BOY IMMMIGRANTS FROM ENGLAND.

Northern Advocate, 26 January 1911, Page 3

BOY IMMMIGRANTS FROM ENGLAND.

MR SBDGBWICK'S PIONEERS. AN EXPERIMENT FULL OF PROMISE. If the fifty English immigrant lads ■who are due to arrive in New Zealand this week do not start their life amid the most favourable surrounding circumstances, it will not be the fault of the Labor Department's responsible heads. Every possible precaution for the comfort and well-being of the boys has been taken. The Labor Department stands in the position of loco parentis, and a very good and far-seeing parent it promises to prove. SUCCESS ANTICIPATED. "The boys should start in New Zealand with every advantage," said an official of the department to a "New Zealand Times," representative. "The fifty employers to whom they are going are all known to be fair men. The department also had this great advantage, that it was able* to make a careful selection of the fifty best-looking posts out of the 250 applications that were received from farmers wanting the boys' services. Undoubtedly the experiment promises to be a most successful one and its working will be watched with great interest. The boys have been thoroughly impressed with

the fact that they are coming to no sinecure. Indeed, the amount of work likely to be expected of them has been somewhat exaggerated."

HOW THE LADS WILL SCATTER,

Within thirty-six hours after their arrival in Wellington the lads will be despatched to their various destinations by train or steamer. Fifteen will be sent north by the Main Trunk train thirteen will go by the Napier express. nineteen by the southern steamer' en route to Canterbury and beyond, and the others will cross Cook Strait for northerly parts of the South Island. One of the party will go as far North as Mangawai, near Dargaville, while another will be located as far to the South as Nightcaps, beyond Invercargill. Those remaining nearest to Wellington will be the couple who are going to Featherston and the six whose cestinations are in the vicinity of Masterton. The parties,will each be accompanied on their journeyings by an officer of the department and in nearly every case the boys will be met by tlieir future employers at the nearest. railway station to the farm. i

The department will provide each lad with a copy of the agreement into which he will be required to enter. He will also be given an account book and a small specially prepared pamplw let in which he will find many valuable instructions and hints for his guidance in connection with his relationship both with the department and the employer. As wards of the depart ment the boys will be expected to communicate by letter monthly with it, giving an account of the progress made. To give them a start in the formation of this "writing home" habit, each will be handed half-e-dozen let-ter-cards ready addressed to the Secretary of Labor. TERMS OF APPRENTICESHIP. To all intents and purposes the lads v/ill be bound as apprentices to the farmers to whom they are going. The | term will be three years, or until the j lads reach the age of 21. The wages to be paid will range from ss, 7s 6d and 10s weekly in the first year, to 15s and 25s weekly in the third year. Brief ly put, the agreement to be signed by employer and apprentice provides for the payment of wages at least monthly upon the terms previously agreed upon as between the farmer and the department. The bulk of the amount is- to be banked in the Post Office Savings Bank to the credit of the department as trustee for the boy, to whom a small sum is to be handed over for i pocket money. The sum banked will \ he held in trust for the boy and will be paid to him upon his reaching the age of twenty-one, or sooner, in the discretion of the department. The employer will bind himself to teach the boy the business of either sheep, general, or agricultural farming, to maintain his apprentice with proper food, nourishment, lodging and, in most cases clothes, to treat him with consideration and humanity, and also grant liim reasonable facilities for attending church if there is one within three miles of the farm. On the other hand, the department' and its ward are to agree that the latter shall truly and faithfully serve, the employer for the time agreed upon, shall conform to all lawful and reasonable orders and shall be honest, obedient and diligent in the discharge of his duties. LITTLE FEAR OF TROUBLE. No lad may be dismissed by his employer unless for serious misconduct, but in the event of incompetence being shown he may be dismissed if the department has first been given fourteen clear days' notice in writing. It h* not, however, anticipated that much in the way of misconduct will have to ho dealt with, as in making the selection good character was insisted upon and very strict inquiries were made by the High Commissioner in Ixmdon as

(to each boy's previous record. Each | boy has also passed a strict medical j examination at the instance of the High Commissioner.

It is further provided in the agreement which has been drawn up most carefully that the department may appoint an official to visit the boys at any reasonable time and make inquiry as to their treatment and whether the agreement is being faithfully carried out. The agreement has been submitted to several of the farmers concerned and each has expressed entire satisfaction with its conditions as being fair and reasonable.