THE ENGLISH AGRICULTURAL LABOURER IN NEW ZEALAND.

Marlborough Express, Volume XIV, Issue 1136, 24 May 1879, Page 7

THE ENGLISH AGRICULTURAL LABOURER IN NEW ZEALAND.

Under the above heading, a correspondent of the Daily News, writing from Wellington, gives a glowing account of the prospects before an English agricultural labourer going to New Zealand. He states, with reference to his visit to Otago : —“ The excessive moisture of Otago imparts a freshness and luxuriance to vegetation which reminds an Englishman of home. Nor is there much to disturb the illusion when he mingles with the inhabitants. Everything looks like home—-the bustle, fhe business enterprise, the air of prosperity, the noble churches, the healthy look of the people—and the rain. As everyone knows, Dunedin, the capital of Otago, and about seven miles from the port by rail, is emphatically a Scotch town. The ‘ Macs ’ are everywhere in force—hence, I suppose, the wondrous prosperity of the place. i never visited a town with more signs of progress and general comfort. Labour seemed everywhere in demand, and the poor did not seem to be with them at all. When unskilled labour commands higher wages than thousands of Englishmen of high culture can get, poverty is out of the question. Among the most interesting institutions of the town was a workman’s club—a large, wellsituated building, with reading-rooms, billiardtables, a library, sitting-rooms, and restaurant, where all kinds of cheap food could be obtained, on one of the suburbs a large immigrant’s home has been erected, where, free of charge, the fortunate possessor of strong arms and weatherproof constitutions go straight from the emigrant ships, and live well till they obtain employment. Happy toilers ! Here is realised their dream of posperity—‘ eight hours’ work, eight hours’ sleep, eight hours’ play, and eight shillings a-day.’ Skilled labour commands a much higher price. God masons, carpenters, blacksmiths, and mechanics generally get from twelve to fifteen shillings per day.” He then visited Christchurch, which he describes as a rich agricultural district, and afterwards Wellington, where, as in the other parts of New Zealand, he found an abunddaut demand for labour ; but of the town itself he writes as follows :—“The quay at Wellington indicated the importance of the place as a leading outlet of the North Island. Intense bustle prevailed, and acres of landing space were filled with all descriptions of merchandise. I soon had painful experience of Wellington’s excessive windiness. It was almost unendurable. A steam-driven tram car, however, is ever accessible, and few people walk the streets during the heavier gales. There is little worthy of note in the town, and one wonders what were its claims to be made the seat of Government.”