenuity has been displayed in the interval to account for the difference between the numbers that the Union Company allege they carry on their steamers and the numbers that the Protectionistorgans profess to know wereactually on board. We are told, for example, by the ' Southland News ' that there "is always a difficulty, not only at the intermediate ports, but more especially at that of final departure, in ascertaining the exact number of passengers. It cannot be got from the company's offices, for the simple reason that many do not take out their passages in advance, but get tickets on board." The ' Lyttelton Times,' with true party instinct, rushed to the rescue of its contemporary, and it volunteered the information that "it is only by personal inspection of the outward bound steamers at the ports of final departure that nn accurate estimate can be formed of the number of passengers carried by fcheiu. This is owing to the very common practice of booking on board the steamers, instead of at the offices of tli3 agents. The lists to be obtained from the latter are necessarily imperfect. For this reason it is difficult to get an estimate of the number of people leaving any one port in a given time. From careful inquiries made, however, it appears that during the first three months of the present year the number of passengers leaving Lyttelton for Australia averaged at least 100 a month, without including the number, certain to be large, who went on board without booking." Both our contemporaries are mistaken as to the number who book on hoard the steamers. It is absurdly small—rarely exceeding ten or a dozen at the outside. We note that the 'Southland News,' evidently at its wits' end to patch up its case, includes, inter alia, " the number taking passage from the various ports by sailing vessels !" We now proceed to give a report of our interview with the manager of the Union Steam Ship Company : Reporter: We Bhould feel obliged, Mr Mills, if you will supply us with the actual numbers of passengers carried by youi steamers to Melbourne during the month of March from this port. Mr Mills: I will willingly place at your disposal the certified lists forwarded to the head office on the return trip of each of our steamers, and these will, I have no doubt, give you all the information you desire.

Reporter: Thanks. The insinuation has been made iu certain newspapers that wc, in conjunction with your officers, have been cooking the figures in order to make it appear that the exodus to Melbourne; iii not feo great da it really i».

Mr Mills : There is certainly no warrant for such an insinuation as far as we are concerned, as everybody knows that during February and March our boats were very full; but we have supplied to the local papers as accurate a passenger list as it was possible to furnish them with at the time. Reporter: You have seen it stated in the papers, I presume, that your boats have for some time past been taking over between 300 and 400 passengers, and that the Waira-i-apa on her last trip had 400 ? Is that true ? Mr Mills : Of course I have noticed these statements, and think, as one of the papers has put it, that they are too often made by mfen in the street. In March two of our steamers carried 245 passengers of all descriptions—men, women, and children ; and that was the maximum. In February out highest number was 224, and several of them carried considerably under 200. The Wairarapa's return is, I suppose, the one you are mostly interested in, and it has just reached me. She left the Bluff on April 6 with the following passengers : Saloon. Steerage. Tl. Booked at Auckland ..5 7J „ Giaborne .. 1 1 ~ Napier .. „ Wellington ..16 23.-44 „ Lvtte!ton ..8 20} I>uncdin .. 25 60J Bluff ..8 16i Grand tota's .. 62 129J 191} I may add that, of these 1913, 111 were adult males, of whom the steerage bookings were: 4 at Auckland, 1 at Gisborne, 16 at Wellington, 14 at Lyttelton, 31 at Dunediu, and 9 at the Bluff-75 in all. Reporter : I observe that some capital is attempted to be made out of the apparent discrepancies between the numbers published here and those to the Melbourne Press on the vessels' arrival there. Mr Mills: The difference in the numbers is very small indeed, and in several cases the numbers come ont absolutely correct in the Press reports. For instance, the Wairarapa left here on April 6 with 02 saloon and 129| steerage, and went into Melbourne with 9GJ saloon 143 steerage, of whom 34| saloon and 13 steerage passengers joined the steamer at Hobart. So you will see the numbers come out in that case correctly. Reporter : I may mention for your information that Mr Eden George, who is a prominent member of the Protection party in Christchurch, is the authority for the statement that the Waihora took between 300 and 400 passengers across on her laist trip. Mr Mills: That is incorrect. She had only ISS souls, of whom 125 were adults. Reporter : The same gentleman mentions a regulation about checking bookings on board; and as he has recently returned himself from Australia it may be reasonably inferred from what he states that the regulation is of very recent date. Mr Mills: That is not the case. The regulation has been in existence from the beginning of 1885, and was then designed to give an additional check on the issue and collection of tickets.

Reporter : By the way, is it the fact, as has been frequently alleged, that a large number of persons book on board your steamers ?

Mr Mills : No ; that is a popular fallacy. During March we sent four steamers to Melbourne the Rotomahana, Waihora, Manapouri, and Mararoa ; and on two of them only ten persons booked on board after leaving Dunedin; on the Waihora eight, and on the Mararoa eleven. The Manapouri's last return shows eight bookings after leaving this port. Reporter: As for the purposes of this inquiry I think I may be justified in looking on the bulk of the saloon passengers as being bent on business or pleasure, and such of them as belong to New Zealand are likely to return to the colony at no distant date, I shall be glad if you can furnish me with the return of adult males who have taken steerage passages by your steamers during the past two months, as it may be fairly contended that the great majority of them have been attracted to Melbourne by the reports of fresh work and good wages. Mr Mills: I will give you the bald figures, and you can make what deductions you please from them. They are—

Saloon. Steerage. Total. Wairarapa, April 6 .. 3fl 75 111 Mararoa, March SO.. ..31 77 108 Tarawera, Match 24 .. 62 OCJ 168J Manapouri, March 25 .. 49 101 160 Waihora, March 16 .. 23 103 126 Rotomahana, March 9 ..49 112 161 TcAnau, March 2 .. ..30 56 86 T»rawera, February 21 ..39 76 114 Wairarapa February 20 .. SI 80 111 Mararoa. February 10 .. 36 103 139 Manapouri, February 3 .. 24 50 1i

Reporter : Just one other question, Mr Mills. Are we justified in saying that not one of your steamers has carried to Melbourne 300 passengers this year ? Mr Mills: You are quite safe in saying that. In January the highest number we took over was 170, of whom 109 were adults ; in February 224, of whom 139 were adults; and in March, as I have already told you, 245, of whom 161 were adults. We think that every impartial reader will admit—to adopt the language of the * Southland News'—" that it is but too evident that there has been no exaggeration " as regards our main facts.