IMMIGRATION.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 1926, 20 February 1867, Page 3

IMMIGRATION.

(From the. Argus, Feb, 2.)

. Had this country been colonised -by a race of.Hindbosywith their rigid arid unalterable laws of caste, aaufflcierit justification might be found for the dislike with" whicnJrnmigration is viewed by a portion of the wago-clasa;. since any great, addition to the numbers.of the labouring class might :be expected to lowerthe rate of remuneration they had been iii the habit of receiving. But the constitution of society, in a British colony is the very opposite of the petrified condition:"6f society in India. Ghauge.,aiid tr'ansformatipn are the normal laws of its existence in.Australia. Not only does one class shade off into another t>yrdelicate; and -indefinable grada-. Jiohs, but : there is a constant trahsfe'rehee of, the members of oneiarik to the rank-imme-diately above it. No man is satisfied perrnanehtly. to remain in. the grade- to; "which lie was born; arid no rnan does continue in it for any length of time, -provided lie is.endowed with health, strength, ambition, .aid;prud;e.nce.'''';' i And; to themairitehaiiceof this, healthy progress' "a steady influx of immigrants is essential'. To that' 1 cause, among others, America' owes its greatness arid prbsperity; ■"Without) immigration : a young country, dependent only upon its natural inT crease for the growth of its population, must : either stagnate or retrograde. Production languishes, enterprise declines, capital finds fewer and fewer ; channels'-'if or profitable iii—vestment/ prp'perty ; 'becomes unsaleable, the revenue declines; the- youth .of the colony migrate to tome progressive neighbour/arid •we witness jlist such a state of .affairs as is presehtedito .pur view in Tasmania: .at this very hours"' The opponents of immigratipn'.'.'■ who, we are willing to beiieve, are actuated by honest but misleading motives, attribute to its advocates a. desire:to - ; swamp the labour. market by the importation of ; handsi-j but such an imputation, as. we" shall "proceed to shew, is. Wholly unfounded. Owing, to the irregularity of the supply, its want ;pf accurate .adjustment to the demand, the -arrival of inimi-: | grant vessels at a. period .of the year when; the deniarid for labour was slack, and,tp; the absence of any. schcriielfor distributing the new comexs pveri tließurface' of the colony, tbpre liaye, been occasipris. on : which meetings of the unempioyedliaveibeeri; held in; Mejbpurrie, : and there hag: been..a ; temporary glut of persons.' seeking work in. this city .on}y. But it has speedily passed, away • the complainants have been, gradually absorbed into the ranks of labour; and tiie circumstance has merely demonstrated. the want of an,efficient system..bf distribution. An influx of "immigrants -has riever .permanently., depressed .the rate of wages paid. either to skilled or the these have risen ; arid:fallen.in: pretty close conformity'::with:;the"expansion;'' or contraction of'.the stream of ..immigratipn'; They were at.their maximum from ..1852 to .1864, when.pppulatipriwas; : pb;uring. into the . colony ; at tiie.rate.of 90,066 j: : liridtheysank to their; present level : ih1861; whentliere'was'-aaexce'ss'..of.9,boo departures over arrivals. Whdj then, is..injured.,by;ii&; migration? ■N6t , ---the , .,;'-'new-cbnier's;j.Biii'ce' : they earn far rripre than it was possible;: for tlrem to do.in Europej arid:excliatige scarcity athpmefprabundariceiri.Australia. ..Not.tlie people who are already settled, here, since a steady; supply-of labour.' is ; indispensable to their welfare;:' ::: ..

Alt recent legislation,liotii'fiacaland -.' 'a£rarwD).Jiaßy:'been>directed''''W'two*.6b]ectß,': : the settlement of. the.soil arid the promotion •of to be seen. Both,these objects, are likely 1 to befrustrated;unless some means-are' taken to meet the. demandwliicbany sudden 'development- of manufacturing and agricul-. : turai activity is likely to create for; factory operatives and husbandmen; Webaye.been: told; indeedj : times; : piit -ofnumber, that we' have only to unlock the lands, in orderiol; attract tens of .thousands of people.from Europe, ami to repress the outflow of sue--; eessful colonists from Victoria;. The Arriended Land Act, it is asserteil.hsßbeen ■iiiisirii-: mental in. throwing open the wasteltitidsof. the colony for. "settlement;:,but .:we : .see. .nothing.-'' of the shoal .of immigrants; it was ;to invite, and there is ■ ho apparent failing off in the number■ of those .who, return to the. mother ; country. The; charms of,; an. agricultural Arcadia are. lost, alike upon the for England in. the' Great. Brilain, ;upon .the. successful storekeepers and. miners':: who fill : hersecprid-. and third claaa bertlis','and upon, .theartisaiis and farm' labourers, at tlie other end.of the who; eithericannot or.will : not; pay.' for.;a steerage ticket.to.Australia in ii Lbridtin 6r ; Liverpool liner; fami-"., •liarity breeds contempt } in the case of those ?turn upbncheap ; :land : and rural felicity .in, Victoria.).while.:distance, instead of.lending enchantmeritito./ob'Cures the.prospect, in.the.;case.pf;th.e fafm. hands of the: southern, and 1 * the., small tradesmen and . artisans of. the midland and' northern couhties of England; ■'■■""_■■■' Canada and the United Statesareihtitirigly near and cheaply, accessible • and we fear that the conversion of this country into*

manufacturing arid' paradise would:not.neutralise the disadvantages of its ■ gei3graphical..ppsitipn; Under: these; circumstances we must equalise the distance between: , Great Brilaiii and North America' and Australia respeatively, by artificiaifmeari's. We must enable, the. British emigrant to reach thesecolonies at as little .cost as he can.;now :proceed.from Liverpool to New York or Halir fot Arid if lie.clectß to give us the. benefit of his co-operation, wc rnnstiake care to prbyide him with the .opportunity of carrying his labour,,to; the best : market in: Victoria when, he arrives. .; By; adopting. : ;su6!i. ,a policy we shall' best .consult .Jiisv interests individually, arid tlipse of tliecorainuiiity at large. He willbecome a colleague; and not la competitor-;', a, contributor to. the aggregate ''wealth of the.colony iii a,larger,proportion' thani that which hedraws front the common : fund for tiie support, of. himself and iamily. Hisemployer will be some one; in all probttr •liilityiwho belonged to thewage ; clasßbuta .few years previously j and the new comer may reasonably. look forward; to a similar rise in life aiew yearsheiice, when he, too, will require the services of workmen, and will of immigration, ;by: ..whicli. - all. the. of society are gradually elevated by a process of which, .while extending the .basis, communicates' solidity' and altitude to. the superincumbent mass. '■■''."■ ''■'■- ■'