Hawke's Bay Herald. WEDNESDAY, JULY 30, 1879. PAYING OUR LIBELLERS.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume XXI, Issue 5447, 30 July 1879, Page 2

Hawke's Bay Herald. WEDNESDAY, JULY 30, 1879. PAYING OUR LIBELLERS.

When, a week ago, the published correspondence between the Government and the Agent-General revealed the fact that Mr Arthur Clay den and liis wife received free passages Home in the Stad Haarlem, and that the former was to receive .£250 to lecture for a year upon the colony and its resources, the involuntary question, " Who is Mr Arthur Clayden 1" was asked by many. Contemporaries north and south are exercised as to his identity, bub no one seems to know anything about him. Now that Mr Clayden has arrived in England, however, he appears determined to make himself more widely-known, and should he again favor New Zealand with a visit he will no doubt be received in a manner showing a duo appreciation of his services. Mr Clayden seems anxious to give his impressions the most extended publicity, and, not content with lecturing on the' colony, has commenced to write about it in the Christian IVorld, one of the most widely-circu-lated of English weekly papers. The circulation of that journal is not only large, but is chiefly among the middle■- ■ class population, and sensible, fairly written articles on New Zealand, appearing in its columns, would be sure to do great good, in attracting the attention of those whom we want as colonists — the middle-classes of England, possessing energy and capital, who have made her commercial supremacy and placed her in the first rank of civilisation. We have many of that class amongst us now, and every accession is a gain to the colony, but Mr Clay den's letters are nob calculated to encourage that desirable immigration. We have not the whole of his letters before us, but have met with extracts in the columns of a contemporary which must make every colonist indignant when he remembers that the writer is paid from our public treasury to do its the best service in his power. Mr Clayden appears to have been but a bird of passage, but his flying impressions are enunciated with all the force of a lengthened experience. He admits that nature has done much for us, but, this granted, devotes all his energies to proving that in all other respects the colony is an undesirable residence for the middle-class population of England. He writes :— " So far as I have been able to push my investigations of New Zealand life, nothing has struck me as being more needed than a large infusion of our sound-hearted, reliable, religious middle - class population," and then he paints such a dismal picture of the colonists already here that very few of the " large-hearted, reliable, religious I

middle class" are likely to 'sacrifice themselves on the simile of patriotism so far as to cross the seas to enlighten out ignorance, expand our narrowheartedness, infuse into us a feeling of self-reliance, and convert us to Christianity. "I should be sorry to speak disrespectfully of any class of men," he continues, " but I must say ' that I miss here in New Zealand that ' moral and intellectual backbone which I have been accustomed to at Home. Most of the tradesmen, farmers, &c, appear to have risen from the ranks of the working community, and, as a consequence, there is a sad lack, of polish and refinement amongst them-. I never read the advertising columns of A,. news- ] paper without feeling azl intense disgust i at the Vulgar plli&ng and transparent j lies." Were it hot "for the concluding reference to newspapers, we should have charitably concluded that some , evil genii had transported Mr and Mrs i Arthur Clayden to so.tae retired backwoods settlement. There; indeed, he might haVe found some justification for his strictures, for into these out-of-the- i way pioneer settlements the Sonooimaster ia not always able to penetrate, and-, hdweVer the settlers may appreciate education and the refinements of life, they, have not the opportunity for the one nor the time to Cultivate t'hfe other. But Mr CliycWs reference to newspapers forbids this supposition, and forces us to the conclusion that he is either the most egotistic and superI ficial of observers, or that he wilfully states that which Is not trite. In charity we adopt the former supposition, tfhere is> aniidst niuek tnVtt is undesirable in colonial life, a far higher st&ntkM of intellectuality and morality than hi English towns "of corresponding size, and the energy and, selfreliance 6F the colonists are best shown in the enormous tracts ot land converted from a wilderness int'e a smiling country AVitniii th& memory of the present generation, and the handsome and well-built towns which cover ground which a few years ago was wastes of manuka and usehi^s scrub. Cait Mr Clayd6n pbint to. one town throughout wide England which, with a population equal to that of Napier, has shown half the public spirit and enterprise to be seen here, though the English town may have had centuries to accomplish that Which we have done in years 1 Triie, many of those who are now among the wealthy of the land were poor when they landed in New Zealand, but the very fact that they have risen is most solid proof of their capacity and energy, and if they do occasionally (for it is hdt the rule) show " a sad lade of polish and refinement " their' experience in a field where wealth rewards merit and hard work, is more likely to be of value to the colony than the easy theories of the kid-gloved spurious imitator of the aristocrat, whose absence Mr Clayden so sadly deplores. However, this is enough of Mr Arthur Clayden, and we hope that those who have the management of our Immigration Department will come to the same conclusion, and will politely inform him that with us money is not so plentiful as to enable us to pay for libels on the colony. "We do not want misrepresentation, nor the concealment of the truth, for neither would be advantageous to its in the end. It is folly to paint New Zealand as an El Dorado where gold lies on the surface of the soil awaiting English laborers to pick it up. It would be cruelty to induce any large number of working-men to come out at the present time, and until teade improves, but to capitalists with good business abilities New Zealand offers the best field in the world. Such letters as that of Mr Arthur Clayden, jndging from the specimen vouchsafed to us, may do us great injury in preventing capitalists emigrating to our shores. That he should continue to be paid for such " services " as these is impossible.