AS OTGERS SEE US.

Evening Star, Issue 9161, 16 June 1893, Page 2

AS OTGERS SEE US.

REPORT ON NHW gftAtiAftl) SETTLEMENT SYSTEMS. Ah elaborate report Ujv Mr Tleorgo Lewis on village and Industrial settlements as eOivAuetod in New Zealand lias been laid on the tabic of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly. The report gives detailed particulars of the different assisted settlements, and contains the following interesting remarks :—" 'i'lie most reliable persons that 1 interviewed upon this subject were of opinion that considerable care is necessary in the first instance in selecting land for sub-division, and where it is desired for the unemployed of those uiiaccustdnled td the culture of crops, it should lie selected ill districts where bush, and other work;is obtainable, and where a inarkol for produce is possible—with such conditions and with persevering industry success is almost a certainty. Experience has demonstrated that where these conditions are wauling, to place a number of inexperienced men, or those unacquainted with the ordinary bushman's life and methods, under adverse con* ditiougj is but to handicap thenl and increase the special diflicui tics Which have to be fought, and which surround all new settlements in the initial stage; and further, the losses incurred at the very time when experience is being gained arc very often too heavy for the inexpericnood settler, and ho fails, defeated in an enterprise that should, without the disadvantage of a bud position or site for the settlement, have been the means of leading to ids permanent establishment upon the land and becoming an employer of labor. In establishing districts for the inexperienced or unemployed the value of placing one or two men—sterling, practical, and experienced—as a teaching power or help to those less experienced, cannot, I am sure, be over-estimated, even if this help could only be obtained at the cost of sonic additional inducement or extra privilege, such as by the establishment of State farms, where the youth might be instructed in agricultural pursuits, or by allowing these leaders some additional area, etc. An example of a well-kept, well-managed farm would prove an important factor in the achievement of success in a settlement. I was informed by the Premier of New Zealand that tho social change in the condition of those who availed themselves of the settlements is most remarkable. From a spirit of dependence, that everywhere becomes more pronouueed in the struggling populations of cities and larger towns, a new independent spirit is evoked ; the demoralising, and too often tho degraded, influences of city life arc left behind ; a work of social amelioration is helped and largely assisted by tho new, bright, and healthy condition of rural life. Promises of help, or social crutches, are no longer needed; self-respect, habits of thrift, and a bold spirit of self-reliance take thcirl place. In other words, they desire no longer to bo treated as children, but as strong free men, who arc prepared to take their part in the social welfare of the community.